# Comfortable indoor temperature for cats



## tezster (Jun 4, 2013)

I tend to be a nut when it comes to minimal use of the thermostat, so I typically leave it at the absolute minimum in terms of how how much I use both heat in the winter and the A/C during the summer. Fortunately, I live in a very small, well-insulated home. The temperature could be 0°C outside, and it won't drop any lower than about ~19° inside without turning on the heat.

What I'm wondering is, what temperature range is considered comfortable for a cat?


----------



## emilyatl (Sep 9, 2013)

Generally, cats like the same temps we do. I like it cold at night when I sleep, so my room is 68 Farenheit (20 C). My cats are fine. I think they tolerate cooler temps much better than they do warmer ones.


----------



## cat face (Apr 4, 2013)

emilyatl said:


> Generally, cats like the same temps we do. I like it cold at night when I sleep, so my room is 68 Farenheit (20 C). My cats are fine. * I think they tolerate cooler temps much better than they do warmer ones*.


Me too! I mean they have built in fur coats! lol

Seriously though, unless they specifically have an arthritic condition and or are "mature" then I'm in agreement with emily.

My B.B. is 14 and she quite enjoys her little heating pad (set on lowest setting). She has a spring in her step when she's spent the night on it or the bathroom floor (it's heated).


----------



## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

This time of year (mid to low 30s at night) I keep the house at 50 during the day then 55 at night. 

Once it gets colder OUTSIDE I'll set it at 55 when I leave for work and 60-65 when I'm home. The bedroom stays at 60 (different zones in the apartment have a thermostat) becaue I like it cook when I sleep and with the three of us (two cats and me) it seems to get warm in there at night.

That's just a basic set point for me. There are some days when I'm feeling COLD and will crank it up. THen days that I'll be cooking and moving around and turn it down. 

I love it when it gets cold and they get all fuzzy and puffy!


----------



## emilyatl (Sep 9, 2013)

Wow MowMow, I thought I liked it cold at night. You have me beat!  I left my window open one night a couple of weeks ago when it just started to get cold and woke up to a 62 degree bedroom. It was FREEZING.


----------



## gizmothecat (Jun 26, 2013)

I live in apt...can't control the temp...other than opening, closing a window


----------



## HooKooDooKu (Jan 8, 2013)

Keep in mind that cats have fur. So they should be able to stay comfortable in temperatures cooler than we might normally find comfortable. And as long as we're talking about a long-term cooler temperature (as opposed to 55 at night and 80 during the day) I would suspect that their fur would change to compensate for the difference.

After all, how many cats are purely out-door cats... even during the winter. If cats can survive outdoor temperatures that can get really cold in the middle of winter, I think they will do just fine with any indoor temperature we can put up with.


----------



## tezster (Jun 4, 2013)

Nothing to worry about with cold weather, it seems. I've also read that cats have a higher tolerance to warmer temperatures than humans, which seems counter-intuitive, given their coat of fur (and inability to perspire).


----------



## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

MowMow said:


> This time of year (mid to low 30s at night) I keep the house at 50 during the day then 55 at night.
> 
> Once it gets colder OUTSIDE I'll set it at 55 when I leave for work and 60-65 when I'm home. The bedroom stays at 60 (different zones in the apartment have a thermostat) becaue I like it cook when I sleep and with the three of us (two cats and me) it seems to get warm in there at night.
> 
> ...


Is this Fahrenheit???? OMG I would absolutely freeze to death at your house!


----------



## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

It depends.....just remember a cat's normal body temp is *100.5-102.5 F* (38-39.2 C). So they can withstand higher temperatures more comfortably than people can. It depends on how much _coat_ the cat has. A Sphynx (hairless) cat will feel chilly and likely need a sweater in a house that's kept at 70F. A longhaired cat will likely feel that's just right. My Devons don't like the temp below 74F (23C) and often sit on top of the floor heat ventilators in the wintertime. Zuba especially who has a sparser coat compared to Alkee's will seek heat of a warm lap or a sunny spot if he's chilly.


----------



## gizmothecat (Jun 26, 2013)

Omg....50 degrees?!? I would be an icepop . But I've always been a warm weather type of girl


----------



## soccergrl76 (Dec 1, 2010)

We keep our thermostat set to 72 all day. Anything lower than that is cold.


