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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

Which cat bed to get?

36 replies

RamblingRosa · 29/05/2011 11:28

Hello,
We have a relatively new cat (posted on here a few times a month ago when we first got her). 1yr old, lovely semi-long haired tabby.

I want to get her a bed but I'm a bit dazzled by all the choice.

Radiator beds look good but radiators won't be back on until autumn and I imagine cats only like them when the radiator's on.

The igloo ones look nice but our kitty seems to be a sprawler rather than a curler. She likes to stretch right out on her back. Maybe she'll curl up more in the winter.

And then there are the plain fleecy cushiony beds.

Any tips? I don't want to fork out for something and find she won't use it.

OP posts:

StellaSays · 29/05/2011 13:45

My cat won't use her bed or scratching post or anything I bought her.

She loves sleeping on beds or on clothes thrown on the floor or on the chairs.

My advice is to not waste the money as she will prefer your stuff anyway.

Mabelface · 29/05/2011 13:48

She'll go to the bed you buy, sniff it, give it a look of utter contempt and then go and sprawl on your bed.

aliceliddell · 29/05/2011 13:54

RR - they're right. Tragically right. Expensively, annoyingly, thirty quids worth of igloo in the loft right. Gliitter pompoms from Rymans £1.25 - feline joy.

TiggieWiggle · 29/05/2011 13:54

Our cat started sleeping under the kitchen table so we bought him a flat cushion style bed and put his blanket on there - he does sleep on there at night now as we close the bedroom doors and shut him in the kitchen .

When we first got him we bought him a lovely igloo style bed (really expensive) he never went in it - as Madlizzy said he just sniffed it and turned his nose up at it!

sprinkles77 · 29/05/2011 15:01

don't bother. My cat likes the baby's cot best, or his buggy (with sheepskin liner of course)!

seeker · 29/05/2011 15:06

Don't bother. She won;t sleep in it. And the more you pay for it the less she is likely to sleep in it!

Put an old blanket in a cardboard box - and pretend it's for something else!

Original poster

RamblingRosa · 29/05/2011 20:46

Arggh! I thought that might be the case. I'm glad I asked on here before I forked out. So, even those radiator ones are a no go? I thought a nice toasty radiator would be enough to tempt most cats in the winter.

OP posts:

PhishFoodAddiction · 29/05/2011 21:27

I wouldn't bother either! Our kitten rarely sleeps in her basket, she prefers the back of the sofa, the cushions, DD1s bed, and any coat/ dressing gown/ other clothes she can get her paws on.

Maybe try leaving a blanket or cushion somewhere for her? We put a soft baby blanket into Bella's basket and she will now sometimes deign to sleep in there.

tabulahrasa · 29/05/2011 21:29

mine like the radiator ones in winter, I have two of them (one for each cat), a cushiony one and one on a scratching post/climby thing...they're currently asleep on the couch and on a shelf

Hassled · 29/05/2011 21:31

I've never had a cat (and I've had cats all my life) which has slept on a cat bed. They sleep where they want, and it won't be on the bed you've bought.
Big Stupid Cat has taken to sleeping in the tumble dryer whenever I leave the door open. It freaks the hell out of me.

AprilRose · 29/05/2011 21:34

I remember, being much younger, and our cats having the radiator-mounted beds and often being in them. However I also remember looking at them recently for my current brood (pride? what's the collective noun??) and someone, perhaps even my mother, saying not to get them as they can put a lot of strain on the radiators. I'm not sure how much I believe that. My cats aren't that heavy...

All the same I've not gone for it. Mainly because my three sleep in the dog's bed, on the spare mattress, on the door mat, etc. Currently have one perched atop a pile of boxes. So yeah - buy a bed if you like it as some sort of decorative installation, but don't be surprised if it doesn't get used.

Original poster

RamblingRosa · 30/05/2011 16:58

Thanks all. Sounds like I just need to accept that the hallway carpet (her favourite spot) will forever be covered in great tufts of cat fur and I'm going to have to hoover it every day.

OP posts:

RoyalWelsh · 30/05/2011 17:09

ClaireDeLoon · 30/05/2011 17:12

Going against the grain to say mine use the radiator bed lots and also they seem to like a cheapie doughnut style one too.

ClaireDeLoon · 30/05/2011 17:13

Oh and they use the radiator bed in the summer as well as winter. It's a good sturdy one though, some of them look a bit flimsy and my cats are on the large side.

JohnStuartMills · 30/05/2011 17:18

My ds has insisted we comment as we are sitting at the kitchen table with our cat asleep on the only chair with a cushion! This is because the door to my son's bedroom is shut. The door to the sofas are also closed.

She won't catch mice or do any work. Help us.

TooManyBlossoms · 30/05/2011 17:19

My cat absolutely loves her radiator bed, winter or summer. And cos it's basically just a fleecy blanket, it can be chucked in the washing machine every couple of weeks and dries really quickly.

CharlotteBronteSaurus · 30/05/2011 17:20

see if you can get a cat owner to give you a spare that their cat has spurned.
i did once have a cat who loved her bed, and slept their until 7ish when she would get into ours to wake us up

current cat sleeps either in the middle of our bed, or on dd1's pillow.

ClaireDeLoon · 30/05/2011 17:21

Cats can't work as then they wouldn't have sufficient sleeping time.

ClaireDeLoon · 30/05/2011 17:21

That was to JSM btw!

msrisotto · 30/05/2011 17:24

Yeah my cat likes her radiator bed.

She also has a warm pyramid house that she uses in the winter too - you have to leave it out to be ignored for like, a year, first mind.

Favourite spot = sofa.

Best toy ever = any box.

JohnStuartMills · 30/05/2011 17:34

Thank you C de L. Ooh, I'd better get back on duty. She has got up and is expecting food tout suite. Shall be more sensitive to her immediate and demanding needs. Now you mention it, she does look peaky having only slept for 18 out of the last 24 hours.

ShimmeryPixie · 30/05/2011 17:37

my cats sleep on:

the sofa
my bed
the chair
(one only) in a cardboard box filled with shredded (by the cat) paper.

Won't go near the catbed.

TigerseyeMum · 30/05/2011 17:44

Mine has never slept on any of the beds I have ever bought for him. The thing he likes best is an old mohair cardie donated by my mother. We used to put it at the bottom of our bed and say 'on your cardie' and he would dutifully get up and lie on it.

The cardie got binned as it got old and smelly, but we still say 'on your cardie' and he gets off us and onto the bottom of the bed where it used to be :)

He also likes to sprawl along the top of the fishtank as the light makes it hot.

wednesday13 · 30/05/2011 17:54

Radiator sling if heating is on (one on the bottom one on the top)

Rest of year, on our bed. We have given up and put a woolly blanket across the foot of the bed, they are normally to be found on or under that.

Even when they are shut in the lounge they just sleep on sofas/cushions rather than the bought kitty bed.

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