Keep your furry babies toasty (Pet Life Flectabed)

Member Name: Tracy_1127

Product:	Pet Life Flectabed
Date:	01/06/09 (49 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: very warm, easy to wash

Disadvantages: none for us

I'm always buying things for my two lads (cats) and a couple of years ago at the end of autumn I wanted to get them a new bed each. One of my boys has got a bit of arthritis in his front leg that gets better if he's warm and my other lad hasn't got as much padding as he used to have so although they've got fleecy blankets, cushions and an array of cosy beds all over the house I started looking for beds that were even warmer.

After some research online I came across these Flectabeds. At the time all the online suppliers were out of stock so when I popped into Pets At Home I had a look to see if they had any and they had one. I bought one, ordered a second and hid the first one until the second arrived a week later, my boys squabble if they haven't got one each of everything!

Firstly I'd like to say that if you want to buy these for your cats check the dog bed section, for some reason that's where they store them in Pets At Home. These beds are suitable for both dogs and cats and come in various sizes.

The sizes available are 18 x 14 inches at £15.84, 26 x 20 inches at £24.38, 37 x 28 inches at £36.59 and 50 x 30 inches at £69.55. I bought the second size, 26 x 20 inches as my two are big male cats and I wanted to make sure they had enough room to roll around on these beds. The prices have not changed since I bought mine.

The Flectabeds come in a plastic case that has resealable press studs on it so if you wanted to get these beds out in the winter and put them away in the summer you can hang onto these and pack them safely away again. Personally I kept the case for one summer but my two didn't seem to want to part with their Flectabeds even through the summer so I threw them away and we just keep the beds out all the time.

So what's so great about Flectabeds then? The idea is the design of the bed produces more warmth than other beds because they reflect the animals heat back at them. The cover is fleecy like faux sheepskin on one side and thick strong cotton on the other and at one end there is velcro so this cover can be removed and washed. These aren't waterproof but you can buy a waterproof cover if you prefer. You can also buy extra covers for less than £10 so you have a few to rotate. Your pet can sleep on either side, whichever they prefer really!

Inside the cover is a little duvet. This is very cute and on one side looks just like a mini cat or dog duvet but turn it over and you can see it is filled with what looks like shredded silver paper. This is the reflecting aspect of these beds. The silver paper works like those foil type blankets they use after races etc to keep heat in. So the animal lays on the bed and their heat doesn't disappear from around them it reflects back to their bodies to keep them warm.

Once I had the two Flectabeds I took them out of their cases and laid them on the floor. I stepped onto them with bare feet and stood still for a few seconds and they really were very warm! My feet were toasty so I knew we'd done the right thing buying these beds. When I get new beds for my two I roll around on them first so it not only puts my scent on them in place of "new bed smell" but also because my boys want whatever I'm laying on so I did this then pulled the beds away from each other and left the room.

The second I'd left the room my boys decided to investigate (I was sneaking a peep from the kitchen!) and within a few minutes they had both laid down on the beds, fleecy side up. I was thrilled they liked them and left them to snooze for a while before we decided where to permanently position the beds.

Mostly these beds stay in the same place but if it's very cold I move the beds around to suit my lads, wherever they prefer sleeping at the time I put a Flectabed and if they are currently wanting to sleep on a particular blanket I pop the Flectabed under the blanket so they have the extra heat.

These beds are so warm and comfy I even caught my partner laying on one on the floor a few times and had to sternly force him to give it back to the boys!

Even though we have central heating, like most people, sometimes it can feel a bit chilly in the house, especially times like this winter when it was freezing for weeks so these beds keep my little lads warmer than they would have been. When one of my boys had some problems with his thyroid medication and became hypothyroid I was really glad we had these beds because he was shivering he was so cold and the Flectabeds helped keep him warm while we sorted out his tablet dose.

I can't praise these beds enough, they really do work to keep your cat or dog warm and the washable covers make them very easy to keep clean. Just pop the cover in the wash on a low setting and then hang it up to dry. My two even use theirs in the summer on the days it's not so hot (alot of the summer then!) and on warmer days they often get on for a few minutes then slither onto the floor because they can't bear to be parted from their Flectabeds!

These beds are brilliant, they keep my boys toasty now they've reached their senior years and they're soft and cushioned to lay on because of the duvet inside. Well worth the £25 each I paid for them and I can't recommend them highly enough. In fact I'm tempted to buy a couple more for other areas of the house!

Summary: Thoroughly recommended by me and my boys.