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## tgwillard (Oct 18, 2012)

We keep the house at 70 degrees during the winter and Emily sleeps on our bed on top of the covers. However she likes the warm air from the register and also has an enclosed cloth "igloo" that she loves to sleep in during cooler weather.


----------



## cat owner again (Dec 14, 2012)

I also am not one for heat but I don't have big temperature differences. I have blankets houses for the cats and open closets with pillows and blankets and a little house in the cat tree. I figure they can figure out how to keep warm but doubt it will get much below 60 in my house at night or I would have the heat on. I have seen my cat get under the blanket.


----------



## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

emilyatl said:


> Wow MowMow, I thought I liked it cold at night. You have me beat!  I left my window open one night a couple of weeks ago when it just started to get cold and woke up to a 62 degree bedroom. It was FREEZING.


Ha! You define cold like a southerner :lol:. The temp in my house is set to 63 at night and I usually have my bedroom window cracked through most of the New Hampshire winter. It been in the 30s at night this week and my window is wide open. 

As for cats, they seem to handle extremes much better than humans and I wouldn't worry about them having any issues as long as they're indoors. You can leave a few blankets around that they can burrow into if they're cold. They'll seek warmth if they need it.


----------



## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

I feel like I'm in the twilight zone reading this thread. We only keep the heat on this time of year in the early morning, and maybe a little at night. I do not know what we turn it to, just stop when it clicks over. We're missing the cover on the thermostat so can watch the murcury thingy sliding over - yes I'm so technical.

While in bed it's off, we have blankets and animals. The weather has been both dry and warmer than most years, a few days have felt like spring recently.

I'm so glad I live in a place where the yearly temperature range is -5 (at night in a cold snap) to 30 celsius (in a heat wave). No need for air conditioning and little need for heating; we actually have neighbors that just wear winter clothing and don't bother with turning on the heat...

I live about 10 minutes from the "Vancouver" airport (it isn't in Vancouver), so that pretty much sums up my weather. Vancouver - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


----------



## molldee (May 19, 2013)

My cats snuggle on top of me if they get cold!


----------



## Kytkattin (Oct 18, 2013)

From the Wikipedia page on cats:


> Humans generally start to feel uncomfortable when their skin temperature passes about 38 °C (100 °F), but cats show no discomfort until their skin reaches around 52 °C (126 °F), and can tolerate temperatures of up to 56 °C (133 °F) if they have access to water.


From the Wikipedia page on Egypt temps:


> In desert regions the temperature varies greatly, especially in summer; it may range from 7 °C (45 °F) at night, to 40 °C (104 °F) during the day. While the winter temperature in deserts does not fluctuate as wildly, it can be as low as 0 °C (32 °F) at night, and as high as 18 °C (64.4 °F) during the day.


Unless you have a specific breed with shortened or lengthened hair, they will probably be able to outlast you on both ends of the temperature spectrum. Cats are very versatile creatures. :grin:


----------



## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

Somedays that's the downside to keeping the apartment cold, night snuggles for MowMow mean mashed up as close to my face as he can get (preferably with the blankets tucked over him with his little head poking out.

This USUALLY means less sleep for me. If I turn over to escape him, he gets up and walks around my head (it USED to be over my head) to the other side to mash up against me again...and poke me until I covered him up. During the night he always seems to wind up sliding half underneath me and my neck winds up in all kinds of weird positions. 

THEN Book wants to get in on the cat pile so he sleeps pressed against my lower back.. so I've got ONE pushing back on my neck/upper back and the other shoving against my lower back... I sleep terribly and always wake up with a back ache! 

If I won the lottery I'd totally hire someone to just sleep with the freaking cats some nights so I could get a decent nights sleep!


----------



## ~*Regina*~ (Apr 16, 2008)

I keep my house during the colder months between 60-65 degrees and during the summer I have the AC's running full all day long, lol! I like a nice cool house and my animals dont seem to mind it at all


----------



## emilyatl (Sep 9, 2013)

doodlebug said:


> Ha! You define cold like a southerner :lol:. The temp in my house is set to 63 at night and I usually have my bedroom window cracked through most of the New Hampshire winter. It been in the 30s at night this week and my window is wide open.


Yup, if it gets much below 60 here, everyone has on "winter" coats.  I worked on a project in Concord a few years ago (once a month for 6 months I had to go up, naturally, starting in November for the most pleasant time of year up there). Everyone thought I was crazy for not having snow boots. They don't heve _sell _snow boots here!


