Conference misery::feline_v1

	You can usually get some great ideas from cat shows.  Are there 
	any up in your area?  There's one in Salem NH on 11/3 & 4, but
	that probably doesn't help you much. :^}

	We have several types of bed, but they all seem to pile up in
	one.  It's one of those 'cave' types which collapse to make a
	normal-looking round bed.

	This is, of course, when they aren't sleeping in *our* bed!

	Sandy + 5

       The old laundry baskets aren't the ONLY place our 5 sleep...
    Luke likes the couch..especially when there are 3-4 dogs sleeping there
    as well. Smokey, our 3-legged kid...was raised with a litter of Basset
    Hound puppies, so he thinks he's a dog anyway... His "thing" is to
    sleep on TOP of one of the dogs..
      Stormy likes the top of the toaster, the little place on top of the
    portable dishwasher where you coil up to cord---but only while the
    dishwasher is running(we call it "Stormy's massage parlor")ro any other
    little area where you'd think she'd fall off...
      And if any piece of newly cleaned clothing gets put down where any of
    them can get to it, as long as the color is directly opposite the cat's
    color, they'll ALWAYS park themselves on that..
    
      Actually, they'll park almost ANYWHERE, depending on their mood. On
    grocery day, they LOVE an empty paper bag.. We do have a couple of
    those fake-velvet-furry "Kitty pocket beds" and they seem to always
    like to jump into those now and then as well...
    
    JMcD

    Years ago we bought a wicker cat basket and was sure we would
    have all the cats fighting over it. Never happened. They walked 
    in and out of it maybe layed down and tried it but that's been
    that with the basket. We have lined it with just about every
    imaginal thing you can think of and then took the stuff out again
    NOTHING. We have had that basket 20 years + - and it's just like
    new. The only permanent resident is a life size white toy cat we
    bought for our grandniece.
    
    In the mean time they have occasionally taken over, cardboard
    boxes, paper bags, furniture,sinks, and floors but none have 
    lasted long. They just seem to go from place to place and object
    to object. Sounds like we have pretty normal cats after reading
    the other notes.
    
    Barbara & her 3M's
    

    We have several types of cat beds at home.
    
    The most famous one is oval shaped with high sides and a cushion on the
    bottom.  I have no idea what the formal name for it is, only that the
    cats fight over it.  I purchased it for about $30 in Caldor.
    
    They also have a round "donut" bed that Jo Ann Cordes Brown made.  This
    is Murdock's bed (maybe because Jo raises Birmans and Murdock is a
    Birman :^) ??) and he sleeps in it while we watch TV.
    
    I recently purchased a furry brown bed called a "kitty kup."  This bed
    is also round with high sides, and the cats love to curl up and hide in
    it.
    
    In addition, we have 3 large cat trees (you can imagine what my house
    looks like!!), all with several perches that the cats like to sleep and
    play on.
    
    Variety is the spice of life!!
    
    
    --Roberta
    

    
    I was out at lunchtime and just saw some nice beds at National Pet in
    Nashua NH.  One I had been looking at for awhile, round, heavy plastic
    with a pad/cushion in it was only $20.00.  But this weekend I was at 
    Bradlees and they had GIANT kitty litter pans for $5.00 and that's what
    my guys got as a bed!  Fill it up with old blankets, sheets, or towels
    and Pinecone was happy as a clam this morning.  Best of all it has 4
    sides to help keep in the cat hair, (they sleep on top of the dog
    crate, under the vita-light).
    
    MaryAnne

    Rolf and Florence like the cat cradle. Its made of fake sheep skin and
    hangs on the radiator. They love it - Pookie prefers a chair or big
    (and I mean big) cushion. I'm sure you can get cat cradles in the US -
    I am in th UK.
    
    Lisa plus PR&F
    

      Oh yeah... I forgot to mention that Stormy also loves the toilet
    lid....we usually have to run her out of the bathroom whenever we wanna
    use it....
    
      (Someday kiddo...the LID'll be up...)
    
    
    John McD

    
    a plastic see-through cat carrying case with an old down vest
    on the bottom ... placed somewhere high in the room
    they seem to like the security of this, sometimes alternating
    in it, sometimes cramming in together
    
    nice part is that if i need to take them somewhere they
    don't associate it with cars/vet trips
    
    as for the wicker basket i thought they might like... used
    once...  i wouldnt buy anything special   they sense it and
    love to be ornery
    
    ellen/cino/buco

    We have several (as you can imagine) cat beds, but the favorite
    by far is the waterbed.  
    
    Bumpy likes the fake-fur on top of the radiator in the kitchen.
    They also like the Arubacat's cat trees, the donut beds and the
    kitty hammock.  I'd love to get them one of those big mousey beds.
    Maybe that'll be a Christmas present.
    

    My guys and gals go from space to space.  They very seldom pick
    the same place two nights in a row.  We have baskets, boxes with
    blankets in them, chairs with flannel shirts (they all love flannel),
    waterbed, kitty condo, paperbags,and anywhere you might put down an 
    afgan.  I wouldn't spend alot of money trying to pick out something fancy.  
            
