by Glenore Weal

Created on: July 30, 2009   Last Updated: July 31, 2009

In the interest of full disclosure, I should reveal that none of my cats, past or present, ever slept on a cat bed. Before you fall in love with the image of your cat spending long, lazy afternoons on the lovely chenille bed you've made with your own loving hands, know this: the cat may never go anywhere near it.

You've probably heard, dogs have owners; cats have staff. Truer words were never spoken. Cats pretty much do what they want to do when they want to do it. However, cats also like to sleep. A lot. If you're lucky enough to have one of those felines who might actually appreciate a cat bed, it's easy as pie to make one. Basically you're making a pillow, and what could be easier than that? One trick that might encourage Fluffy to actually sleep there would be to make it out of an old article of clothing. When I'm not trying to encourage Bumblebee to snooze somewhere other rather than the dining room seating, I'm chasing him off of the pile of clothes I laid out for work. It's a useless exercise, as all cat owners know. Felines are highly territorial and once they have marked your house and know your scent, they're very happy creatures.

Take an old t-shirt or any article of clothing that can stand up to scratching. Make sure it's long enough and wide enough for the cat to relax his or her entire body on it. Remember, cats like to really stretch out during their marathon naps so you'll want to be sure you have enough material. Get another piece of fabric the same size, either another old article of clothing or some inexpensive washable cotton fabric. Don't try to match your decor. Trust me, Fluffy won't care. You're going to sew the two pieces of fabric together, stuff it with something soft (don't use a block of foam but any other kind of soft pillow stuffing will do), and you're done. If you're a skilled seamstress, you might want to add a zipper so that you can easily remove the bed cover for washing. If not, you can sew on a hook and loop closure like Velcro to keep the stuffing inside. Easier still, make two covers; sew the ends of the cat bed closed, put it inside of the other cover and then use rope to tie the ends shut. When you need to wash the outside cover, you can slip it right off, throw it in the wash and slip it back on. Easy breezy. Place the bed in a cozy spot where the cat likes to hang out, preferably against a wall so his back is protected and where he can watch your comings and goings - when he's awake, that is.

And if your cat falls in love with it, please send me a picture. Perhaps if Bumblebee actually sees another cat sleeping on his own cat bed, he might be willing to give it a try.

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