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I have four cats. Three of them are twenty years old, and the baby is ten. Two of my twenty year-olds are from the same litter. I had their mother and grandmother from birth, and took their great grandmother in as a very young kitten. Their mom lived to be twenty-four. All of my cats are healthy, except that one of the twins has a bit of arthritis. It is pretty much reversed with Cosequin but she seems a little uncomfortable in cold weather, which can hardly be avoided here in Maine. The cats live inside but, with the cost of heating oil, we keep the thermostat on the low side, somewhere below comfortable and above freezing.
They had never had a heated cat bed before but I ordered one of these a couple of months ago for her. Knowing full well that there would be three others waiting their turns, the one with arthritis is the alpha female, and is more likely than the others to get what she wants, so I figured she'd get more than her share of time in the heated bed, and I have several other warm beds for them, although not electrically heated.
The other twin doesn't seem to like the electric bed much, but then she generally takes longer getting used to anything new. She seems afraid of the heating. If you've never used one of these, it only heats up after the cat lies down in it, and roughly matches their body temperatures. When it starts heating up, the other twin will immediately get up as if something had gone terribly wrong, then maybe try it one or two times before deciding on one of the non-electric beds, although I have gotten up in the morning to find her lying in it. (added later: she has since gotten used to the bed, and now prefers it, especially in cool weather)
The other three cats love it, especially the one that I bought it for and the younger one. Frequently, the one in the bed will opt to remain in the bed rather than getting up for meals, probably afraid she'll lose her place.
I've just ordered a second one. They are attractive beds, and they are easy enough to keep clean. I haven't had to wash the one that I have yet, but I wouldn't anticipate any problems with it if it should become necessary; a quick pass with a hand vacuum once every couple of weeks has sufficed so far. The cats love it, so much so that I have witnessed a few brief spats over the use of the bed. The one that I bought it for generally wins these arguments but I still don't like to leave the others out in the cold.
I don't know if it would be the best choice for someone who is looking for a bed for an outdoor cat, or for one who is living in an unheated environment, such as a garage. It has very low sides, so it wouldn't do as good of a job of retaining the heat as might one of the ones with higher sides, or with a top over it. From my experience, three out of four cats give it an enthusiastic thumbs up, and the fourth hasn't decided yet. It took her six months to decide that the cat tree was safe, so I wouldn't count her hesitation against the product.
You may or may not notice that the price of the bed depends on the color. Since my cats haven't expressed their favorite colors to me, I went with the mocha, which is the least expensive choice.
Added nearly a year later: In preparation for another Maine winter, I have just ordered a third one of these beds. Over the summer, I unplugged the beds and the cats still preferred these to the our other kinds of cat beds that they have available to them. In cold weather, we keep the thermostat low, because of the rising costs of heating oil, so I plug the beds in. Cats, as you know, like to be warm, and these beds work very well for them. Three of my cats are now twenty-one, while the fourth is twelve, so I at least want to have one of these for each of the older cats, although before the winter is over I may give in and buy a fourth bed. As it is, they fight over them. These beds have held up very well, and are very easy to clean when necessary. Also, they do not make a discernible bump in our electricity rates. If I could give them six stars, I would.
Added on December 31, 2011: I have just ordered a fourth of these cat beds, so that each of my cats will have one of these. When I first bought one of these, the mocha color was far cheaper than the others. Today, I see that the blue bed is the cheapest. The color doesn't matter to my cats, so I bought the blue one this time. It's been nearly a year since I bought the first one of these beds, this being the second winter with them, and my cats absolutely love them. Two of my cats turned 22 this month, and a third will be 22 next month, and they were fighting over these beds. While it is nice to know that there are still things worth fighting over at their age, it seemed only fair that they each have one of these. Now that I've ordered a blue one, I suppose I'll see if color matters to them. If you are buying one of these for the first time, don't despair if your cat doesn't take to it right away. Cats are cautious, and some cats are more cautious than others. One of my older cats couldn't be forced into one of these beds for the first couple of weeks, but now she loves it. They all do.
August 10, 2012: I now have four of these, one for each cat. Some of them have been washed several times, yet they are all doing well, including the first one that I bought. I have other cat beds which are sometimes used, but these are the preferences for all four of my cats. In the summer, I unplug them, and when the temperatures cool, I plug them in. Either way, they love them.
April 21, 2013: All four of these beds are still in constant use, including the very first one that I bought, and they have gone through many washings.
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