    Sandy (Tamba, Poco, Barkley, Chloe, and Agnes)
             
    
    

    Hi all!!!
    thanks for the suggestions.
    
    Sheesh.  I love my kitties so much, I wanted to buy them something
    really special.  I'd heard that baskets are popular.  
    
    I really don't have much stuff around the apartment for them to hide
    inside or around, since I just moved in the last few months after
    graduating from school. :)  But I wanted them to have a "safe" kitty
    bed since they sleep all day long when I'm not there.  
    
    I dunno.  My mother says Pier 1 Imports had a kitty basket a few months
    ago which was on sale, but when I checked there a few weeks ago, they
    didn't seem to know what I was talking about.
    
    Yipes!!!!!  I'll have to do some more serious thinking ;)
    
    -----Becca

    Aw Roberta, your house isn't *that* bad....... ;^P
    
    Nippa prefers her kitty condo.  Its a cylinder, w/ a hole in it,
    covered in carpet.  1 story.  I got her a 2 story one, but she
    couldn't be bothered.
    
    For the longest time, she slept on her couch piled w/old sleeping bags,
    and my barn clothers......but lately she's prefered her carpet.  Maybe
    it's because the barn clothes are clean.....who knows....
    
    She also sleeps on a real stinky old horse blanket.....you figure that
    one out!
    
    This morning I found her in a new place.....under the basement stairs
    in the rags.
    
    I wanted to buy her something nice, however I figured it would end up
    in the unwanted kitty toy collection.......hey, do they have a kitty
    toy collection center to give toys to all the little unfortunate
    kittys?  :^)
    
    Michele (who loves Roberta's kitty trees!) and Nippa 
    
    

    Becca - come to the cat shows.  You can do all the shopping you want.

    Well,.......my four sleep anywhere at any given time.
    BUT, it's the waterbed at night w/ mummy & daddy.
    Leave an article of clothing on the floor or couch
    in the livingroom, and Rusty will be on it in two seconds
    flat!  Sit down on the couch or floor, and B.K. parks 
    himself in your lap until it's time for bed.  Casey comes
    out of nowhere if you cuddle under a blanket, and Pepper
    has a section of the couch that is HIS.  They also like
    paper bags, the cat carriers, the cat tree platform,clean
    or dirty laundry, and a blanket folded up on the floor in 
    the livingroom.
    
    They will, however, give up any place and follow if Mom or Dad 
    move to another room, or go down to the basement, or will hang
    out by the back door until mom and/or dad return from the barn.
    
    L-

    <<<What a box can't do for you>>>
    My Joshua must have been born in a box.  Any box I bring home, he
    has to check out.  Josh sleeps in the laundry room at night.  (I don't
    have the normal machines one usually has there.)  He has a Low box 
    with old towels and a pillow case on the floor, and a High box which is
    set upon 4 filled boxes next to 4 other filled boxes which creates a
    step up perch.  The towel-bedding has been washed with Downy and he
    smells sooo good.  He also has another box under the stairs when a lot
    of company comes and he wants to hide.  In the summer he sleeps on the
    swing on the porch during the day.  The only furniture he claimed is an
    old rocking chair with a pillow.  The pillow slides when he jumps on
    but its rather fun.  When I sit down to read or watch TV, he sleeps on
    the lap.  He loves to be read to, but is extremely jealous when I'm on
    the phone.  Try a box!

    Missy also loves any box!  If there is even a jewelry box laying
    around, she will lay next to it and put her paw into it.  You should
    see some of the boxes she has tried to squeeze into.  She also
    has an end of the couch that is hers.  Another favorite spot is the
    bathroom counter where she has her own towel to sleep on.  At night,
    she sleeps with us, preferably between my calves.
    
    Melody has a chair in the living room that is hers.  She also has
    a specific corner of the bed (and, if anyone else is already there,
    forget it, she leaves).
    
    Brittany loves to sleep way up on top of the upper kitchen cupboards.
    She jumps to the counter, then on top of the fridge, then up on top
    of the cupboards.  The other day Missy was looking longingly up at
    her but, when we put her up on the fridge, she panicked and wanted
    down FAST.  
    
    They all love to sleep on the dining room chairs (which are cushioned)
    when they are pushed in and the tablecloth is hanging down making
    a tent for them.  They also love piles of clothes and certain 
    floor spots in the house (not necessarily where the sun shines either).
    
    It all depends on their moods!
    
    Barbara

Tsunami has only two favorite nap spots.
One is the dining room chairs (under the table). Her favorite is a wicker
chair in the family room (where we spend the most time).  It has a white 
cushion (she's mostly black of course) that has a round indention perfect 
for her to curl up in.  You should have seen that chair after she was
in the fireplace trying to catch the dove that was trapped in the 
chimney!!

Becky