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#1
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how encourage cats onto cat-bed ?
Some of you might have been through this process before and might be
able to save me a learning curve. Our two cats are very affectionate and although we leave them a warm living-room to sleep in at night, they nearly always follow us upstairs to a chilly bedroom at bedtime. As you may all have experienced, cats don't bed down and sleep eight hours solidly. Their comings and goings across the duvet at various points in the night, do not a good night's sleep give - for the humans! We have just purchased an electric blanket specially manufactured for cats. Some of you will know what I mean. It's essentially just like an ordinary electric blanket except that the heating cables are protected within a stiff vinyl "pillow-case" and the electric supply line is encased in a strong thick cable that can't be chewed through. The vinyl blanket comes in a soft furry pillow-case, which can be easily slipped off for occasional washing. We are hoping the cats will take to this blanket. There's room for two of them on it. It's 16" x 24" and our cats often sleep side by side. So the question is: how do we get them to choose the warm electric blanket (on top of a thick and soft rug) down in the living-room instead of spending the night on top of our duvet in a chilly room? Please don't say, "Shut the door and just trap them in there!". That would be too easy. And cruel. We would prefer them to continue to have access to all parts of the house, including the bedrooms. So it's a question of how to get them to choose the cat-blanket. Thanks. Eddy. |
#2
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how encourage cats onto cat-bed ?
On Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:02:02 GMT, Eddy
wrote: Some of you might have been through this process before and might be able to save me a learning curve. Our two cats are very affectionate and although we leave them a warm living-room to sleep in at night, they nearly always follow us upstairs to a chilly bedroom at bedtime. As you may all have experienced, cats don't bed down and sleep eight hours solidly. Their comings and goings across the duvet at various points in the night, do not a good night's sleep give - for the humans! We have just purchased an electric blanket specially manufactured for cats. Some of you will know what I mean. It's essentially just like an ordinary electric blanket except that the heating cables are protected within a stiff vinyl "pillow-case" and the electric supply line is encased in a strong thick cable that can't be chewed through. The vinyl blanket comes in a soft furry pillow-case, which can be easily slipped off for occasional washing. We are hoping the cats will take to this blanket. There's room for two of them on it. It's 16" x 24" and our cats often sleep side by side. So the question is: how do we get them to choose the warm electric blanket (on top of a thick and soft rug) down in the living-room instead of spending the night on top of our duvet in a chilly room? Please don't say, "Shut the door and just trap them in there!". That would be too easy. And cruel. We would prefer them to continue to have access to all parts of the house, including the bedrooms. So it's a question of how to get them to choose the cat-blanket. Thanks. Eddy. Tough one. Two of my cats sleep on the bed and one prefers the cable box (it gets hot). Start with some catnip on it so that they pay attention to it at all. They'll notice that it's warm and hopefully remember that as it gets colder at night. One of that cats that sleeps on my bed is 17 lbs and he always manages to stretch out to fill as much of the bed as he can. I knew I should have gone for the King and not the Queen. Between me, the Significant Other, and those two cats, space is at a premium. We're all soft and mushy so it works out. |
#3
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how encourage cats onto cat-bed ?
dgk wrote:
Tough one. Two of my cats sleep on the bed and one prefers the cable box (it gets hot). Start with some catnip on it so that they pay attention to it at all. They'll notice that it's warm and hopefully remember that as it gets colder at night. One of that cats that sleeps on my bed is 17 lbs and he always manages to stretch out to fill as much of the bed as he can. I knew I should have gone for the King and not the Queen. Between me, the Significant Other, and those two cats, space is at a premium. We're all soft and mushy so it works out. Thanks DGK. Yes, a bit of catnip spray is a very good idea, although one of the two cats seems to have taken to the new blanket in the past two days, probably owing to the snowfall we've had here (in the UK) and the freezing conditions. However, the other one bounds up the stairs each night as usual, sits on the loo watching us clean our teeth, and then leaps over onto the bed, eager to bed down with us for the night. Terribly sweet. But as you know having to remember where the cat is position all night so that you don't crush him etc., does not make for a good night's sleep. Also, he insists on coming under the duvet and resting his head on the pillow (just like a human - terribly sweet), but after half an hour he gets too hot and moves out to cool off for 30 minutes before returning. This goes on all night (terribly sweet?) and IS disturbing. It doesn't make for sweet-tempered humans in the morning! AND we changed our King for a "Super-King" (UK equivalent of the US King, I think). The cat must have thought, "What waste of time and money! I don't want the extra space. The point is I wanna cuddle right beside YOU regardless of the size of bed!" :-) But at least with the downstairs blanket we are now, one cat down! Eddy. |
#4
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how encourage cats onto cat-bed ?
Cats are remarkably social creatures, despite all the rumours to the
contrary. They respond to positive influences, and especially texture and scent. (the catnip got one) You may have noticed individual cats prefer either clean or used laundry. Rough, textured, or specific fabrics may need to be tried. Some even like newspaper or plastic. Also, some cats prefer open locations, others like to tunnel and hide. Try different locations for the cat bed. A preferred person may have to give up a piece of clothing for coaxing purposes. Just playing with them around the bed may work. There're lots of things to try. "Eddy" wrote in message ... Some of you might have been through this process before and might be able to save me a learning curve. Our two cats are very affectionate and although we leave them a warm living-room to sleep in at night, they nearly always follow us upstairs to a chilly bedroom at bedtime. As you may all have experienced, cats don't bed down and sleep eight hours solidly. Their comings and goings across the duvet at various points in the night, do not a good night's sleep give - for the humans! We have just purchased an electric blanket specially manufactured for cats. Some of you will know what I mean. It's essentially just like an ordinary electric blanket except that the heating cables are protected within a stiff vinyl "pillow-case" and the electric supply line is encased in a strong thick cable that can't be chewed through. The vinyl blanket comes in a soft furry pillow-case, which can be easily slipped off for occasional washing. We are hoping the cats will take to this blanket. There's room for two of them on it. It's 16" x 24" and our cats often sleep side by side. So the question is: how do we get them to choose the warm electric blanket (on top of a thick and soft rug) down in the living-room instead of spending the night on top of our duvet in a chilly room? Please don't say, "Shut the door and just trap them in there!". That would be too easy. And cruel. We would prefer them to continue to have access to all parts of the house, including the bedrooms. So it's a question of how to get them to choose the cat-blanket. Thanks. Eddy. |
#5
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how encourage cats onto cat-bed ?
Try adding an electric lamp timer to the mix. Fire up their bed about
an hour before you turn in. Place them on it once it's nice and toasty. I used mine in the opposite way: have a geriatric kitty, want her to sleep with me. I set the timer to keep her bed warm during the day (cycling on and off so it wouldn't get too hot) and then shutting down for the night about the time I'd turn on the e-blankie on my bed. Yep, it's terribly sweet when they get old and boney enough to crawl under the covers. HTH --Karen D. |
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