Cat Supplies - Cat Beds

Atlas was our first cat. He always found plenty of places to curl up and get comfortable. The couch, the seat of any chair, the foot of our bed. We thought buying a kitty bed for him was ridiculous. He slept anywhere and all the time! Waste of money! Besides, we thought it was cute when we'd find him somewhere like the basket by the door (that held the dog's things).

Then, we got Pandora. As she grew, her ability to make her own bed was a little more inventive.

Yes, that is my computer. Kinda hard to check my email, though.

We stumbled upon some run of the mill, no frills, boring as anything donut cat beds on sale one fateful day at Petsmart. They were like 4 or 5 bucks, so we got a couple. Boy, if we had known, we sure would have been stocking up on those. EVERY cat that we own loves the donut bed. They have a quilted sherpa type lining. They also come in different sizes. They come in lots of colors (although if you're sale/clearance oriented like we are, sometimes there isn't much choice.).

As is evidenced by the one baby pink bed we have (not the hubby's favorite, for sure). When our first 3 kittens (Left to right - Hermes, Aphrodite, and Artemis) found us, they all fit into one small donut.

As they grew, only one or two could manage to squeeze in. Arty and Hermes are so cute here.

As time passed, we'd find this bed or that bed on clearance and we'd give it a try. When the second litter of kittens found us, we had this deep bed in their room for them. They loved it. I remember these days - back when we were calling every rescue within 100 miles of St. Louis. It was kitten season. No one had room. We were lucky to find one home for one of these kitties. The rest, well, we did try! Clockwise from the grey and white kitten (Isley), Bernie, Sweet Pea/Mary Lou (our look-a-likes!) and Little Susie (who we found a home for).

 

When the kittens moved into the main part of our house, the bed came with them. Arty settled into it almost immediately. It is completely hers. She very rarely is out of it during the day. Each cat has individual preferences and interests. That's something important we've had to learn.

Since Arty loved this bed, and once in a while the others wanted to try it as well, we searched and searched for another deep bed. We ended up going with this green one from Dr. Fosters and Smith, thinking that Arty would go crazy for it. It is very big and very deep. It was also a different type of fabric. The cats took a long time to warm up to this bed. It took Arty about 2 months to try it. It was so deep that they weren't used to it and the fabric must not have immediately felt right to them. We ended up putting a small donut bed in the bottom, and it's been a big hit ever since. Here are Mary Lou and Sweet Pea in it, all grown up.

Here's just Sweet Pea enjoying the bed. We call Sweet Pea the fat twin. At least we can tell them apart easily now!

Another clearance bed we found was this brown one. It has a little mouse embroidered on the front. It is a little larger than a donut bed and is in a smoother fleece fabric.

Most of the cats love this bed. Atlas and Arty are modeling in it in these photos. And proving that dogs and cats can live together in peace.

Buying a cat bed is not necessarily a must. Ours have certain non-bed places that they like at certain times of day. Windowsills, baskets, and on the carpet where the sun is shining through the windows. They still enjoy human furniture for lounging as well. There are other ways you can use things you already have to make a place that is inviting to kitties. Really, any folded up blanket will do just fine in an area that seems like a good place for a kitty bed. On top of a dresser, we folded up an old twin comforter. The cats love to stretch out up there (like Isley is doing in the photo here). On laundry day, when I've brought up all the folded blankets, if they set out on the dining room table for too long, I will have 4 or 5 cats asleep in them.

 

Our cats also love dog beds. We have a couple giant dog beds (since we have a giant dog). From kitten-hood, Aphrodite, Arty, and Hermes made themselves at home in dog beds.

Even our main dog bed is a common resting place for the kitties as well. Here, Isley, Atlas, and Aphrodite cuddle up.

We got the pyramid-style bed in the upper right hand corner free. The cat litter we use has a rewards program. Online, we put in the code on the package and are given points. We use the points for a lot of different things. You can make donations to the ASPCA, get toys, collars, or other cat supplies, or order coupons for more cat litter. All free with the points. We used some of our reward points for this bed. We've found moving it around the house makes it more/less popular. It's not a main favorite for any of the kitties. Those things are not cheap ($30!) even when they are on sale, so it's really a nice bonus to be able to get them without having to pay for them. We actually have 2 and they are such a different thing than a normal kitty bed. They definitely get use in our house, just not as much as the other beds.

We put the beds in the areas of our house where we spent the most time. Our living room and on the desks in our office always have one or two cats in a bed. Even with lots of comfortable places to rest, sometimes kitties want to be in your lap or simply just touching some part of you. Sweet Pea climbed out of the deep green bed one evening in order to be 6 inches closer to (and therefore touching) my husband at his desk. He was working on his computer. Obviously, she was okay with that. It was a little hard to continue maneuvering his mouse, though.

To sum up, cat beds are really useful and get a lot of use in our home. We have a lot of them and love how easy they are to care for (throw 'em in the washer). We also have a couple heated beds, but those are a whole other ballgame (and price mark). I'll talk about those in a later post.