Heat lamps for older kitties?

[Mollycat]

So we all know cats like it hotter than we do, and as they get older and their body mass composition changes they seem to seek heat more than ever. It probably also gives relief for renal and arthritic pains. But with energy prices and our own comfort to think of, we really don't want to crank up the thermostat too much.

I don't have a microwave so heat pads are rules out, but has anyone had heat lamps for their cat, are they effective, popular, practical, expensive to run? Is cheap to buy a good or false economy? Any recommendations?

[booktigger]

I've never heard of heated lamps, but have had heated beds for a few of my oldies, you can get self heating ones too, that create heat with the weight of the cat, but they tend to be quite crinkly, so off putting for some cats which wouldn't use any electricity

[Mollycat]

Yes I've had one before, she didn't like it so I took it apart ... what a con, it's nothing but a layer of tin foil in the middle! I mean infra-red heat lamps like they have in incubators, catteries, lambing pens etc.

[alanc]

Tilly considers that I should be her heat pad and expects to be cuddled in cold weather!
However, I bought her a sheepskin rug for Christmas (stripy grey to match her fur) which she adores, is as effective as one of those heat pads and much more economical.

[Mollycat]

Real sheepskin? We tried the fake stuff and she walked all the way around it, would not put her feet on it.

She also won't use the top level of her tree which is the plush bed, and won't use the plush bed I bought last year when she first started to seem to need more heat. Hence thinking lamps because a lamp can be positioned over any of the beds she does use. It took her 7 years to start lying on the sofa. She is fussy about surfaces.

[alanc]

Definitely real sheepskin - I bought it in the local wool shop. I doubt fake sheepskin would be anywhere near as warm. For the first few days, I placed it on the patch of floor on the landing beneath which the central heating pipes run (and where she frequently slept). After that, put it on one of her favorite chairs and she rarely sleeps anywhere else now during the day.

[Mollycat]

Lovely idea and as you say must be so warm and clearly she loves it!

[booktigger]

Lucy is also fussy with surfaces, I bought a lovely rug about 6 months after I adopted Lucy, she doesn't like standing on it, yet there is a cat cube and tunnel on it, she will sleep in them on the rug, but not on the rug, it's even hard enticing her to step on it while playing, she sometimes stops mid run rather than step on it! I don't know if the infra red lamps would be suitable for long term use, never seen one in a cattery, but incubators and lambing pens are only short term, and I know with incubators for kittens, the lamp should only be over part of it, to avoid them over heating

[Mollycat]

Funny things aren't they!

The ones used in catteries are way too powerful for home and besides they have mostly been replaced with modern more efficient panel heaters, according to my limited research, but some infrared heating systems are still on sale, and catteries, kennels and stables are on the list of suitable uses!

Anyway it doesn't sounds as though anyone here has used such a thing and most of them are way too hot for home.

[Kay]

Is a far infra-red wall panel an option for both of you? They are economical to run, and the one I have on the wall above the TV makes sitting in the chair facing it just like sitting in the sun, and Penny is sure to be basking on her cat tree when it's on

otherwise her favourite bed by far is the single duvet folded in four on top of the wardrobe - it cost £8 and of course I only have to change the cover when it needs it

[Mollycat]

That sounds like the things I've been looking at that seem to be taking over from the lamps, but the ones I've seen seem to be quite high powered? I'm not sure what I'm hoping for even exists, does your panel have a low setting that you could safely leave on gently all day?

[Kay]

Mine is 400w and works on a wireless controlled thermostat - I'm on Economy 7 so unless it's particularly cold I only have it on for an hour late at night, once the Economy 7 kicks in - I set the thermostat to 21C - to turn it off I just lower the thermostat to 16C, which means it doesn't come on at all

the only drawback is it is so nice basking in the artificial sunshine, that if it reachs 21C and switches off I immediately miss it

[Mollycat]

We are on Economy 7 too but our heaters are all dual, so there is no drop in temperature only a rise in price.

If I can work out where to put it that sounds more like the result I'm after, something thermostat controlled that I can leave on just for her. The flat is lovely and warm it's just her old cat bones feeling it could do with extra, and so far any attempt on my part to offer warmer bedding in her established places have bene met with looks of Righteous Indignation.

[susand]

What about those heated mats used by gardeners for plant propagation? You plug them in and put your seed trays on top of them to germinate. You couldn’t let a cat sit directly on the mat in case she put her claws through it and got electrocuted or something but you could put a bed or thick blanket on top of it. It would work like an electric blanket. It shouldn’t get too hot as it is designed for plants and only provides about 15 degrees above the ambient temperature. I don’t think they cost much to run, a lot less than raising your central heating by an additional 15 degrees anyway.

EDIT; I’ve just checked out the internet and it looks like the same thing, or something very similar, is used to keep reptiles warm. They are called ‘reptile heat mats’ rather that ‘plant heat mats’ but they look like the same thing to me.