The everyday band for a Domestic Shorthair
A Domestic Shorthair suits an indoor temperature of about 65 to 75 degrees, which conveniently matches the range most households already keep. His medium-length double coat — a protective top layer over a modest undercoat — buffers normal swings without trapping so much heat that summer becomes a problem. Within that band he thermoregulates mostly by choice of surface and posture: curled on upholstery when the house is at the cool end, stretched along a hard floor when it drifts warm. Your job is less about precision and more about not letting rooms sit for long at extremes his coat was not designed for.
When a Domestic Shorthair is too warm indoors
Above the upper seventies, a Domestic Shorthair starts reorganising his day around cooling down. He abandons soft beds for tile, sinks and shaded corners, sleeps through more of the afternoon and may eat less at midday meals. Those are normal adjustments, and offering a cool, quiet room with water usually completes them. A house that stays hot overnight is harder on him than a hot afternoon, because cats recover during sleep; if bedrooms run warm, let him choose the coolest sleeping territory rather than closing him into a warm room with his people.
Open-mouth breathing, drooling, restlessness or a cat who feels hot and cannot settle are a different category. Cool the room, offer water and contact a veterinarian if those signs appear or continue, rather than waiting for evening to fix them.
When a Domestic Shorthair is too cool indoors
At the cool end, a Domestic Shorthair spends more time in sun patches and on laps, curls into a tight ball with his tail over his nose and may go off exploring draughty parts of the house entirely. A padded, raised bed in the warmest occupied room resolves ordinary winter chill for a healthy adult. Kittens, seniors and underweight cats feel the low sixties more sharply, so for them hold the middle of the range and add bedding rather than relying on the coat alone. Watch rooms that cool unevenly: the spare room with his spare bed may be several degrees below the living room the thermostat actually measures.
Choice beats a single perfect setting
The most reliable setup for a Domestic Shorthair is a warm option and a cool option available at the same time in different parts of the home. He will commute between them across the day, and that commuting is the sign the range is right. Owners go wrong by optimising one beloved spot: the bed by the window that bakes at noon, or the cushion beside a vent that alternates hot and cold blasts. Spread his beds across rooms with different characters — one sunny, one shaded, one at floor level, one raised — and let his occupancy log tell you which the house is actually delivering.
If he suddenly abandons every usual spot for somewhere odd, treat it as information. Cats relocate for temperature, but also for noise, guests, new smells and feeling unwell, and a same-day check of appetite and litter habits separates weather from worry.
Simple notes keep the house in his band
Because his comfort band matches most people's, the risk is not the setting itself but drift — heating cranked for a cold snap and forgotten, or air conditioning left low after a party. A short written note of his range and best beds closes that gap. Keeping that Domestic Shorthair temperature note in KinsLe Family Sharing lets anyone house-sitting or sharing the home hold his rooms in the band he is used to.