Final batch • In 6 active carts right now • 38 pieces remaining
Carol's Cat Shelter
Carol's Cat Shelter
Ships within 3–5 days
30-day money-back guarantee
Free US shipping with tracking
Couldn't load pickup availability
Carol's Cat Shelter
Hand-Sewn on the North Shore of Lake Superior
Carol Jennings, seventy-four — forty-seven years sewing canvas that keeps men warm on the frozen lake, and nineteen winters writing down what became of every cat house she made. Her father’s barn kept the cats warm. Carol sews what had to replace it.
112 left · final run · no restock“Everybody thinks the job is to keep her warm. It isn’t. She doesn’t freeze — she drains. Keep her dry, keep her own heat in the box with her, and she’ll do the rest herself.”
What arrives at your door
Why one gets used — and a farm-store box sits empty all winter
A grown cat gives off about 15 watts of heat on her own — roughly three-quarters of what the pad in an electric cat house uses. She is already a heater. What drains her is wet fur, a wet bed, frozen ground and wind. Every part of this house is built to keep her dry and keep her own heat in. “Warm isn’t the job. Dry is.”
A front door under a hooded, foil-lined flap and a second opening on the side behind a foil curtain. A stray won’t crawl into a hole she can’t see out of — with two ways out, she goes in. The flaps drop back behind her and keep the wind outside. “Would you go into a hole with one door if you’d spent your life getting chased?”
600D Oxford canvas with a PVC coating — the same kind of coated canvas Carol sewed onto ice-fishing shelters for thirty years. 100% waterproof, with a pitched roof that runs past the walls so rain and snowmelt drip clear of the doors. “Out on the lake, the day water gets in is the day you go home.”
Insulating foam, and behind it a reflective aluminum lining on every wall, the roof and the floor — the same idea behind the space blanket NASA developed in 1964. It throws her own body heat back to her instead of letting it soak into the walls. Sewn in, not loose, so there is nothing for a curious cat to chew.
14.2 by 15.7 inches across the base for one cat — the size Carol arrived at after 19 winters of sewing them bigger and smaller, and the size her notebooks say gets used. Every inch of extra air is air she has to warm herself. “Folks think bigger is kinder. It isn’t. A big box is a cold box.”
A powder-coated steel frame holds the house a little over five inches above the porch or the yard, where most of what is sold sits flat on the boards. Cold can’t wick up through the floor, meltwater runs underneath instead of in, and snow has to pile high before it reaches the door.
What the rescue groups publish every winter
“Make the shelter waterproof, windproof, and elevated off the ground.”
— Alley Cat Allies, winter shelter guidance
“A shelter must trap the cats’ body heat to warm its interior. If the shelter is too large, it will be difficult for the cats’ body heat to keep the space warm.”
— Humane World for Animals, caring for outdoor cats in winter
“If using two entrances, add flaps to help keep cold air out.”
— ASPCApro, winter shelter FAQ
Published guidance, quoted for reference. These organizations are not affiliated with Carol Jennings or Back Road Goods.
Perfect for
Quality you can check yourself
- 600D Oxford with a PVC coating — 100% waterproof canvas, the kind that has to survive a winter on open ice. No thin nylon, no cardboard, no bare plastic.
- Foam and foil on all six sides — walls, roof and floor. Sewn in, not taped in or left loose.
- Two doors, each behind a flap — the one detail that turns a box she avoids into a house she uses, and the one almost nobody gets right.
- A floor that never touches the ground — look underneath. Most cat houses sit flat on the frozen boards. This one stands five inches clear on steel.
- Final run, sewn by hand — every house sewn by Carol herself in her father’s old milk house in Two Harbors. Once the shelves are clear, there is no restock and no successor.
The Whole-Winter Guarantee
Nothing about a stray cat happens quickly, so the guarantee is not tied to a clock. Put it out. If she hasn’t moved in by March 31, or the house itself is not everything you hoped — the canvas, the flaps, the frame, the lining — send it back for a full refund. One email is all it takes. Ready to ship in 1–2 days.
A note on handmade variation and wild tenants: Every house is cut and sewn by hand, so stitching and small marks can vary from one to the next — that is the mark of real handwork, not a fault. And strays are wary. Sited properly — up against the house, doors facing away from the wind, somewhere you can see from a window — most cats move in within a week; the shy ones can take two. Three things make more difference than anything else, and all of them are free: a good double handful of straw on the floor (straw, not hay, and never a blanket — a wet blanket freezes), her food and water a few steps away rather than inside, and the flaps pinned open for the first few days with a pinch of catnip inside so she can see straight through. Late September into October is the best time of year to put one out, while strays are still choosing where to spend the winter. And on cold mornings, bang on the hood of your car before you start it.
Product details
| Material | 600D Oxford canvas with PVC coating — 100% waterproof |
| Insulation | Insulating foam plus a reflective aluminum lining on all six sides (walls, roof, floor), sewn in |
| Set contents | 1 cat house with two fitted foil-lined flaps · steel stand · Carol’s Porch Card |
| Size M (one cat) | 14.2 × 15.7 × 19.7 in (36 × 40 × 50 cm) · cats up to 22 lb |
| Size L (two cats) | 15.7 × 17.7 × 21.6 in (40 × 45 × 55 cm) · cats up to 33 lb |
| Entrances | Two, each about 6 in across — hooded foil-lined flap at the front, foil curtain at the side |
| Stand | Powder-coated steel frame, a little over 5 in off the ground |
| Roof | Pitched, overhanging the walls so water runs clear of the doors |
| Power | None needed — no cord, no outlet, nothing to chew, nothing to overheat |
| Colour | Black · Slate Grey · Pine Green |
| Siting | Against the house wall on a porch, deck or yard — doors away from the wind, within sight of a window |
| Care | Wipe clean; change the straw every few weeks or whenever it gets damp |
| Made | Hand-sewn by Carol Jennings in Two Harbors, Minnesota |
| Price & shipping | $69 · ready to ship in 1–2 days |
| Availability | Final run — 112 only, no restock · 4.9 ★ from 1,240 review |
The Final Series
The Final Series
Message from the studio:
After forty-six years painting the Blue Ridge mountains from her window, a small stroke this past winter took the steady hand Eleanor Voss needs for the fine detail. She finished her three 2027 series — the American landscapes, the French villages, and the twelve famous-painting cats — in the last weeks the line still held. Every month is printed from an original oil painting. When these are gone, there is no reprint and no 2028.
Free US Shipping
Free US Shipping
Free shipping across the United States
- Delivery time: 3–5 business days
- Each calendar is carefully packed and ships from the US
- Printed from original oil paintings on thick, writable paper
- 30-day money-back guarantee — just email support@backroad-goods.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Email us anytime at support@backroad-goods.com. We answer Monday–Friday 9am–5pm and Saturday 10am–3pm (ET) — whether it’s about your order, a gift, or just to say hello.
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Of course. 30-day money-back guarantee. Hang it in your kitchen, and if it simply isn’t right for you, email support@backroad-goods.com within 30 days for a full refund. No questions asked.
How is it made?
How is it made?
Every month is an original oil painting by Eleanor Voss near Boone, North Carolina, printed on thick coated paper with a twin-wire spiral binding and large writable date blocks. Three editions: American Landscape, French Town Scenery, and the whimsical Famous Painting Cat. This is her final complete series — no reprint.