Moving the cage for warmer weather

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trish57

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 9, 2016
Messages
55
My chins have been in my guest room for the 5-1/2 months I've had them, since in the winter it is the coldest part of the house (That and the laundry room). For the same reason it's the coldest in winter, it's the warmest in summer, so soon being in there isn't practical. I keep the house very cool, but I don't think the living room temp is going to be good enough to keep that room cool, and I don't want to turn it lower and freeze the cats. I'm trying not to use a window air conditioner. I have an old portable unit but it is not wi-fi capable. The thermostat is, and I do monitor it all day long.

Add in that I don't get to spend enough time with them since they're in a separate room. We seem to have kind of halted the bonding process this month or so for some reason. They don't usually allow me to touch them or pick them up, but they climb all over me. (Last night JoJo jumped on my foot, and her feet were freezing!) That was around 4 months, and I thought by 6 months all would be good. But no progress since then.

Soooo (and sorry that was long), I have a couple options for the warm weather. My first choice, and I'm asking if you think this is a bad idea, is the living room. Is it just not a good idea with the all the dust flying around and tv/electronics in there? On a separate note, the cats have zero interest in the chins, although Abby LOVES to eat hay off the floor. They are 15 and 13 years old.

The next option would not be far away from the living room - the foyer (which is pretty small, and the cage would block the front entry). It's tiled in there and they would still be close by. And I wouldn't need a separate air conditioner.

The final option, which would require a separate a/c unit, would be the laundry room. It's fairly big for a laundry room, but I'd have to move the cats' litter boxes out.

I'm testing option 1 today. I just moved them into the living room before I sat down to type. Now I have to go clean the guest room - what a mess behind the cage!

So what do you think?

Thanks a bunch!
Trish
 
I should probably add that I have the playpen surrounding the cage while it's in the living room. Even though the cats show no interest, they won't be unsupervised.

Trish
 
There are ppl that let there chins and cat live in the same area. But imo its a bad idea. A very bad idea. No matter how docile or lovable a cat is (or a dog) they are natural predators at the core. There instant instinct are that of a predator. Thats just the way it is. At the same time a chin is a natural prey animal. Bottom of the food chain animal. Its usually not a good idea to mix predator and prey together.

Even with the chins in a cage it can still be fatal to them. A single swipe from a cat paw could be enough to kill a chin. Even if its not, many cats carry a natural bacteria called pasturella in them. Its a dormant thing that doesnt rly affect them. It does however have a big effect on chinchillas. Theres just a lot that can go wrong and it can happen much faster then we can react to even if we are right there when it happens.

So i personally never advise it. Its just not worth the risk to me. (goes for rabbits to)

As for temperature, you always want to keep them at 70 degrees or less. At 73-75 they can start to risk over heating which is fatal. And this needs to be maintained year round. Usually not an issue in many winter months, but im summer you have to make sure. A/c is basically a must if there room reaches that temperature. Cooling tiles can help temporarily, but its not a long term solution. And while air circulation can be good, a fan on them will not help. Chins do not sweat like we do. So they would only feel hot air being blown right on them which is not good. They also would risk a URI form the direct draft.

So there really is no choice in that matter. They must be kept cool or they will over heat. 70 or less is my recommendation. And they are usually good all the way down to 35ish. Long as there water is not freezing.
 
Thanks for your response. I did put them back in their room over the weekend. I had the cage in the foyer with the playpen surrounding it, with lots of space in between of course, and the cats looked and left.

They seem to be happier back in their room now.
 
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