A week or so ago, when it was quite balmy compared to this, one of the electric heaters in the cat facility kicked the bucket. I was surprised how toasty it was up there even without it, and thought perhaps there was no reason to go to the expense of purchasing a new one, and paying for the electric to heat it, if the two remaining heaters plus the heat lamp were handling the job quite nicely.
Hey, I thought, it's almost February. Maybe spring is on the way.
Yeah, right. It sure was chilly up there this morning after the clouds parted, the moon and stars came out, and the temps plummeted below zero!
Luckily, heaters are on sale right now. If you are in the market for one, zip on over to Home Depot.
I actually bought more than one. One is already cranking in the cat facility. I also bought one for the house. Mark has been talking about having one by chairs in the kitchen for about a year (our "house account" paid for ours, not the cat fund). We currently heat with oil and wood.
I'd whine about the heating bill that came today, but no one reading this is getting off easy if they live where there is winter, so there's no use complaining. My vet's own fuel bill was over $700.
The worst part is heating the downstairs of the cat facility for the feral spay/neuters. Normally fuel for that area is only needed intermittently, but with all the cats we've had coming through and cold temperatures even during the day, it's costing a mint to heat that area. I think after this Tuesdays and next Tuesdays appointments, if the weather is still this cold, we are going to have to stop for awhile until it gets in the 30s again. The downstairs costs about $15 a day to heat, which is why we only use it for feral spay/neuter space for other rescuers when they need it.
The regular cat facility (second floor) is relatively economical to heat, under the circumstances, and stays around 62-72, heated by electric.
The Christmas donations are now spent, but we definitely got our money's worth. A lot of cats have come through these past few weeks; we've made some improvements in the cat facility and purchased needed equipment and beds/bowls/hammocks. Fuel for downstairs ate up a chunk of it. Lawerence got his Western Blot test for FIV and is having his hernia operation, Tiger Tom and Ben got annual check ups with second FeLV/FIV tests, Thomas is going in for a dental and eye-duct flush tomorrow, and the kittens are ALL s/n and FeLV/FIV tested. So that's a pretty nice holiday present!! Thank you all!
Stay warm!
1 comment:
Poke me when you need more beds/hammocks/toys. I sometimes need to be reminded, but you know I'd love the excuse to sew. It's one of the few things I *can* do for you.
Post a Comment