SPOKANE, Wash. — Within 30 minutes two boxes, a bit of tape and straw transformed into a potentially life saving shelter for the outdoor cats that brave the cold winter months.
Local animal enthusiast Ashlee Thosath, who says she has been advocating for animals as long as she can remember, has been building cat shelters since she was just a kid.
"I was like, 'Papa can you help me build a cat house for the outside cats in the barn?'” she said.
Then she learned to make them on her own, and now she builds the insulated boxes and places them where she knows outside cats often stay.
"There's so many stray animals and people's animals getting loose constantly,” Thosath said.
She said she needs help building more shelters.She says outside cats don’t have bad lives, they just need to be given the necessities.
Here’s what is needed to make a winter shelter:
- A plastic storage bin
- Styrofoam
- A sharpie
- A hair dryer
- An x-acto knife
- Insulation such as straw
- Heavy duty tape
To put the shelter together, Thosath started by using a sharpie to trace a circle in the plastic storage bin. She stressed that the circle should be at least a few inches from the bottom so that snow doesn’t get into the shelter.
Then after softening the plastic with the hot setting of her hair drier, Thosath used an x-acto knife to cut out the traced circle.
Next, she cut a corresponding hole in the styrofoam cooler. She used the tape to connect the two holes, creating a tunnel leading into the box.
Last, Thosath filled the extra spaces with straw for insulation. She said people can use other forms of insulation, as long as they use materiel that doesn’t retain moisture and that the cats can burrow into.
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The finished shelter gives outside cats a safe place to warm up and escape predators.
"It's always been my goal to make them the most happiest, satisfied they can possible be,” Thosath said.