November 2009:  Thanks to Reinier Samsingh, my mother's outdoor cats now have a third warm winter house made to Ashot Karamian's excellent feral cat house plans.  These things are wonderful.  They're made of heavy duty, 54 gallon PVC storage tubs, insulated with 3" of sturdy, temperature resistant foam, lined with aluminum to hold in body heat, and filled with warm straw.  It can sleep up to 6 cats.  Click here for photos of the houses and a slide show of how they're made. 

Our feral cats are soooooo lucky to have these on freezing nights, and I don't worry about them knowing they're snug in their beds, cuddling together, safe and warm.  I don't know much about feral cat statistics, but I'd be willing to bet our group has a higher survival rate, and better overall health and welfare than most because they have these great, safe homes.  Thanks, Ashot, for designing these, and Reinier for making them. - JD

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UPDATE, SEPT. 2010:  ALL our ferals made it through winter 2009-10 none the worse for wear.  Hardly even a sniffle.  I'm really proud of that!  -JD

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