Cats lie and sleep wherever it is soft and where they feel safe and secure. If you want to keep the cat away from the furniture and offer the cat an alternative to the cold, hard floor, then it is worth thinking about buying a cat pillow. Here you can find out what cat pillows are available and what you should consider when choosing.
What is a cat pillow?
Compared to a cat bed, the cat pillow is quite flat. It may be that its edge area is delineated to the lying area, but the edge is not raised like a cat bed. Thickly padded and soft or as a self-warming cat pillow or a cat pillow with heating, the floor pillow still invites the cat to rest on it instead of making do with the bare floor. The resting places are available as
- Cat cushion round
- Cat cushion oval
- Cat cushion square
available. Quilted, in patchwork look or as a fluffy couch cushion or couch island cat cushions can be found in the trade. Their shape enhances the home decor and does not seem disturbing at all. At the same time, cat cushions are suitable as a soft insert for a cat basket.
Cat cushion design
Cat pillows are solid colors, have cute appliques or a print pattern. Beige, brown and gray are the most common colors for a cat pillow. Fancy cat pillows are mixed orange, turquoise green, purple and multicolored and motifs already woven into the fabric are very popular. In addition to plush in various qualities, fabrics made of velour, velvet and polyester are used.
What size for a cat pillow?
This depends on the breed of your cat. For small cats, a cat pillow rectangular 60×40 cm is enough. Larger cats need a cat pillow 80×55 cm, 100×70 cm or even 120×80 cm. A cat pillow 50x35x5 cm is almost too small for a large cat. A cat pillow oval can have the dimensions of 50×35 cm. A cat pillow round made of plush measures 50×50 cm. The distance to the floor can be up to 10 cm for a cat pillow. It is advantageous to have an underside with anti-slip coating or anti-slip studs, so that the cat pillow stays in place. You can get cat pillows with summer and winter sleeping side, for example, with one side faux lambskin and on the other side with nylon fabric. With a drawstring, a cat pillow round can be pulled together to form a cat basket. Another special feature as a cat pillow is a beanbag for cats and dogs. The polyester balls adapt to the respective body shape and insulate against cold from below.
The best cat pillows
What’s inside the cat pillow?
A quilting overall or only a quilting of the inlay prevent the contents of it cat pillow from slipping. If a cat blanket is sewn on, the cat can crawl on the cat pillow comfortably like in a cat cave. As a filling for a cat pillow, the following materials can be found:
- unbleached kapok fibers (renewable resource)
- fleece
- wadding
- polyester wool
- foam flakes
- polyester balls
Clean cat pillows
The cover of a high-quality cat pillow is removable and washable. In some cases, you may put the entire cat pillow in the washing machine. It is recommended to wash it in a laundry bag, from which you can easily shake out the cat hair after washing.
Make your own cat pillow
If you decide to make a cat pillow yourself, you can perfectly match it to your home and your pet.
Sew your own cat pillow example
For a cat pillow with border in size M, you will need two rectangles of fabric (64 cm x 85 cm) and the same size in fleece, so that the cat pillow has a soft feel. Feel free to put several layers of fleece on top of each other so that the cat pillow is well padded. Place the fabric right sides together and pin the fabric and fleece together on each outer side. For a cat pillow with an edge on three sides, now cut out a square with an edge length of 12 cm on each of the upper sides. The edge will then be 12 cm high. Then sew the soff with the fleece together all around, leaving a piece of seam open for turning the cat pillow. Divide the cushion and edges after turning with a seam, so that the edge can be set up better. Finally, fold the edge up and secure the corners by hand with a few pin stitches.
Crochet cat pillow
Crocheting a cat pillow is quick because instead of delicate wool, unbreakable fleece blankets are crocheted. Fleece is the optimal material for a cat pillow. The cat won’t get its claws stuck to it like with wool, and fleece is a sturdy, warm and cuddly material. Get two to three fleece blankets and a crochet hook in size 6-8. First, prepare the fleece blankets as crochet yarn. To do this, cut the blanket from the bottom up in strips of about 1 cm. However, the fabric is not cut all the way through, but an edge is left. The next strip is created by cutting from the top down. Again, 1 cm is left at the edge. The next cut is again cut from the bottom up. Finally, wind the resulting fleece strip in a ball. First crochet air stitches for the bottom of the cat pillow. Cast on as many stitches depending on the size. Add one stitch as a turn stitch and crochet the bottom in rows of solid stitches until it reaches the appropriate size. For the border, crochet a solid stitch in each stitch. If you crochet the edge twice as high as you plan, you can fold it over later for more stability.
Knitting a cat pillow
Knit two rectangles of the desired size for a borderless cat pillow. Right stitches provide a dense surface. To prevent the stuffing from squeezing through, it is wiser to put the stuffing for the cat pillow in a ticking of fabric. Join the two rectangles for the cat pillow by a seam right sides together, turn the pillow and put the ticking with the filling into the pillow. Then close the turning opening. Instead of the two rectangles, you can also knit a rectangle twice as large and then fold it over in the middle to form the pillow. You just need to sew the sides and the turning opening together.