# Comfortable room temperature for cats in winter?



## melysion

We have had a really awful summer this year in the UK (worse than usual) and its already getting chilly in the evenings. We have a system called central heating here which one can thermostatically control so it turns off and on automatically according to the room temperature.

I'm concerned about Toby being in a cold house all day in the winter when I am at work but my lack of pennies don't allow him the luxury of a toasty warm home all day either. But, if I turn the theromstat to a temperature he can live with that won't cause me to faint with horror when I open my heating bill after Christmas that would be great.

What do other people do in a similar situation in the winter months? And what would you suggest is the lowest comfortable temperature for a cat? I think Tobys pretty 'tough' so he wont wimp out at a little chilliness but I don't want him getting too cold!


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## moarias1984

Yep, I know exactly what you mean. I live in Massachusetts, and it can get pretty cold in the winter. When I'm not home I try to leave it at 65F (about 18C). But what I think is more important is to make sure that there aren't any drafts coming in from the windows. I think I also read somewhere that you don't even want to turn the heat (or AC, in summer) off completely because then it takes that much more to bring it to a comfortable temperature when you get home.


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## gunterkat

All the cats I've had through the years loved the cool weather in spring and autumn. Temps around 12.8°C or 15.6°C (55 or 60°F) should be fine, and not cost a fortune to maintain.


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## doodlebug

I leave my house at 65 during the day as well. You can get him a heated bed if you feel like spoiling him. There are some with actual heaters you plug in, others with an insert you take out and warm in the microwave (supposed to last like 12 hours) and others that are made of a material that keeps the body heat in.


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## Leazie

We keep the house around 70 degrees in the winter, but the kids have their litter boxes, etc. in the basement which is not heated. I keep a therometer down there and it stays in the 50's even when it's really cold out. The kids don't seem to mind, altho they do tend to spend more time upstairs.

I think if you keep your house around 65, or so they should be fine.

Allie, how thoughtful of you to worry about Toby's temperature


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## CataholicsAnonymous

I think cats can handle a pretty wide variation in temperature without suffering any discomfort or ill effects. And, I think it's natural for most animals (especially mammals) to "expect" not only seasonal but also diurnal variations. When I'm not home, I usually set the thermostat at 60 in winter. At night, I crank it down to 55 (of course, there's my beloved electric blanket :lol: ). When I'm home, it's usually around 65-68, depending on how my internal thermostat is working. There are always many places in the house with blankets (bed, sofa, chair) or rugs (cat bed boxes). If a cat needs warmth, he will snuggle on one of those, and sometimes they snuggle together. (Robbie stays under the blanket when it's cool.) I can't afford winter heat bills and I try to keep the temp down but, believe me, nobody's cold. One difference here is that my cats do go in and out, even in winter. Of course, they don't spend nearly as much time outside as in the summer. 

You'll have to do the math to Celsius; I don't have a conversion table handy. :wink:


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## ziggystyles

The way I see it, cats are cats...they have fur, lol. I think that we as humans would think of as being cold, would be OK in the cats eyes still. There are cats that live outside in winter time with no problems whatsoever...so turning your heat down a few degrees....lol are they even going to notice?


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## Nini

I think somewhere around 18C shoud be fine for Toby - if anything, his fur might just get thicker to help him in the cooler temps - and it should not be too horrendous in terms of the heating bill. 

Like others said, if he has a few snuggly places to curl up in, he will stay warm and cosy without problems - your bed, a cardboard box with a blanket inside, a blanket on a chair...

Maybe being a little cooler will help him burn more calories (sorry Toby, I did not just say that!) :lol:


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## melysion

ziggystyles said:


> The way I see it, cats are cats...they have fur, lol. I think that we as humans would think of as being cold, would be OK in the cats eyes still. There are cats that live outside in winter time with no problems whatsoever...so turning your heat down a few degrees....lol are they even going to notice?


Hmmm .... guess so. BUT Toby is a strictly indoor cat who probably isnt used to the elements and has a medical condition so I don't want to stress out his little system by him getting cold.

:lol: I suspect I'm being a worry wart. But I'd rather worry too much than risk any harm coming to my boy.

Thanks for the tips! Much appreciated. I'll try at 18C and see how he goes. I'll also put his little bed in my wardrobe with lots of snuggly blankets. Hopefully he will find that if necessary.


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## Nini

melysion said:


> Hopefully he will find that if necessary.


If there's something cats instinctively know how to do, I think it is to find the snuggliest, warmest place in the house (and make their humans as uncomfortable as possible while sleeping on them in the most comfortable position) :wink:


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## moarias1984

Nini said:


> melysion said:
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> 
> 
> Hopefully he will find that if necessary.
> 
> 
> 
> If there's something cats instinctively know how to do, I think it is to find the snuggliest, warmest place in the house (and make their humans as uncomfortable as possible while sleeping on them in the most comfortable position) :wink:
Click to expand...

Lol, so true!
"Ahhh, I am soo comfortable with my paw in your face while you sleep"


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## Nini

moarias1984 said:


> Nini said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> melysion said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hopefully he will find that if necessary.
> 
> 
> 
> If there's something cats instinctively know how to do, I think it is to find the snuggliest, warmest place in the house (and make their humans as uncomfortable as possible while sleeping on them in the most comfortable position) :wink:
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Lol, so true!
> "Ahhh, I am soo comfortable with my paw in your face while you sleep"
Click to expand...

Consider yourself lucky it's a paw that's in your face! Lately I have had to fend off Chewie's attempts at shoving her butt in my face in the morning 8O


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## doodlebug

Last winter there was an ice storm and the power was out for 2+ days. I wasn't home (business trip in California), the cat sitter said them temp in the house was down to the upper 40's. I told her where to find extra blankets and she spread them around the house. I could see that they were definitely used when I got home. They did fine, but we were considering getting them out of there, after all they don't really develop winter coats because they're indoor cats. But the power/heat came back on before we had to make the decision. 

So yeah, they're pretty resilient, but I wouldn't want that to be the way they live all winter. I know that at night when I put the heat down to 60ish, they seek heat by snuggling up to me and Holly goes under the blankets. They don't snuggle as closely during the times when the house temp is higher. So I think they start to feel chilly when the temp is in the low 60's. The other thing to remember is that a cat's body temp is 2-4 degrees warmer than ours (normal is 100.5-102.5).


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## Woodsman

I got my cat a heated cat bed for when it gets really cold and I can't afford to crank the heat up any higher. It only uses about 4 watts but gets pretty toasty when she lays in it. 



regards,
Brian


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## Mysterious

my house at its coldest during the winter is 65F and I always have an electric blanket turned on for them if needed.


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## SpoiledRottenPrinces

I really can't help out in this situation. This winter is going to be a whole new experience for me seeing that I just got a sphynx kitten! I'm not sure how warm I'm going to have to keep it in my house to make sure his bald little butt stays warm!


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## gunterkat

I remember the one time Sam seriously hissed at me was a record-cold winter night in Metairie when I wanted to bring him inside and he wanted to stay out. 8O I don't think it was that he liked the cold as much as he had never seen the weather change that way before.


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