----------



## tezster (Jun 4, 2013)

MowMow said:


> Somedays that's the downside to keeping the apartment cold, night snuggles for MowMow mean mashed up as close to my face as he can get (preferably with the blankets tucked over him with his little head poking out.


That sounds so sweet 
I guess my bedroom isn't cold enough, because my cats rarely snuggle. Newt will occupy the corner closest to the door, and Newton will take the opposite side, or any space he can lie on top of the blanket.



MowMow said:


> If I won the lottery I'd totally hire someone to just sleep with the freaking cats some nights so I could get a decent nights sleep!


Sometimes, I wish I could work out a timeshare arrangement with another person so I could have some peace and quiet.


----------



## NebraskaCat (Jan 15, 2013)

Nebraska gets pretty extreme temperatures as I'm sure many of the locations represented here do. I keep the thermostat at 68 when the furnace is running and 78 when the A/C is running.

There has been many a time when I've almost been late for work because the warmth of a cat or two was more inviting than the cold that would welcome me once I got out of bed.


----------



## Lamb Chop's daddy (Oct 21, 2013)

My goodness MowMow I would not be able to move in that cold. I also think I would have a 3.5 lb. catsickle. I really can't believe that temp. Even when I was young and didn't really seem to mind I think 50 in my house would not fly at all. That's cold.


----------



## MyBabiesDaddy (Jan 1, 2013)

I am definitely a warm body, and like my apartment hot. Summer time I keep it around 74, and when my landlord puts on the AC at night the apartment goes down to 68 and I'm FREEZING! I have two short hairs, Cuddles likes it hot. He'll sit in the kitchen while we are cooking and he'll sit under the vents when the heat is blowing. Simba however, likes it cold. If the vent turns on he'll move away from it into the colder rooms. He will also sit by the window which is cracked open a little even in the winter. We try to leave the house around 65 during the day they don't get too cold/hot and 74/72 at night so that the humans don't freeze


----------



## inet (Nov 1, 2012)

gizmothecat said:


> Omg....50 degrees?!? I would be an icepop . But I've always been a warm weather type of girl


I set the thermostat so the furnace will come on if it goes below 50F to keep my pipes from freezing when I'm at work or out for the evening. When I'm home I heat my house with wood because I live on a wooded lot so it's free fuel (and free exercise cutting and splitting it)! As I'm writing this it's 73F in my house even though it's 25F outside, and the furnace hasn't run for days.

I joined this thread because I had the same question many others did. I have two cats - both just over a year old - and short-haired rescue "mutts". They don't seem distressed by the low temperautures when I get home or get up in the morning but I'm not sure how to recognize distress from low temperatures.


----------



## inet (Nov 1, 2012)

soccergrl76 said:


> We keep our thermostat set to 72 all day. Anything lower than that is cold.


But what about when you're not home? I like it warm when I'm about the house (but I like it cold to sleep). But what's the point of heating the house when you're out?


----------



## inet (Nov 1, 2012)

tezster said:


> That sounds so sweet
> I guess my bedroom isn't cold enough, because my cats rarely snuggle. Newt will occupy the corner closest to the door, and Newton will take the opposite side, or any space he can lie on top of the blanket.
> 
> Sometimes, I wish I could work out a timeshare arrangement with another person so I could have some peace and quiet.


My cats love to cuddle and be picked up and held but they're still basically kittens - just over a year old - so they can't sit still at night. I can't sleep with them because they walk and run all over me, knock things down, play chasing and pouncing games, etc. Maybe when they get older and mellow out . . .


----------



## 10cats2dogs (Jun 16, 2013)

Sleeping temperature at our home is 69 degrees. Daytime is 70 degrees if gone, 72 if at home.
If we turn on our fireplace the dogs and cats flop out in front of it!
One of my cats will actually lay on the hearth and her fur will get so hot, I'm afraid she'll self combust!!! 
When I move her, she complains about it!!
(and sneaks right back!)


----------



## soccergrl76 (Dec 1, 2010)

plnelson said:


> But what about when you're not home? I like it warm when I'm about the house (but I like it cold to sleep). But what's the point of heating the house when you're out?


I'm a stay at home mom so I am home most of the time. Our upstairs gets really cold even with it being set to 72. Our windows are bad. They are the last major thing for us to replace but we are out of $ to replace them right now.


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------

