Do I need a heated bed?

[siren's daddy]

I hope I am posting in the right section here.

I am wondering if I need to provide a heated bed for my little Siren.

Here is my situation: Siren was born from 2 feral parents at a ranch I work at. I had seen her pregnant mother around just before the birth in a big shop with a lot of other feral cats. By all accounts the mother moved the litter leaving Siren stranded for over 36 hours when I found her meowing from the top of a 15 foot drop where she was born. She was very weak and thin. At best I can figure she was 2 weeks old at the most. I nursed her to health and now she is a great 10 week old kitten.

I work graveyards and the only real heat option I have is a wood stove (its a drafty house too). Up until now the weather has been ok; low 40's F at the worst but I am home when it gets the coldest. So I can heat the house then. Soon the weather will start dropping to the mid 20's at the worst.

As far as I can tell she is mainly a black and white American Short hair with 1" long thick fur. I see 2 of her feral litter mates at work and they are doing fine right now with no heat. Siren has my bed she loves to curl up in. Will this be enough? Some people are telling me she needs heat others are saying there is no point as cold weather tolerance has been bread into her over years of feral breeding. I am in favor of a small heating pad in her covered plastic carrier with a blanket over it.

Am I right? Or am I just over reacting because I want the best for this adorable ball of fluff that stole my heart.

 

[stephanietx]

She's probably fine on your bed if you provide her some nice warm blankets or towels (or bed linens!). However, since she's so young, I'd probably invest in a pet heating pad or warmer. If you got her a heated bed, there's no guarantee she'd sleep in the thing, but the heating pads and warmers are somewhat portable and work great.

You could get something like this:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...5&pcatid=17755

Or this:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...6&pcatid=17736

I have something similar to the 2nd product I posted, only smaller and less expensive. I had only one because I have an old lady cat who has arthritis and it really helps her move better. My two fought over the bed with the warmer in it, so I broke down and got a 2nd one. They LOVE it and will spend hours upon hours in their heated beds on chilly days.

 

[icklemiss21]

I will not leave a heated blanked plugged in while I am out

We use these in the shelter, they are microwaved and stay warm for 12 hours (you can find them much cheaper than on their site, especially in the US)
http://www.snugglesafe.ca/

Personally I always find mine in the windows when it is cold trying to get away from the heat

 

[cococat]

I say get a heated bed!

I have kept a heated bed plugged in 24/7 for many years for my cat. She is a Sphynx and this is really needed for her! She has two of them. Both have gotten disconnected before and we didn't know it, but she started losing weight rapidly at her same amount of food. Once they were plugged back in she gained weight and looked normal again. She expends a great amount of energy keeping warm, during summer and winter year round. We have lots of blankets around, but there is nothing that helps her a much as the heated beds. She loves them and can use them whenever she wishes and they do get used often, more often during the winter.

 

[cococat]

I have these two like these:

http://cozywinters.com/shop/kh-3191-...ml?source=base

http://cozywinters.com/shop/kh-4081-4083.html

 

[stephanietx]

Oh dear! I didn't need to look at those links Cococat posted! LOL

 

[littleraven7726]

Thanks for those links! I'm hoping to get that heated kitty cup for the cats for Christmas.

I have the heated pad like the second link for my senior cat. We also have the Snuggle Safe, 2 microwavable pads from Petstages, and 2 of the beds that just reflect the cat's own heat back to them. They seem to help my senior's arthritis.

 

[siren's daddy]

thanks for all the great links. I really like the microwave heating pads that looks like it would be perfect. Siren has a favorite blanket she likes to lay on all the time. Its like a really fluffy sweatshirt material. I would love to just be able to slide something warm under it.

Thanks again.

 

[Willowy]

I don't think you NEED a heated bed/pad, but cats sure do like them.

 

[amberthe bobcat]

Originally Posted by Willowy

I don't think you NEED a heated bed/pad, but cats sure do like them.

I agree, they love warm places to sleep. My bobcats however, would not like a heated bed. They do not like all that heat. I have to keep my house very cool, so they are happy.

 

[mrblanche]

We have our heated waterbed. Sterling, Ella, and Jeeves like it, but they're all short-haired. Punkin doesn't like it at all. He also avoids sunbeams.

How cold does it get in your house? I would say construct a warm little nest, preferably with some sort of cover over it so that the heat stays in, and your kitty should be fine.