Melody Karle and her husband live in Montana, where winter lows can plunge to –40°F. When it gets that brutal, they head indoors and turn up the heat—but the neighborhood strays don’t have that option.
A few years after moving into their home, the couple decided to give the local cats a warm refuge. They cobbled together a makeshift shelter from a picnic table, some old fencing, and a chicken heat lamp, and set out food to entice visitors. It didn’t take long. Cats started dropping by regularly, curling up to nap and sometimes staying the whole night.
“I don’t know what they did before we got here,” Karle told us.
Demand was so steady that they built an upgraded version. This time they used plastic deck boxes for sturdier walls, packed them with straw, added heating pads, and installed small cameras inside. The cats loved the new digs even more.
With time, the couple learned the faces and habits of their “regulars,” giving each a name and noting their quirks. One long-time visitor, a senior tom called Old Tom Morris—OTM for short—showed up daily for an entire year. He ate the food and slept in the shelter but allowed only the briefest touches.
One day, Karle spotted a serious bite wound on OTM’s shoulder. She coaxed him into a carrier, took him to the vet, and he was shaved and treated. With fur missing and temperatures dropping, she couldn’t bear to put him straight back outside and decided to see whether he could handle being indoors.
To her surprise, he adjusted almost immediately.
“Two days in, it was obvious he was totally relaxed,” Karle said. “He basically said, ‘I live here now… It’s warm, you feed me, and I’m not leaving.’”
OTM has been part of the family for two years, and he’s no longer alone. The couple has since brought in two more former backyard cats, Winston and Patrick.
“It wasn’t our plan to adopt any of them,” Karle admitted. “We already had cats and didn’t think these guys were friendly at first.” But OTM, Winston, and Patrick won them over.
Even with three adoptees, the pair is still committed to the cats who remain outdoors. The shelter continues to see daily visitors, they’ve helped several be placed with new families, and they partner with local rescues and veterinarians to spay and neuter the colony.
Karle urges anyone in cold climates to consider putting up a simple backyard shelter. You don’t need special skills—she and her husband aren’t builders—and local rescue groups often have low-cost materials or guidance.
“Even if it’s not perfect, it’s better than nothing,” she said. “Whatever people can do is good enough.”
And who knows—if you build one, you might end up gaining a new family member or two… or three.