What makes you think they are cold?

I have 3 cats, males, oldest is about 4 and they love taking turns laying on a heating pad set on low that my daughter insists on spoiling them with. They actually fight over who's turn it is to lie on it. This went on all summer. They discovered the heating pad when my daughter was using it for a backache. I think cats just like being extra warm. I wouldn't turn the heat up, just do what your doing, providing an extra blanket or so where they sleep and if you get the urge like my DD, turn on a heating pad on the lowest setting for a 1/2 hour or so to warm up the place they sleep and then turn it off before you go to bed. I don't allow it to be left on for fear one of these cats will lay on the thing too long and burn himself. Also, the youngest cat about 6-7 mos. loves to huddle under my DD covers during the night (even in summer), I don't think he's cold just likes to snuggle. I wish you luck with the older cats.

I know it is so hard anticipating their needs when they can't talk but after this summer's electric bills, I won't be turning my heat up for any reason this winter. I'll buy us all an extra sweater it will be cheaper. Good luck.

I would use one (or two) of the beds in the site below. If your cats are sleeping on the floor, they probably will get little benefit from you raising the temp of your thermostat. Heat rises and the floor is always the coolest place.

The Thermo bed looks as though only the center, padded area is heated so two of the Deluxe beds may be a better buy. The customer service at Foster/Smith is excellent so if you call them they will help you with the best selection. Since they're made for pets, I would think they're much safer than the typical drugstore heating pad.

The beds may look expensive, but compared to an increase in your heating bill they will be very affordable. Plus, it's something your cats will enjoy year-round. Illness, meds and old age can make it difficult for their bodies to handle cold weather so providing extra heat is a great aid to better health.

Here is a link that might be useful: Heated beds

Aged animals often loose some of their physiological ability to regulate body temperature, so they are more easily overheated in summer and chilled in winter. My cats spend more time in the cool basement or sprawled on the bathroom and kitchen linoleum in hot weather, and will curl up next to or on top of the floor heat registers in winter. Actually, the two prime kitty locations in winter are under the dressers that sit over floor heat registers. The space under those dressers are what I refer to as the "kitty saunas".

It's not necessary for you to raise your household thermostat. Just move a couple of cat beds (or cat-sized cardboard boxes) right next to your heat vents where they'll stay especially warm and toasty. You might even want to use a closed box with a cat-sized hole cut in the side to retain extra warmth. Put a soft, snuggly blanket in each bed or box so the cats can nest into them.

Laurie

You can actually purchase fleece covered pet heating pads. I have one for my kitties when we go up to the mountains. Uses very little electricity and is safe.

My experience has been that cats are never warm enough. Mine (ages 12 to 15) will lay in the sunny spot of a window when the temp in 90-degrees. They sleep in front of the hot air vents. They crave heat. Ask your vet if their health conditions make higher temps necessary.

In winter my house is 55-degrees at night and when I'm not home. Sometimes I feel guilty because I know they would prefer 85. I comfort myself with the fact that when the temps drop they become kittenish again and chase each other and do acrobatics on the scratching post. When it actually is 85 they lounge around like lizzards.

I happen to have a few zones of heat, so I do keep one small room warmer than others for them. My kitties aren't old, and they still tend to go in there and sleep during the day. I agree they like to be warm. I think there are some good ideas above.

I used heating pads set on low for my geriatric cat, and she loved it.

There are now these discs - they look like frisbees - that you put in the microwave, and they stay warm for 12 hours. You slip the disc under a blanket or under the cat's favorite bed, and it keeps warm for those 12 hours.

Can anyone remember the name of that thing?

I'm sorry but this just blows my mind! Cats/dogs will find a warm spot if they are cold or as others have mentioned,get a heating pad or some other form of warmth for them if you are worried.That is why cats and dogs have winter and summer coats.Nature provides that for them.Sorry,but I keep my home at a comfortable temperature for the humans that live here and if the cat is cold she can get under the covers on my bed.They aren't stupid. If they are cold they will find a warm spot!
Lillie....(Shaking her head in disbelief)!

Lillie - what was the point of your post? you have something to say to those you don't think take good enough care of their pets and now you want to do the same to those that, what, do too much for them?

The microwaveable things are called Snugglesafe Pads. Please be very care in using regular heating pads for animals. Even on low if they stay on it too long they can get burned. As others have posted they do make safer products just for pets.

Lisa

We make "nests"... using sweaters, sweatshirts, fleeces, whatever. We form them into the shape, with the edges turned up to protect against drafts. Some are in the sunlit areas, others are in more secluded parts of the house. You learn where the kitties like to "roost" if you watch them.

In the midst of the winter months we use the woodstove. and the "nests" are all in the immediate vicinity of it. It's funny how you accomodate your kitties, isn't it?

