Heating on during cold nights for the cats?

[wanderings]

Of course, as most cats have the privilege of wearing fur coats every day, they have natural protection from the cold. In our house we try to make minimal use of central heating and layer up instead, including in the night. But sometimes I wonder: should we be trying to keep the cats warmer, especially at night? (We have two, 8 and 13 years old.) Do cats show distress when they're too cold? Certainly they snuggle up a lot more in cold weather: on beds, cushions, radiators, our laps, any warm place they can find. If we were to go away for a few days in a cold snap (with someone coming in to feed them), should we put heating on for them?

Cats are the experts in finding warm, cosy places. You don't need to go to the expense of keeping your heating on just for them! You could always buy them a cosy bed or cushion - if a) you haven't already and b) they will deign to sleep in/on them!

I'm away at the moment and I've just used the Nest app to turn up the heating for Harry. I'm absolutely frozen at the moment and I didn't want to think of him being cold!

Mine cook themselves infront of the fire.
You can't get too hot for the yellow one, she will sit at the roaring fire if we let her.
If the fire is out they huddle the chimney or get in bed.
They hate the cold.

If you're going away can you put the heating on the timer , for the sake of the house as well ( frozen pipes etc)

Ours find all cosy areas - someones bed , the top corner of the staircase , dining room chair ( by the radiator and the glass french door . Female cat's Pole Position)

I would yes. They are descended from desert felines so their comfortable ambient temperature is a bit higher than a human’s.

You could turn down the valves on some radiators, just heat some rooms. Or get heating pads on timer plugs.

We light a fire during the day to keep our two cats warm.
We are at work for between 8 and 12 hours.
We have furry overlords. We know our place.

My elderly boy has taken to sleeping on the prickly doormat, right under the slightly drafty cat-flap.
He will not use his nice basket, with pillow, or a cushion moved to this special spot of his.
We have basically decided he's either silly and stubborn, or is going gaga in his old age, but it's his choice....*shrugs

I don't put the heating on for our cat. If she's cold she comes and sleeps on the bed next to us. If we're going away we make sure she has lots of cosy blankets dotted around to sleep on, and make sure she can get under the duvet if she needs tom and just set the heating to come on once a day for an hour

We had a year where it was really cold and left the heating on while we were at work so the cats didn't get chilly... it was an expensive winter 😂

I can tell when the cats are cold though, they are a bit antsy and flighty, but are generally both smart enough to snuggle together on a bed or something. At night they either get under the duvet with me or DD, but will never sleep in a bed or nest bought for them!

Last night was the coldest for a while (0 deg). The ‘out all night, every night’ boy was on the end of the bed all night and the two ‘eek it’s foul, let’s try out the front door’ girls were out and wouldn’t come in.

Go figure!

I wouldn’t leave the house I heated when you go away.

My 5 are all cuddled up in various beds. Then when we go to bed at least two will join us.

I bought my old boy a heated cat bed for his birthday. It plugs in and works when the cat sits on it. He seems to like it.
He can't roam free overnight due to the alarm but when he can likes to sit on the oven warming plate or the draining board if the dishwasher has been on.
If you need to find where a hot water pipe goes under the floorboards ask a cat 🐱

I'd leave it on for them. I've been having to put mine on timer as my cat is more delicate than ones I've had in the past.
She definitely feels the cold more and is spending a lot of time sitting on the radiator hoping it will magically turn on.

We always have the heating on timer when we're away in the winter as our flat can get chilly quite quickly. I don't think you need the heating blasting out all day but maybe an hour twice a day would be good. Make sure there are cosy places for them to sleep and they'll be fine.

The older cat used to find an unusual place outdoors to keep warm, in her younger days: curled up on one of those big substation transformers where the voltage changes. The fences around it and the "danger of death" signs were no deterrent to her! That was years ago, and she's still very much alive and well.

Leave heating on for cats??!! No way!! Costs enough as it is and bad for environment to have it on when not needed.
Cats will he fine! Mine always has been.

My cats think anything less than 25 degrees is winter. They would be horrified by English summers. Felines are desert creatures. I definitely think you should put heating on for them, especially if you go away

I don't but I do set the thermostat on 16.5C overnight which means heating will occasionally come on in the coldest winter months. I have four cats so they can snuggle together, or they are welcome to join me on the bed, and they also have a couple of cosy cat beds/igloos.

posterphenomenalcat

You're so right! One of our previous cats used to lie across the landing at an odd angle. It was only when we had some work done that we discovered it was the exact route of a central heating pipe.

l don't have cats, but l do have house rabbits. They have their own room (dining room) which is the only room in the house they have access to. l don't use my central heating (just the gas fire in the living room for me) but l do have a plug in radiator with a thermostat which l use in their room. Now it's turned colder l keep feeling their ears to see if they're cold. lf they are, l turn the heat up a bit. Even when they're snuggled up together on their fleece blanket.
l admit it, l'm a total soft touch.

Our heating goes off at 11, back on at 6. I have a heated throw on the couch which I usually leave on for an hour after going to bed, but if it gets very cold she comes into our bed. She has a lovely cosy bed, but currently favours the furry pad that goes inside the cat carrier box thing, and which looks really untidy.

Cats will always be fine! My stupid friend used to leave his air conditioning on for his cats ; cost him €230 in electricity for two months 🙄

You might want it on anyway to keep pipes and things from freezing.

I'd look at the heat retaining cat beds and maybe a snuggle safe.

My DH will draw back the duvet and put the electric blanket on for the cat 🙄

Just put the heating on a timer. Ours gets set to an hour in the am, and maybe 2hrs in the pm. Not yet though - only as and when still here!

That way the house won't be bitter when you come home either.