It’s nearing the end of August and the air is starting to get cool and crisp already – a chilly and rather sad reminder that old man winter is soon going to arrive here once again.

In our little town in northern Manitoba (Canada), it can get mighty cold during our sub-Arctic winters that can last from October to April. According to Wikipedia, the coldest temperature ever recorded here was −57 °F (−49.4 °C) on February l8, 1966! Yes, it’s true…the temperature sometimes gets as low as -50 Celcius or more if there is a wind chill!

For humans, surviving our winters is easy because we have homes to warm up in and outdoor clothing made especially for sub-zero temperatures. Unfortunately for many homeless cats (and dogs) in our town that isn’t the case and they struggle for survival alone outside. Many do not make it and will die alone from a combination of hypothermia, malnutrition or starvation. A few are lucky to be rescued from the cold and some cats were brought to our shelter during last year’s winter. They have recovered with frostbitten ear tips as a forever reminder of those horrible days spent outside in the cold.

A cat’s fur coat doesn’t help him much to survive our bitterly cold and long winters. If hypothermia sets in, a cat’s body temperature can drop dramatically. His heart rate and other body activities will start to slow down. His body will start to violently shiver in an attempt to generate warmth. Blood flow becomes restricted to his feet and ears, and this usually results in frostbite. And if he does not find a warm place to shelter, he will become lethargic and will go into a coma. His heart will just stop.

There are things we can all do to help prevent these horrible deaths for these innocent homeless cats (and dogs). First of all, if you see an animal shivering outside, take it in to your home immediately if you can. If that is not possible, call the Pound and have them come to pick up the cat. It will have a better chance of survival at the Pound than spending more days outside in the cold. Contact us at the shelter to see if we have room to receive the cat. Post and distribute photos of the cat to see if someone is missing their pet. Most importantly, consider constructing a winter shelter for animals that might seek shelter in your yard. If you do a Google search, you will find tons of great, easy to build winter shelter ideas. Search “animal winter survival tips” and you’ll find great websites like this one. http://www.bwar.org/freezing/