Question about Heated Cat Pads

[Icequeen01]

Does anyone use heated cat pads/beds? Little Cat is getting on now (we think she's coming up to 15) and she has one of those snuggly cat nests which she sleeps in at night. I'm just worried that she will still feel the cold at night when the heating goes off. She sleeps upstairs but likes to sleep in the study away from my ginger boys. She only weighs just over 2kgs (she's always been this small) and she's smooth haired so doesn't have a nice thick coat. Is it possible to put a heated pad inside her nest for added warmth or am I overthinking this?

One of our cats, many years ago, loved a heated pad. She didn't use a bed, I just put it on a blanket and kept it switched on low.

Bought one - cat ignored it and sat some else.

Mind you I could say the same for any other cat specific thing- donut bed, cat tree, igloo...

Our (late) old girl lived on hers from October to April. Like yours, she was a small cat with low body fat and a short coat, so she didn't have a lot of natural insulation.

We've got one for our cat, he absolutely loves it. It goes on every night when we go up to bed and it's in his bed in our bedroom. Every morning he is stretched out snoring in bliss when the alarm clock goes off! Definitely worth it in my opinion. Ours has a metal wrapped cord in case he is tempted to chew it and the heating pad is completely waterproof and removable from the cover so the cover can be washed. Genius little item.

here's my floofy old lady living her best life on her heat mat

Didn't even know there was such a thing! Having said that I would consider 15 in a cat middle aged our last cat died at 23

I have a heated pad but my cat is not interested in it. He prefers my furry heated throw when I have it on my bed.

My old lady loved hers! She was tiny too. Not sure about putting it in a bed, but you could have it under and set very low.

My cat has had one for over a decade! He's 18 and was diagnosed with arthritis aged 7. Bought him a pad which is on a plug timer switch so on overnight only when it's cooler (but on 24/7 in the winter). It's under his favourite fluffy blanket in his sleeping space (an old very large pouffe/ footstool which is plenty big enough even when he's at full stretch!) It is the best thing I've ever bought for a cat!

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate all your comments. I did wonder if I was being slightly nuts about putting it actually in her bed. Perhaps under it as @Pashazade suggested might be worth trying.

@spoonfulofmustard Your girl does look like she's living her best life. This is how I envisage Little Cat enjoying a heat mat. She just loves being toasty and when we have our log fire on she's in heaven.

@Crispynoodle That's a fabulous age for a cat! The oldest cat I've had reached 19.5. I do hope Little Cat goes on to be such a ripe old age. She had a rough start and we got her when she was 7 or 8 so I want to have her until she's a ripe old age to make up for the years she wasn't with us.

just to reassure you that you're not mad!

Our girl loves hers. Like PP it's only switched on in cooler months.

Word of warning- last year I just put the mat on her raised bed and she slept directly on it. She went bald on her stomach! We were confused until the mat was switched off for the summer and her fur promptly grew back. She must have basically singed it off (although her skin was pink and soft- not burned in any way).

This year I have put a piece of vetbed on top of it to spread the heat and so far, so good.

the one I have has a removable cover and doesn't get to hot (the control has multiple heat settings) it's actual advertised for dogs on amazon but I figured it would work for my slightly larger cat 😉

I had a heated pad, but they much preferred my heated throw.

Our old lady used to live in the utility room (by choice, it took 15 years for her to decide to be in the rest of the house) and had a heat mat in her bed all autumn/winter to keep her nice and cosy. The current cats and the dogs just shout until the heated throws get put on for them

See that's what I was concerned about if I actually put the mat in her nest. When we have our log burner on I actually think she would get in it if she could - daft cat! I think the answer is going to be to put her nest on top of the mat and hopefully it will just give her a little more warmth.

haha, yes my grouchy old lady, let's it be known when she wants to move rooms with her mat!!!

Isn't that just gorgeous. There is something very fulfilling about owning a contented cat!

My cat is young and he has a heated disk I put in the microwave, it goes under a fluffy blanket in his little egg bed. I didn't want something I had to keep plugged in over night or if I was at work and he loves it! Still warm after 10 hours.

I have a cold house and was worried about kicking him in the bed when he gravitated under the duvet at night 😂So it's just on the other side of the bed and now I wake up before he does.

So I bought a heated pad after all your recommendations. It
arrived this afternoon. Plugged it in about half an hour ago just to check the temperature as per the instructions and this happened......

Nope she hates it can't you tell! 🤣🤣

Great to see she's loving it already! Do you (or PPs) have a link to where it can be bought?

Amazon have some that use the weight of the cat to heat themselves. Has anyone tried these? We have a cold house and in the winter it’s freezing overnight. The cat sleeps in the kitchen. If we went on holiday in the winter I would worry about leaving her in an unheated house. We have someone who comes in to feed her .

Do you have a link? My little 2 kg cat would love this, I think.

@TheMoonismadeofcheese
An absolute hit here - I’ve not a microwave, so that kind wasn’t an option; & I was (for various reasons) wary of the kind you plug in. It gets pretty warm - but now the cats mostly (v generously) share the human-sized heated blanket that goes on “our” bed so they use it less 😸