Sometimes things like heating pads are just easier bought than put together from pieces and parts. A Google of pet heating pads will bring up some as low as $15 USD and I doubt I could make one that inexpensive. My neighbor uses an old IR lamp I gave him to keep his outside cats warm in their cat house.

My neighbor has a dog. It lives outside 100% of the time. The old dog house had more entrances and exits than a civ. I took it upon myself to build an insulated dog house for the animal. The water dish froze every year, so I bought the animal a heated water bowl. If temperature of the water dropped below 40˚F the heat would come on and warm the water so it wasn't frozen. Seems I care more for my neighbor's dog than my neighbor does. I considered putting a small lamp in the dog house. Any source of warmth is better than absolutely nothing. The lamp is never turned on because it's "Too Expensive".

The dog is still alive. I know. It barks all day long in the winter time. When the sun is high there's a small solar panel that powers an ultrasonic dog bark deterrent device I got from the pet store. During those times he only barks on the far end of the yard. But he still barks. And that's an issue for my wife. Some people here have suggested harming the animal, but I just can't punish an animal for having a bad owner.

 

My neighbor has a dog. It lives outside 100% of the time. The old dog house had more entrances and exits than a civ. I took it upon myself to build an insulated dog house for the animal. The water dish froze every year, so I bought the animal a heated water bowl. If temperature of the water dropped below 40˚F the heat would come on and warm the water so it wasn't frozen. Seems I care more for my neighbor's dog than my neighbor does. I considered putting a small lamp in the dog house. Any source of warmth is better than absolutely nothing. The lamp is never turned on because it's "Too Expensive".

There is no "too expensive". Anyone who makes that claim in regard to a pet simply should not have pets. We have two dogs and once peaked at three. When I met my wife she had a dog and I had a dog and over all the years all of our dogs have been "house dogs" meaning they live in the house. Charlotte is a pedigree Golden Retriever and Pilgrim a mixed breed something or other. They also get excellent vet care also whenever they need it. I just can't see having any pet unless you plan the responsibility of caring for it properly.

Ron

 

There is no "too expensive". Anyone who makes that claim in regard to a pet simply should not have pets. We have two dogs and once peaked at three. When I met my wife she had a dog and I had a dog and over all the years all of our dogs have been "house dogs" meaning they live in the house. Charlotte is a pedigree Golden Retriever and Pilgrim a mixed breed something or other. They also get excellent vet care also whenever they need it. I just can't see having any pet unless you plan the responsibility of caring for it properly.

Ron

A well insulated box for a cat is a simpler and safer way to keep them comfortable, and I have never met a cat that would not choose such a place for napping.

 

A well insulated box for a cat is a simpler and safer way to keep them comfortable, and I have never met a cat that would not choose such a place for napping.

Yes and straw is popular. Personally I just do not leave pets outside and for those left outside they should have a warm and comfortable place to stay. Likewise their water supply should not freeze. This is especially true when the outside temperatures get sub zero F. I just won't subject any pet to harsh weather conditions. Long as the animal is comfortable then cool with me and as I mentioned a pet heating pad from Chewy is about $15 USD.

Ron

 

You're right when you say such a pet owner should not own pets. This guy keeps everything he's ever gotten his hands on. You've seen that show - "Hoarding, buried alive"? Well, that's his house. I've been inside and it's stacked to the ceiling with trails leading through the house. The bets location has stuff stacked arm pit high. The car port hasn't had a car in it in years. He kept a storage shed costing him $100 a month. Had it for three years. When I asked him what's in there that's worth $3600 (US) he emptied the shed and stored everything in his back yard under tarps. Moisture got to most of it and ruined a lot of it. Helping him clean it up I discovered Tree Bark. Yes, he was even saving that. Said he's going to do something artsy with it some day. His yard is a mine field and anyone walking in it is strongly advised to wear boots. The dog regularly trapezes through his own fecees. Once I saw him cleaning up the yard, tossing the pickings over the fence into the dog-run. I asked him why he's making his dog live in that stuff and why he has to pick it up twice. He didn't have an answer.

Every now and then he goes on a vacation and asks me to feed the dog and collect the mail. That's how I know the condition inside the house. The worst you can imagine is exactly what his interior is like. He shouldn't have an animal. Nevertheless, over the years I've done more for making his pet(s) comfortable than he has. I found someone who had dog beds free on the local news web page. When it got dirty he threw it out. Funny, if it was anything else he would have found a place to keep it. "That stuff is valuable". Perhaps one day it may be a collector's item. He has stacks of National Geographic magazines. They may be worth something, maybe not. But he doesn't need them. His priorities are all messed up. Pets? They live outside. Junk? Inside. In the house, in the car port, under tarps, stacked arm pit high all around the room. Disgusting.

Anyway, pet warming beds - that's what we're supposed to be discussing. While you can probably make one, the best home made solution would be a pillow on top of a heating pad. But even heating pads are not supposed to be left on for long periods of time and the warning is not to fall asleep with it in contact of human bodies. I'd assume the same would apply for a pet. Pet beds are probably the best option.

 

My suggestion for the insulated cat nest was not for an outside use but for an inside draft-free secure feeling place that a cat would naturally choose. And with an insulating foam structure it would hold all of the cat;s natural heat, and being closed on 3 sides plus top and bottom it would be what cats like best, a sheltered place secure at their back. That is why cats love to rest in bags lying on the floor.

 

I've been a cat owner for many years and have had many cats. One thing I can tell you for sure is when you build them a nest they almost always reject it. I've had my heated bed for about 5 years and only the past few months has Midnight begun using it. All other efforts to get her or Pepper to use it failed. Till now.

Pepper loves to find her own place, whether it's a pile of clothes or a blanket left on the floor. Usually she's found worshiping the sun. In winter she's finding any place sunlight comes in. Summer time she likes it under the shade of the trees.

To each their own.

 

My cats, back in the day, would always pick a paper grocery bag laying on it's side. They always wanted to be secure and hidden a bit, never an open top bed of any kind.

 

A paper bag is a den to a cat. They don't know how fragile it is. My cats love jumping into boxes or crawling into them when they're on their side. But they don't sleep in them.

One year I had a house full of kittens. I brought home a box of packing peanuts. Installed a small blower in the side of the box, turned it on and began stirring up the peanuts, then put the kittens in there. They nearly played themselves to death. When they got out of the box - and the wife nearly divorced me over this, those peanuts ended up EVERYWHERE in the house. EVERYWHERE! Took months to clean it up.

 

A paper bag is a den to a cat. They don't know how fragile it is. My cats love jumping into boxes or crawling into them when they're on their side. But they don't sleep in them.

One year I had a house full of kittens. I brought home a box of packing peanuts. Installed a small blower in the side of the box, turned it on and began stirring up the peanuts, then put the kittens in there. They nearly played themselves to death. When they got out of the box - and the wife nearly divorced me over this, those peanuts ended up EVERYWHERE in the house. EVERYWHERE! Took months to clean it up.

Long ago I used a whole lot of those packing peanuts to float a pool cover over the winter. That worked OK until a spring storm blew the cover off the pool. Thirty years later I still find peanuts when digging in the yard.

 

Long ago I used a whole lot of those packing peanuts to float a pool cover over the winter. That worked OK until a spring storm blew the cover off the pool. Thirty years later I still find peanuts when digging in the yard.

Now THAT's some funny chit!