Regina volunteers turn coolers into cat condos

Even with a fur coat, prairie winters can be deadly.

That's whyvolunteers with a Regina cat rescueare once again creating makeshift shelters for feral cats.

Volunteers are turning donated medical-grade coolers into cozy cat condos.The coolers are outfitted with fleece and a pillow and then placed at one of 30 cat colonies in the city.

"We like to joke that these coolers are actually saving lives a few times, because they were also used to transport blood products before they are used to keep our cats warm,"says Rachel Molnar, communications and education coordinator with Regina Cat Rescue.

Molnar said a thermometer placed inside one of the inhabited coolers during a previous year showed a temperature of20 C.

Regina Cat Rescue practises a trap, neuter and return program designed to reduce the population of feral cats in the city.

The rescue adopts cats where it can and returns others to the colonies where they are fed but cannot continue to breed. It said it cares for as many as 150 cats around the city.

Molnar saidthe rescue also hands out about 75 shelter boxes a year to residents who want to help cats in their areas.