If electric cat beds feel too dangerous to you, but your cat needs something a little warmer than the standard bed, a self-heating bed might be for you. These cat beds look like normal beds, but they include a layer of mylar or other heat-reflective materials—the same thing in those foil emergency blankets. This helps them reflect your pet’s body heat back at them, giving them an extra heat boost without electricity. The only problem is that these beds can get pretty pricey. But if you’re willing to try it yourself, DIY self-heating beds are cheap and easy! From super basic to practically professional, here are our favorite self-heating cat bed Ideas.
The 4 Awesome DIY Self-Heating Cat Beds
- No-Sew Self-Heated Cat Bed by The Cat Site
Check Instructions Here
Materials: Box, fabric to cover, space blanket, down blanket or jacket, towel
Tools: None needed
Difficulty: Super easy
If you want something simple, you can’t go any easier than this DIY cat bed. Without any cutting or sewing needed, it’s basically the DIY equivalent of making a sandwich—just wrapping a box in fabric and layering up the materials to make a cozy bed. This makes it super simple and keeps your blankets intact in case you ever want to repurpose them. One drawback is that this bed is only insulated on the bottom, not the sides. That makes it a little less warm than some of the other options on this list. It also may need proper securing for long-term use so your cat doesn’t dismantle the bed.
- Heat Reflective Cat Blanket by Feral Trapping
Check Instructions Here
Materials: Outer fabric, batting, space blanket, thread
Tools: Sewing machine (optional), needle, Scissors
Difficulty: Easy
This heat-reflective blanket is about as easy as you can get, and it makes a great liner to any pet bed or works on its own. It was designed for use with feral cat populations, so you know that it’s cheap and simple to make, but it still looks professional and attractive. The blanket requires basic sewing skills and can be sewn by hand or machine. Sewing your own blanket gives you a ton of flexibility in design, too—with practically endless fabric choices out there, you can match it to your décor or pick something fun! The video is also full of advice on picking the right size of blanket, machine washing your blanket, and other handy tips that are helpful whether you need to warm one cat or a hundred.
- Sewing an Insulated Pet Bed by What The Craft
Check Instructions Here
Materials: Main fabric, lining fabric, insul-bright batting, thread
Tools: Sewing machine (optional), needle, scissors, pins
Difficulty: Easy to moderate
If you really want a professional-look bed, this insulated pet bed from What The Craft looks like it could be store-bought. This bed is soft, reversible, and fully lined. Unlike some of the other pet bed options here, this one skips the mylar space blanket and uses insul-bright batting. Insul-bright is used in hot pads and oven mitts to create padded, mylar-threaded insulation that is softer and quieter than a space blanket. If your cat won’t settle down in a crinkly blanket, it’s a great option, even though you might not have it around the house. The tutorial for this pet bed is a little more involved, with a few more steps than a simple blanket, but it’s still a fairly easy beginner sewing project. Although a sewing machine would make this process a lot easier, if you don’t have access to one, hand sewing will work just as well.
- Rice Pet Heating Pad by South Pacific County Humane Society
Check Instructions Here
Materials: Uncooked Rice, Socks, String or Ribbon (optional)
Tools: Scissors
Difficulty: Super Easy
If a foil-blanket style self-heating bed isn’t working for you, an alternative is a rice heating pack. These packs can be warmed in the microwave and will give off heat for hours—making them perfect for keeping your kitty warm. They’re also super easy to make—you don’t need any special tools or sewing skills, just rice and socks. Although this isn’t a traditional self-heating bed, we put it in the same category because they add extra heat to your pet’s bed without needing to worry about electricity problems or overheating.
Last Thoughts As you can see, you don’t need to pay a ton to keep your cat warm. Although there are lots of self-heating bed options on the market today, it’s also super easy and cheap to make a bed or a blanket yourself. Once you decide what kind of bed you want, you can customize it to make sure that it’s the perfect fit for you and for your cat. See also: Are Heated Cat Beds Safe for Cats?
Featured Image Credit: Aleksandar Cvetanovic, Unsplash
If electric cat beds feel too dangerous to you, but your cat needs something a little warmer than the standard bed, a self-heating bed might be for you. These cat beds look like normal beds, but they include a layer of mylar or other heat-reflective materials—the same thing in those foil emergency blankets. This helps them reflect your pet’s body heat back at them, giving them an extra heat boost without electricity.
