The Perfect House for Cats

More than one person who has come to our home has made the comment, "This is the perfect house for cats!" They mean any cat, of course, but particularly indoor cats. Why is that? Well, let me take you on a tour.

Our house is a passive solar home, and, after living here for over 15 years, I don't think I would settle for anything less ever again. The large south-facing windows let in plenty of light, even on cloudy days, so we seldom have to use lights during the daytime. On winter days like this, the sunshine just pours in, heating the interior to a comfy mid-70s temperature, even when it is less than 20 degrees F. outside. This translates into many sunny patches for cats to lounge in, which is their favorite activity (besides eating). Believe me, it's a sight to warm your heart: Three snoozing, totally relaxed cats stretched out like taffy, each on their favorite napping spot.

The flip side of these large windows is that cats never have to venture far to find a view of the great outdoors. Add to this the fact that the builder installed custom, extra-large window sills and you've got a perfect situation for cats to lounge in the sun as well as keep an eye on the birds and other animals that make their way through our yard. Of course, when the sun is out, their eyes are seldom open!

The design of our house also provides us with large windows in the walk-out basement. This makes this area very usable, and also provides the cats with huge sills to lounge upon, due to the thickness of the cement wall. We also have our wood-burning stove down there, another source of radiant heat that the cats just love. Our house is considered a story-and-a-half, so cats have three floors to explore and run to and from. When they're not sleeping, they get plenty of exercise doing just that.

The main thing that makes this a perfect house for cats is that we love cats. This ingredient is necessary, in large doses, to make any house perfect for pets (and people). So, you can always install a wood stove, trim trees to bring more light into your house, put on an addition (just kidding) and put comfy pillows and blankets around. As the Beatles said, "All you need is love." If you've got the loving part down, the rest is really just gravy.
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Why Our Cats Love Winter

Everyone knows that cats are desert animals, so you might wonder why I would say that ours love winter weather. Well, two reasons: Sunshine and the wood stove.

Most animals, whether warm- or cold-blooded, love radiant heat. Who hasn't, at one time or another, witnessed garden snakes or lizards basking in the warm sun on a stone wall? Anyone with cats and dogs will tell you that they will seek out a sunny spot on a cool day, and cats are notorious for napping on a sunny windowsill. Personally, my favorite time to soak up the rays is in the early spring, when the air is chill and sun is beginning to strengthen; there is nothing more relaxing and soothing than that type of heat!

Our cats are great sun worshippers. Since they are indoor pets, they never have to contend with cold weather, but that doesn't mean that they don't care about lying around in the sun. They don't do it because they're cold, but because it feels so good! We have a passive solar home, so at this time of year the sun shines in full-tilt through our huge front windows, nudging the temperature in the house into the mid-70s. This provides our cats with a plethora of sunny places in which to stretch out and relax. When they are in this "zone", they are as gooey and pliable as any cat can be!

When the sun goes down, we light up the wood stove down cellar. For maximum feline comfort, I have strategically placed comfy beds close, but not too close, to this source of radiant heat. Bear and Little Girl are addicted to this comfort, but Goldie is not. He loves the sunshine, but is somewhat indifferent to the wood stove. He'll hang out down cellar on occasion, but always acts guilty when we discover him lounging in front of the stove. The other two will sleep like the dead when the stove is roaring, but not Goldie. Well, as I've said before, gold cats are different!

Dogs also love wood heat, but a friend of mine told me a story about one of her dogs who became so inert from sleeping by the wood stove that he wouldn't even get up to go outside to do his business! Her veterinarian told her that this is not unusual with dogs, and that they need to be supervised and not allowed to spend too much time lying close to this source of heat. A word to the wise!

The moral of this story? Cats know how to relax and enjoy life, and we would do well to take our cue from them. Stay warm!
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