I had one of those microwave heating pads explode in the microwave (actually DH did it). Any event, it was a huge mess. The thing was filled with a red gel-like substance and it was all over the place and difficult to clean up. I was down for the count so hubby had to do all the cleaning. This was years ago and maybe they have improved design-wise.

If anyone can shed some light on these newer models, I'd like to know since I am little nervous about keeping the heating pad plugged in in my daughter's room while she's off at school.

The cats are too funny. I agree that they will find a spot if they are cold, but what's the harm in trying to make them comfortable. Look how much comfort and love they give us:) As for the coat thing. I don't know if that is entirely true. Don't outdoor cats have the same coats as indoor cats. Mine don't seem to get a winter "coat" in the same way my dogs do?????

Lillie, older or ill cats need help to stay warm, especially if they live in colder areas of the country or if they sleep in beds on the floor. Also their coats are not as thick as younger animals, and they don't move around as much either.

We use a heating pad for our older cat. (One for people, not the pet version.) We put several layers of towels on top of it before we put her bed on top. That disspiates some of the heat so she does not become too hot.

I like a cold house for me and wouldn't consider turning up the thermostat for the cats. By cold I mean mid-upper 60's but way colder in my bedroom where they don't go. I think an over heated house isn't good for people or animals. Dries out the sinuses and makes hair and coats dry. That said, we heat w/ a woodstove which goes from now till March or April and never goes out. It was started a few days ago, then it was so warm that we let it go out but tonight it's up and running and there are no cats around it. When it get really cold, I can find three or four on the table in front of the stove and a couple underneath it. Those microwavable things sound like something I'd get for the old guy. I bought them a fancy condo from Foster/Smith and it just came. A few claimed it right away and then left. However a beanbag cat chair I bought from F/S three years ago and never was used by anyone, suddenly is the place to be and they all want to be on it. It was so not used I had it in the carriage house w/ the kittens all summer.

boopadaboo-The point of my post was not to say that people shouldn't care for their animals so don't go off on me for something I didn't say.I was just stating my feelings about pets.Sometimes we forget they are animals and treat them like humans,which they are not.They are able to adapt to temperature changes or as I said will find a warm/cool place if need be.I see nothing wrong with providing a warmer of some kind if absolutely necessary for an elderly or ill animal,or if it makes the human caretaker feel better.
The only point I am trying to make is the same as lily316 said.I like my house cool in the summer and winter and I would not consider turning the thermostat up or down just to appease my cat! My DH likes it hot in the winter,but he is getting old(LOL)so he just puts on more clothing or gets under the electric blanket.I don't even turn up the thermostat for him so I'm surely not going to do it for the cat! LOL My electric bill is too high as it is and I can imagine what it would be if we kept it as warm as DH would actually be satisfied with.All I'm saying is that we need to give our pets some credit for being the animals they are!
Maybe you could get the kitties a sweater,and I say this in all sincerity.Don't know if they would wear it or not but might be worth a try.Seriously though,I think I would just provide a warm place,cozy blanket or one of the heating sources and let the cats decide if they are cold enough to want to stay there.And really,how can one tell if the cats are cold? Just because they are "huddling"
under a blanket or the bed covers doesn't necessarily mean they are cold.Most cats just like to hide in those places and sleep.
Sorry,I didn't mean to ruffle any feathers but the OP just struck me as laughable that anyone would actually adjust the temperature of their home to accomodate the cats,even if it was uncomfortable for the human occupants!.....Lillie

The animal heating beds are really a good thing. I heat with wood at home so the cats live under the woodstove all winter but at the feedstore it gets really cold below 30 so the feed store cats pile on the hot bed.

Elderly cats have trouble keeping warm, so it is a fair and concerned question from a loving owner.

I don't mean to be harsh, but I don't think it's very nice to suggest someone's question is "laughable." I am glad there are so many other positive and helpful responses (as usual), which is a better reflection of the nature of this forum. We are, after all, talking about "warmth." : )

My DH dumped a pile of warm laundry from the dryer on the bed today, and guess where all the cats wanted to sleep? I like chelone's idea of building nests too. We bought one of those self-heating pads, and occasionally I will find our 10-year-old kitty on it, but the 17-year-old isn't as fond of it. I think I will start building her nests on our bed, maybe even running the fleece blankie thru the dryer for a few minutes before I start construction!!
BTW our house rarely gets below 63 or 64, but sometimes it feels damp because we live in Rainland (PNW)

Well elly,sorry but if we can't find humor in things then we are in big trouble.It is laughable to me that someone would turn up the theromostat to "sweat" level and be uncomfortable just to accomodate the cat,especially when there are other logical things that can be done.My aunt puts a heating pad in the lawn chair on her carport for a cat that came to live there and I laughed at her too,but she certainly didn't get mad or offended about it! Yes,there have been lots of helpful answers to the OP's problem. I'm sorry if I offended the OP or anyone else here but I thought it was funny,(basically because I would have never thought of it or considered it) and all I did was say so! And if you will read my posts,I did offer some positive suggestions.

