Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

There are all sorts of winter shelters to help colony cats endure the worst weather. Some are heated where this is electricity, some are made from multiple layers inside a big Rubbermaid tote, some are cute little wooden houses painted quaintly and stuffed with straw.

I use a combination. My favorite are using electrical heated pads inside airline XXL animal crates with blankets to keep out the wind and snow – Oksana and Mx. Pajamas love this. But I have a variety including two dog igloos. In the snow, tiny paw prints tell me someone had a comfy snooze.

Most of those are pricey.

The basic shelter that gets the job done without electricity, paint, or a lot of labor involves a Styrofoam cooler, a contractor bag, duct tape and straw (not hay.) The cooler is sturdy and conserves heat generated by the cats. Straw keeps them cozy and repels moisture so they aren’t bunking down in a wet freeze/thaw cycle. The contractor bag seals the deal, repelling weather issues, and blends in to most environments when discretion is key for the cats’ safety. Duct tape is well, the glue that holds it together.

They aren’t fancy, they aren’t complicated. They last multiple years. They can provide some shelter from rain in other seasons.

And they offer everyone a chance to put Styrofoam to a good reuse.

We got our hands on about 15 that one of our caretakers assembled for us. People kept asking for more. They couldn’t make the donations to buy them elsewhere or those sources ran out. So we decided to sponsor a workshop to make as many we can to distribute – at no charge – to whomever asks.

As of tonight, we have requests for 37 shelters. We don’t have 37 coolers, but we’ll do our best. The workshop is a good community building project where our caretaker, Tabby, will teach folx how to make these shelters. Hopefully, we’ll make at least 30 and some volunteers will take home a kit to keep making on their own.

The pet food pantry has spent nearly $750 on supplies. We are hopeful people will donate items – bags, tape, coolers, straw – but we want to be prepared.

This is a screenshot of the forecast for the next 10 days. Not great if you are a homeless cat. Not great if you are homeless person, either.

Styrofoam cooler shelters are not a home. But they do provide shelter on nights when that is enough.

The economy is tightening. SNAP was cut the sort of restored. Health insurance subsidies were not reauthorized so as of this week, 70,000 Pennsylvanians left the health insurance market. Where did they go? Seasonal jobs disappear. LIHEAP was delayed a month, leaving 300,000 neighbors in a bad place.

Money to buy cat food is hard to come buy, much less veterinary care. Rescues are doing a yeoman’s job trying to save all the cats. So we decided this was a gap we could fill – making the simple life saving shelter and trying to get them out to people before that 14 degree high on Tuesday hits.

I had to get off my principled high horse to make this happen – I hate Styrofoam and I haven’t shopped at Wal-Mart since 2003. Yay, me. But when I went looking for Styrofoam coolers (30-45 quarts), I found them ONLY at Wal-Mart. There was a limit of five per day, so I order some everyday. My backyard is filled with cardboard boxes full of coolers.

Note – a gap within a gap. Many people get Styrofoam coolers year round that are suitable, but there is a lack off storage space. Storage isn’t cheap, but it would be lovely to find a storage company that is not complicit with ICE to collect coolers all year round. That’s about $1,200 so we can’t make that happen. Can you?

The Workshop

Our event is pretty simple. The fine folx at Allegheny City Brewery offered us space Saturday morning from 10-2 along with cold non-alcoholic beverages for our volunteers. Other fine folx at Bistro-to-Go are providing hot coffee and cheesecake treats.

Tabby has created instructions and we’ve collected box cutters, bags, and tape. Her 11-year-old daughter Allison is going to show us how to make cat scratcher from Girl Scout cookie boxes, part of her Bronze Star project with the Girl Scouts.

We hope people will stop by with donations of pet food – we are trying to get the spot right in front for Gertie.

We hope people will bring coolers, bags, duct tape, straw, etc.

We hope people will come in spite of the weather (unless it is dangerous.)

And we need some volunteers, yes to make the shelters. But also to transport the coolers from my back yard to the workshop location and then transport the finished shelters back to my yard, hopefully offering to deliver some.

Marie and I have to get back and figure out how to store everything, gear up for that week’s distribution of pet food, and our colonies. My trail cameras are both broken which makes me worry about my cats even more.

Available volunteer tasks

• Driver – go to Animal Friends on Thurs or Fri to pick up bagged straw and any available coolers. Drop off in Manchester or bring to the workshop
• Driver – transport coolers from my backyard to the workshop, Saturday 9-9:30 AM Truck/SUV/large van
• Driver – transport completed shelters from workshop to my backyard Saturday 2-3 PM
• Driver -deliver shelters curbside to caretakers in McKees Rocks and Stowe, Moon, Avalon, Carrick, Ross, and seven Northside neighborhoods.
• Volunteer – here’s the form!

What to donate

• Coolers, contractor bags, black duct tape, bagged straw (not hay) between now and the workshop. You can drop at GPS 1440 Faulsey Way Manchester Pittsburgh 15233. Or bring to the workshop.
• Pet food – dry and canned, dog and cat. Treats also welcome.
• Heated water bowls, mats and other items from our wishlists or your gently used pet supplies
  • Amazon bit.ly/TheRuffList
  • Chewy bit.ly/TheChewyList
• Chemical hand warmers. They go great in these shelters.
• Underwrite an ICE-free storage unit for a year so we can experiment with this idea.

Financial donations

It would be so great to offset the expense of this project. I had intended to seek sponsors, but the search for coolers consumed my time. If you can help us, that would mean a lot. We have two cats in need of dentals this month and we just had a $500 vet visit for a four month old kitten. Plus, food supplies are being depleted. If we can make up the difference, this could be an annual event.

• GoFundMe bit.ly/GivePghCatFolx
• Venmo @PittsburghLGBTQ
• Paypal.me/PittsburghLGBTQ
• Cash App $PittsburghLGBTQ
• Zelle folx@pghlgbtq.org

Keeping homeless cats warm is a win/win, but bringing more caretakers into our fold is a real incentive as well. This work can be isolating and exhausting, BUT as I often say – it is a vital contribution to the health and safety of every community. Tighter bonds among caretakers is important. If you can help us give these essential tools to neighbors, you’ll make a lot of folx pretty happy.