After decades of living with cats, I have found some cat beds and cat trees receive more love that others. In addition, like many cats big or small, my cats also love lounging around on boxes and scratchers. If you are looking for the best cat bed, cat tree, or scratcher bed for your cat, you have come to the right place!
Best Cat Beds & Cat Trees!
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In general, I do almost all of my cats’ shopping online at Chewy, and have done so for years. They have great customer service, competitive prices, and offer free shipping on orders over $49. However, a lot of the items included in this post can be purchased through local Atlanta business – Fundamentally Feline.
Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which help keep this site running. Thank you for your support!
Heated Cat Beds & Mats
My cats are huge fans of heated cat beds. We originally purchased heated beds for our senior cats, but soon realized all of the cats were sharing time in them and purchased a couple more.
Their favorite typical cat bed style heated bed is the K&H Pet Products Thermo-Kitty Cat Bed. We have two of these beds, one small and one large. The heating in this particular bed is provided by a heating pad that slides into the bed underneath the cushion, and it does involve a cord – so make sure you want this bed near an outlet. The covers are removable, and we have tossed ours in the washing machine on more than one occasion. It does take a minute to get the foam back into place, but the covers did not warp or discolor during the wash.
We also have a flat mat style heated cat bed. It is also by K&H Pet Products, but instead of a bed it is simply a heating pad inside of a flat washable cover. This model also needs to be plugged in to provide heat.
Traditional Cat Beds & Mats
We also have several other old cat beds that the cats enjoy. They range from dome beds to flat cushions. I cannot recall the brand or where I got them from for every bed, but I will include a few pictures so that you can get a better idea of what our cats enjoy! I will include links to the actual products where I can.
For whatever reason my cats seem to like squishing the dome beds and sleeping on top of them as much, if not more, than they like to sleep inside of them!
For small mat that is great for travel and to toss anywhere, my cats also love these K&H Amazin Kitty Pads. They are made of Polyester, but it is not tightly bound. Max likes to pull pieces off with his teeth, so they don’t last long in our house, but luckily they are not expensive!
Cat Trees
Another fan favorite for hanging around is this scratching post with a scoop bed purchased through Fundamentally Feline.
Our first purchase from Fundamentally Feline was one of the very tall sisal scratching posts. Eventually they combined two of their most popular items, the tall scratching post and the scoop bed. Since our cats loved the scratching post so much, we got them one with a scoop bed for Christmas. It is a rare moment when one of the cats is not sleeping or hanging out in the scoop bed.
We also have some smaller cat trees that migrated from our last house to the new condo. It is important during a move to bring along old things that carry familiar scents for cats to be able to feel settled in new surroundings. Since we were downsizing, we chose the smallest of the older cat trees and brought them along. I do not have links to many of these items, but I will provide links when I am able.
For more information about scratching posts, check out Best Scratching Posts & Other Scratchers!
We utilize the traditional cat trees to provide the cats a place to hang out within our favorite hang out areas without a need to be on top of us. Well, that is the idea behind it at least. Our cats still lay on the couch and bed with us, but they also use these cat trees quite a bit. They come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Below are a few more photos of the types of cat trees we have used over the years. I do not recall particular models or where I purchased these from, however, I usually purchase cat trees from either HomeGoods, Wayfair.com, or Chewy.com. Of course you can always find cat trees at your typical pet retailers, but I have found those three options to be less expensive.
We have had so many cat trees over the years. We have yet to purchase one that did not get used. That being said, our cats have had different preferences. Max loves the basket type attachments, but most of the other cats prefer a flat or scooped platform. Willy likes to lay inside of the boxes. As a tip: Smaller cat trees tend to be less expensive, so if you are trying to choose a tree for a new cat, start small until you can figure out what they prefer!
Scratchers As Cat Beds
Our cats also like to utilize flat scratching pads as cat beds. There are some that are even shaped like a cat bed. One of the favorites of our cats is the Original Scratch Lounge. In the photo below you can see the similar Scratch Lounge II.
You can definitely find similar items for a lot less money, but this is one I know my cats enjoy the most. A less expensive option that the cats also use is the Catit Lounge Scratcher. At $6.99 it is a good deal for something a cat will just tear up anyway!
My latest scratcher purchase is the All Kind Step-In Cat Scratcher. I chose it because of the price, and the shape reminds me of the Scratch Lounge that I know they enjoy! So far they are scratching it and laying in it.
For more information about scratching options, check out Best Scratching Posts & Other Scratchers!
Boxes as Cat Beds
Of course there isn’t a cat large or small that can resist a cardboard box as a cat bed! Next time you get a package from someplace keep the box and use it as a free cat bed! I have also found that the cardboard bottom of drink cases work great as well!
Final Thoughts
Of course, cats will always like to lay on your couch, bed, and blankets, but it is still important to have items around your home that are dedicated to the cats. Regardless of your personal style and choice of cat furniture, it is important to have items around your home that help your cat feel as though they have a space to be a cat. This will also help your cats transition to a new space if you ever have to move.
Many of the common complaints about cats, such as scratching furniture and getting on countertops, can be reduced or eliminated by providing an appropriate alternative for the cats. There are countless websites out there to help you incorporate cat furniture into your home regardless of your aesthetic.
If you are having a hard time figuring out how to incorporate cat furniture into your home, or if you want to know more about how to use placement of cat furniture to help keep your cats from being in places you would rather they not be, I have a couple of recommendations.
For books, I recommend Cat Behaviorist Jackson Galaxy’s books on Catification. You can pick them up on Amazon (see links below) or at any bookstore.
If you are in the Atlanta area and would prefer personalized design and installation of cat furniture for home or business I cannot recommend Fundamentally Feline enough. Ingrid Johnson is a local cat behaviorist who also designs and makes a variety of cat furniture. Many of her pieces are featured in my posts!
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While some of the links on this page are affiliate links, All of the recommendations in this post are 100% authentic from personal use… well, my cats’ personal use. If you decide you would like to order something from Chewy.com or another online retailer mentioned, please follow the links included in this post so that I may receive a small commission for my recommendation at no additional cost to you. Thank you!
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