The only problem is that these beds can get pretty pricey. But if you’re willing to try it yourself, DIY self-heating beds are cheap and easy! From super basic to practically professional, here are our favorite self-heating cat bed Ideas.
The 4 Awesome DIY Self-Heating Cat Beds
- No-Sew Self-Heated Cat Bed by The Cat Site
Check Instructions Here
Materials: Box, fabric to cover, space blanket, down blanket or jacket, towel
Tools: None needed
Difficulty: Super easy
If you want something simple, you can’t go any easier than this DIY cat bed. Without any cutting or sewing needed, it’s basically the DIY equivalent of making a sandwich—just wrapping a box in fabric and layering up the materials to make a cozy bed. This makes it super simple and keeps your blankets intact in case you ever want to repurpose them.
Check Instructions Here
Materials: Box, fabric to cover, space blanket, down blanket or jacket, towel
Tools: None needed
Difficulty: Super easy
One drawback is that this bed is only insulated on the bottom, not the sides. That makes it a little less warm than some of the other options on this list. It also may need proper securing for long-term use so your cat doesn’t dismantle the bed.
- Heat Reflective Cat Blanket by Feral Trapping
Check Instructions Here
Materials: Outer fabric, batting, space blanket, thread
Tools: Sewing machine (optional), needle, Scissors
Difficulty: Easy
This heat-reflective blanket is about as easy as you can get, and it makes a great liner to any pet bed or works on its own. It was designed for use with feral cat populations, so you know that it’s cheap and simple to make, but it still looks professional and attractive. The blanket requires basic sewing skills and can be sewn by hand or machine. Sewing your own blanket gives you a ton of flexibility in design, too—with practically endless fabric choices out there, you can match it to your décor or pick something fun!
Materials: Outer fabric, batting, space blanket, thread
Tools: Sewing machine (optional), needle, Scissors
Difficulty: Easy
The video is also full of advice on picking the right size of blanket, machine washing your blanket, and other handy tips that are helpful whether you need to warm one cat or a hundred.
- Sewing an Insulated Pet Bed by What The Craft
Check Instructions Here
Materials: Main fabric, lining fabric, insul-bright batting, thread
Tools: Sewing machine (optional), needle, scissors, pins
Difficulty: Easy to moderate
If you really want a professional-look bed, this insulated pet bed from What The Craft looks like it could be store-bought. This bed is soft, reversible, and fully lined. Unlike some of the other pet bed options here, this one skips the mylar space blanket and uses insul-bright batting. Insul-bright is used in hot pads and oven mitts to create padded, mylar-threaded insulation that is softer and quieter than a space blanket. If your cat won’t settle down in a crinkly blanket, it’s a great option, even though you might not have it around the house.
Materials: Main fabric, lining fabric, insul-bright batting, thread
Tools: Sewing machine (optional), needle, scissors, pins
Difficulty: Easy to moderate
The tutorial for this pet bed is a little more involved, with a few more steps than a simple blanket, but it’s still a fairly easy beginner sewing project. Although a sewing machine would make this process a lot easier, if you don’t have access to one, hand sewing will work just as well.
- Rice Pet Heating Pad by South Pacific County Humane Society
Check Instructions Here
Materials: Uncooked Rice, Socks, String or Ribbon (optional)
Tools: Scissors
Difficulty: Super Easy
If a foil-blanket style self-heating bed isn’t working for you, an alternative is a rice heating pack. These packs can be warmed in the microwave and will give off heat for hours—making them perfect for keeping your kitty warm. They’re also super easy to make—you don’t need any special tools or sewing skills, just rice and socks.
Materials: Uncooked Rice, Socks, String or Ribbon (optional)
Tools: Scissors
Difficulty: Super Easy
Although this isn’t a traditional self-heating bed, we put it in the same category because they add extra heat to your pet’s bed without needing to worry about electricity problems or overheating.
Last Thoughts
As you can see, you don’t need to pay a ton to keep your cat warm. Although there are lots of self-heating bed options on the market today, it’s also super easy and cheap to make a bed or a blanket yourself. Once you decide what kind of bed you want, you can customize it to make sure that it’s the perfect fit for you and for your cat.
See also: Are Heated Cat Beds Safe for Cats?
Featured Image Credit: Aleksandar Cvetanovic, Unsplash