Finding humour in our own behavior is a good thing -- any kid can laugh at other people.

The last winter of my cats life I kept a heating pad in his basket. He was 19 and essentially starved himself to death. He was always cold, and you could tell he thought long and hard about getting out of the bed!

Those miccrowavable things seems like a really good idea, especially for animals tat sleep outside.

As mentioned I keep my temps real low but I wouldn't hesitate to turn them up if the vet told me my aged cats were in some way suffering. For example if it aggravated arthritis or kidney failure that thermostat would shoot up like a rocket. I would do anything within my power to give them more healthy happy years of life.

No one has mentioned this, but my cats "hang out" all winter (cold here in Minnesota) on the radiators! I don't have flat radiator covers, so I put a nice thick terry towel on several of them. Even my very old cat (who passed away at age 20 this last summer) slept well on radiators up through her last winter. It was so funny to see all three crammed together on one radiator: butts and legs and heads hanging off, yet all purring, warm, and happy.

At my old house, they crowded by the cast iron stove-heater. They look dead but they are not : )

Here's a link to the microwaved pet warmer thingie. This would be quite economical compared to turning up the heat.

Here is a link that might be useful: Microwave heater

I'm guilty of turning my heat up in winter for my pets. Certainly not to "sweat level" though. And, my AC goes down in the summertime as well.

My DH is the only one that has the right to judge me silly for that. He DOES pay the bills. Good thing he doesn't say anything, though.. he'd find it awefully cold in the bedroom. *heh* :)

When I had some arm pain I filled a sock with rice tied it and heated it, it retained heat for a couple of hours after being microwaved. If you do not have a problem with bugs or rodents this is a cheap alternative

As for the coat thing. I don't know if that is entirely true. Don't outdoor cats have the same coats as indoor cats. Mine don't seem to get a winter "coat" in the same way my dogs do?????
Labmomma-I am only speaking from what I observe with my own pets,both dogs and cats.My dogs stay outside most of the time and right about this time of year their coats get thicker and they begin to eat more and put on some weight.The outside cat's coats get thicker also.My inside cat's coat also changes and she gets a thicker undercoat. Athough not as thick as the outside cats,there is definitely a change in her coat and she also eats more often and puts on more weight.I have observed the same phenomenon in wild animals and other animals that live in the outdoors. It is nature's way of protecting them from the cold and I believe it happens with all animals to some extent whether they are outside or indoor pets. ............Lillie

Actually, I've noticed that change in myself when cold weather arrives.....

My aunt used to sew a pair of ragged old towels together & stuff them with clean old pantyhose.

Then she sewed a big "X" across the pillow to stabilize the stuffing, sort of like making a quilt.

When the pillows got grimy, she tossed them into the washer & dryer.

When they got too raggedy, she ripped them apart, tossed out the hose, & used pieces of the towels as cleaning or polishing rags.

My cats don't get a winter coat. I have indoor/outdoor cats. They all come in at dinner and don't go out until after they get breakfast:-) I don't think their coats change at all by season.

I think Alison posted a photo where she stuffed a thrift store sweatshirt with quilt batting & sewed or safety-pinned the neck & sleeves together.

Labmomma-My inside cat is totally inside. Has never has been out. I can definitely tell a difference in her coat from summer to winter. And,as I mentioned,it is a more subtle change than that of the outside cats,but a change that is noticeable. It is also possible that the climate you live in has something to do with your cat's coats? If your climate is cooler year round,a winter coat might not be as much of a change as it would be if your summers are very hot and winters are very cold. I live in W TX where summers are in the hundreds most of the time and winters can get very cold. I think that is why there is such a drastic change in the cat's coat about this time of year. Anyway,I do see it in most animals and believe that it is natures way of protecting them. That is why I mentioned it in the first place.
I just had a thought about something to use for a warmer that would also be very inexpensive. I make warmers for my gourd bread warmers like this and someone else had mentioned using the same principle with an old sock for a sore neck. Cut an old towel or some fleece fabric in a square,oval or round,whatever size you like,sew it up and fill it with rice. Heat it up in the microwave and it will stay warm for a long time. You can stick this in the cat's bed and cover it with a blanket or something that will also help to hold the heat in. Dried corn can also be used as the filler. If you use rice be sure it isn't the quick cooking kind,just regular long grain rice.