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?

Mine has an igloo with a real sheepskin mat in. He goes in at the end of summer and emerges again in spring

My old cat had a heated igloo. She loved it.

They do like to be warm.

I leave the heating on low continually. The cost of the vet numerous times for UTIs in winter far outweighs the cost of the heating and it’s on low so not costing a fortune or devastating the environment. Plus it keeps the pipes from freezing and makes it look like I’m home when I’m not (the pipe exhaust can be seen from the street)