I've been taking my 5 year old male to a park near my apartment all summer and he loves walking around on his harness. Now that it's staring to cool down in Chicago, I'm wondering when is it too cold to take him outside?

He does have a fleece jacket that he never has a chance to wear. I want him to get out and play and be active as much as possible, but I also don't want him to be uncomfortable outside.

Cats are resilient, it seems. Raiden doesn't get much of a winter coat. He still wanted to go on walks in the winter time. I tried pinning a shawl around him and it kept falling off and he didn't like walking with it. I did not take him out unless the sun was out and temps were in the mid 20's or higher. He was fine! Now, our walks were shorter. He even walked in the snow with no problem and I did check and dry off his paws when we came back in the house. Thankfully, we don't get a whole lot of sub-freezing days in Nashville. If your kitty still wants to go out, I'd take him, just keeping the walk shorter! Chicago does get very cold. Your little one may have to sit out the walks when the temps and wind chill are in the 20's. That's probably every single day -- December - February.

If you can go outside, your cat can go outside.

Yes, I imagine a sphinx would definitely get cold

We have certainly taken Quasar out in sub-freezing weather. He is dressed for it in his down puffer coat but his feet rarely hit the ground on such days.

Quasar has gone to more than one hot air balloon launch in Bluff, Utah, at 25 deg. Fahrenheit (or colder). He usually spends a lot of his time in the running pick-up truck on those types of excursions, however.

I agree with wildlifereflections, if it is too cold for me it is certainly too cold for my cat.

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~ Kyenta

Unfortunately for me, 50 degrees is too chilly for me! LOL. I have to really wrap myself up in order to take Raiden outside and I detest the cold weather!!! Winter lasts from November - mid-March and these twice-a-day walks really do me in! Not looking forward to it at all this winter.

Maybe it's worth considering a pet stroller for winter. We walk ours in parks with ponds/rivers etc and if the boys get tired they just jump in and get pushed until they want to walk again or we get back to the car.

Living in South Florida we never get very cold weather. I have wondered what my cats would think of snow. This year they have become accustomed to the hot humid weather we have half the year, but they really love the cooler months much more. It will be a couple more months before I can open up the doors to the patio so they can run in and out all day. We are still in the 90s with very high humidity.

Last winter we had snow on the ground and Raiden was oblivious to it! Wasn't a whole lot, but the ground was white. We have a neighbor who walks his two little dogs in a stroller and we sort of chuckle as to who is getting the exercise? Certainly not the dogs! LOL. I know Raiden would not settle for a stroller by any means. He wants to be in control of where he goes. It was 60 degrees out this morning and I bundled up.

I saw that it was 90 down there, Jill. When we lived in South Florida, I didn't mind the heat so much. The ocean breeze definitely helps. Here in Nashville, we are in a bowl and we get no breeze in the summer time and 90 degrees is 110 heat index!!! I love spring and fall, but I don't cope well with really cold weather. Thankfully, I'm now retired, so I don't have to worry about getting to work in the snow and I don't have to take Raiden out for a walk if it's too cold out.

Blondie and Grace are definitely friskier in the cooler weather. Plus all the creepy lizards hibernate. I just rescued another one from the jaws of death. No tail of course but he was still alive when I tossed him out the front door. Last week they had a huge one cornered in the bath room. It almost looked like a baby alligator. His tail was gone and he was hiding behind the bathroom door. I kept hearing the garbage can getting knocked around so I went to investigate. He was so big, I put him in a box and released him outside. No good would have come from that.

Don't like creepy crawly things that might crawl up my arm! Always fascinated by the fact the lizard's tail can break off and they simply grow a new one for the next cat to break off! Those little things are all over South Florida and can get inside the house through the smallest of holes. Winter they either hibernate or get killed off here .... so I may see a couple in the summer time. I know Raiden would have a ball down in South Florida. And he may get the chance at some point. Looking to head south when the hubby retires the end of next year. It's only 59 degrees outside this morning and rainy ... any time Raiden would stop, he'd crouch and wrap his tail around himself. I'm sure the ground was wet and cold.

I've wondered about this myself since in Pennsylvania, we definitely get temperatures that are below freezing and a decent amount of snowfall in the winter. I think I'd be comfortable with a brief exploration of snow, but I don't think we'll be going for walks if it's that cold outside. I do agree that if it's too cold for you, it's too cold for your cat.

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Guardian of Zelda - Brown Spotted Bengal