Heated blanket/pad/bed for an elderly cat

[TamzinGrey]

My girl is starting to get a bit stiff and arthritic in her old age, and now that we've got the heating on, she's spending a lot of time during the day snoozing on her windowsill mat, which gets really warm as it's directly above a radiator.

The windowsill is out of bounds after dark, when the curtains are closed, so I was thinking about getting her some sort of electrically heated device to snuggle up on.

So many choices out there and I don't know what would be best - a blanket, a pad or a heated bed. Does anyone have a recommendation?

Seniorboy has an electric blanket left on Low on the bed because, with his arthritis, he likes to lie stretched out and long between the duvet and his fleece throw (with the blanket providing heat from below.) If your girl is still OK with curling up, maybe a heat pad would work well. It would certainly be transportable between rooms.

Out of interest, has the vet prescribed meds for her? Seniorboy is on a daily dose mixed with his food and they've made a big difference to his quality of life.

Cozie- do you mean that Seniorboy has a human sized electric blanket on a proper human bed, or does he have a cat electric blanket on a cat bed? I can empathise with the former as Our Girl spends a lot of her time on the massive bed in our spare room. Actually the spare room bed has become her bed now. It's bigger and so much more comfortable than our bed (sigh).

She hasn't actually been diagnosed with arthritis. I've just noticed that her back legs seem to be looking a bit stiff when she's walking lately, and she has become a bit hesitant before jumping on the settee . She still challenges me to a race up the stairs though, and she always wins.

She's got her annual "MOT" coming up and I will ask the vet about her stiffness. Meanwhile I would be grateful for any advice.

She's nearly 18 and we love her to bits.

Human sized electric blanket on human sized bed. (To aid his lying long which it sounds as if your girl wants to do as well if she's going in the spare room bed.) They're surprisingly cheap if you get a basic one from - say - Amazon.

He's 18 nearly 19 so of an age with your girl and I noticed firstly that he wasn't jumping as well (if at all) and then he started having trouble pooing. It's quite demanding on the back legs and joints doing the high poo squat and he was clearly finding it sore. This was all about a year and a half ago.

The vet has him on a NSAID (along with a mild laxative) which has made a big difference to him. There's an issue with those because they can go for the kidneys on long term use so it's a bit of a trade off of quality of life against length of life - but he's tolerating them well after a year and a half and so far, his kidneys are still functioning well. (He has to have 6 monthly bloods etc.)

Your girl may not need them, of course, and your vet will advise when she gets her MOT. I also seem to recall Lone saying that there were developments maybe on the horizon and I think it's in this area if I remember correctly. Probably too late for our two, though.

Thanks Cozie. It's very interesting that you first noticed problems with Seniorboy in relation to his jumping. Our Girl is definitely getting very hesitant about jumping lately, but she can still race around like a bat out of hell when she wants to.

When she's on her the big bed she usually sleeps tightly curled up, but she stretches out luxuriously on her window sill mat when the radiator is on.

She does seem to be gravitating more and more towards heat sources lately. Maybe it's just because of her achy stiff old bones. (I can empathise with that).

She'd be darned lucky if she got to that age without some joint issues - and it sounds to me (the jumping issues, looking for heat sources and stretching on them if possible) as if she's got some. Bear that in mind if you get any toileting accidents in the near future.

When's her MOT due?

Mine has a radiator bed that she used to use, and then suddenly stopped - currently her favorite sleeping spot is on some shelves.

But she is a baby compared to both your OAPs.

I have a hot water bottle with a bagpuss cover that she likes to roll up on. It might be worth trying a hotwater bottle with a fluffy cover before you spend money, you know how fickle cats can be.

I know that The Lodger, who is a young fit cat, liked hot spots to sleep on - but also tended to move every three nights or so to a different nighttime sleeping spot. (Daytime always seemed to be the laundry cupboard on top of the towels.)

I doubt he has any arthritis at all. Fickle they certainly are.

We have electric blanket type beds that the cats love.

We also have a "self heating bed" which reflects their own body heat and is really cosy. I bought it for awkward cat who insists on sleeping in the potting shed in the depths of winter, even on the coldest day when she is in the bed if you stick your hand in it feels lovely and cosy.

Sashh That's a brilliant idea to try her with a hot water bottle first, and it could well save me a lot of money, for she is indeed extremely fickle. I will go and get one tomorrow (really like the idea of a bagpuss cover).

The self heating bed sounds interesting Thistle. I'm about to google it.

Well we have a huge storm here this morning - although it's moderating a bit now. An hour ago, I was lying here wondering if the chimney was going to come down. Seniorboy, on the other hand, was snoring gently on his electric blanket.

Heat is all, eh?