Vet-Designed Cat Beds & Caves for the hider, the curler and the climber

Measure her curled up, nose to tail base, and stretched out on her side. A cave needs a floor she can turn round on and lie flat in, so buy for the stretched figure if she sleeps on her side; an open bed should be about a hand longer than she is curled. Every product page lists its assembled size, the Cubby Cave and the Deluxe Donut Bed come in two sizes, and the size guide does the arithmetic. Between sizes, go up.

Watch where she sleeps now. Under things, in boxes and behind the sofa means a cave: walls all round, one door, a roof. On the sofa arm, the end of the bed or your jumper, curled with her back against something, means an open bed with a wall: the Deluxe Donut Bed or the hooded Cubby Cave. Many cats want one of each, a cave for the day and a bed for the night, and the 3-In-1 Cave folds from one to the other.

Felt holds its shape without a frame, takes a claw without unravelling, and flat-packs. Brush hair off it, lift the rest with a lint roller, and spot-clean with cold water; do not machine wash a felt cave. The plush pieces (the Bunny Shag Cave, the Cubby Cave, the 3-In-1 and the Deluxe Donut Bed) have covers the listings say are machine washable; the instructions are being confirmed and print on each product page. Wash bedding the same day you treat for fleas, because the eggs are in the bed.

No, however it looks in the photograph. Cats sleep near each other by choice and in the same enclosed space rarely, and a cave with one door is a place one cat can corner another. The rule is one cave per cat plus one, put apart, or a two-level house (the Petal Paws, the Avo-Cat-O, the Al-Cat-Raz, The Cottage, the Catception, the Logo House) so one cat has the den and the other has the deck. The Deluxe Donut Bed Large is the one piece rated for two who already sleep together.

Not on its own, and please do not buy it for that. A cat who hides when she never used to, who has stopped coming out to eat, or who hides and also strains, vomits or limps, is showing you pain or illness, and that is a vet visit first. Once she is checked, a cave in the place she already goes gives her the hiding spot she was looking for, on her terms. A cat who has always hidden a little is a hider, and the cave is for her.

Ignoring it in week one is normal if it is in the wrong place: move it to where she sleeps now, put her blanket inside, and leave it two weeks. Do not put her in it. If it arrives damaged or wrong, email hello@purrz.com within 7 days of delivery with a photo and your order number; faulty, damaged or incorrect items are covered and we pay the return shipping when the error is ours. Unused items in their packaging follow the refund policy in the footer.