The Meowfia Felt Cat Cave Is Beautiful—However Is It Sensible for Cats?

The favored Meowfia Felt Cat Cave is so comfortable and delightful it makes you wish to be a cat. The light wool, the delicate colours, the thought of a toasty hidey-hole. It’s so interesting we want they made them for people! However that’s the exhausting factor about choosing out merchandise for pets, and cats particularly—what appeals to our senses doesn’t at all times have the identical draw for them. Do cats assume felt caves are as fantastic as we do?

There was clearly just one factor to do: we put the Meowfia cave mattress to the check.

The Evolution of the Felt Cat Cave

It’s not clear the place the primary felt cat cave got here from, however now the web is filled with them. I’ve seen them at commerce reveals, in pet provide shops, and in associates’ houses. What I can inform you is that they’re not all the identical. Some are thick; some are skinny. Some are coarse; some are luxuriously comfortable. Some preserve a pleasant, spherical form, and others are likely to sag. And a few are extraordinarily sturdy, whereas others shred after a couple of months.

In case you’re like me, you’re most likely questioning: why the craze for felt?

It seems felted wool goes all the way in which again to the Center Ages, within the type of boiled wool (a kind of felted wool).

Whereas spinning and weaving wool from sheep, goats, and different bushy animals is a reasonably advanced course of, felting is way easier. Often, this includes soaking handfuls of soppy, fluffy wool in sizzling water after which rolling or squeezing the new water out of the wool in order that the fiber turns into tightly packed. (In case you’ve ever unintentionally washed a wool sweater on the “sizzling” setting and shrunk it, you’ve seen the outcomes.)

As soon as the wool is packed down, it may be additional compressed utilizing quite a lot of felting methods. The result’s a dense material that’s glorious at containing warmth. (If there may be loads of pure lanolin within the wool, felted supplies may even be extremely water-repellent.)

Quick ahead to the world of cat beds: Cat caves are created out of two circles of wool joined throughout the felting course of to make a roundish cave form. The felted cat cave is much like a large pita bread—with an entrance gap left for the cat.

Yow will discover YouTube movies like this one by Chezlin that present the right way to make your personal felt cat cave from scratch! Not being the DIY sort, I checked out the cat caves in shops and chosen a Meowfia, which is thick, comfortable, and has a fame for sturdiness.

The Meowfia Felt Cat Cave

The massive Meowfia Premium Cat Cave I bought measures 19 inches broad (at its widest level) and 12 inches excessive. The spherical entrance is 8 inches throughout. In brief, there’s loads of room for even a hefty cat to get in, flip round, and quiet down. (The medium-size Meowfia is 16 inches throughout and 10 inches excessive.)

The Meowfia cave is product of top-quality New Zealand Merino wool. Merino sheep, initially from Spain, are identified for his or her extraordinarily comfortable, wonderful wool. Nonetheless, the cat cave itself is fabricated in Nepal by Nepalese craftswomen. (The Meowfia web site explains this in some element.)

Don’t be shocked by the small bundle that arrives, although. The Meowfia is shipped flat, and the flat disc is folded into quarters and tied with string, which makes it a very fairly bundle. It even features a felted wool ball in your kitty to play with—ours was vibrant aquamarine.

Tink and Tippy examine the folded felt cat cave.

The Meowfia got here with a felted toy.

The directions that accompany the Meowfia clarify the right way to reshape the folded cat cave right into a extra evenly rounded form by stuffing it tightly with a filler. They recommend fabric or pillows, however some individuals use crumpled paper or bubble wrap. (The Amazon web page for the Meowfia suggests utilizing a clothes steamer to realize the superbly rounded form.)

Meowfia reshaping directions.

My cats confirmed loads of curiosity within the Meowfia bundle, and as soon as it was totally operational, they liked it . . . not as a cave-style mattress, however as a storage basket for all their toys.

In hopes of getting the cats to discover the Meowfia, we tossed in some catnip mice and different playthings. The outcome was that they’d spend the evening reaching in, grabbing the toys, and scampering madly round the lounge. However then they’d pad off to sleep of their common beds as an alternative of the cave. The three older cats choose closely cushioned cat beds, and the three youthful cats choose sleeping on my mattress or the couch.

On the plus aspect, the gorgeous two-tone wool Meowfia appears a lot nicer in our lounge than a basket stuffed with cat toys.

Perdita retains her toys at the hours of darkness gray Meowfia.

Is a Meowfia Proper for Your Cat?

To get a bigger pattern dimension, I threw the subject open to my cat-owning associates. Because it turned out, that they had so much to say concerning the Meowfia and different felt cat caves, each professional and con.

I came upon that in case your cats like cat caves, they’ll love the Meowfia. It’s thicker than most, and lots snug.

Kittens particularly go wild over a felt cat cave. Linda Jordan-Eichner stories that her new kitten, Nut, took to a cat cave instantly.

Older cats, nonetheless, might be skeptical. What one cat finds cozy, one other can discover claustrophobic.

“My cats collapse the cat caves and sleep on high of them,” my good friend Bob reported. Positive sufficient, I got here into the lounge one morning to search out that the cats had squashed the Meowfia and Zoe was perched on high of it.

Zoe sits on the flattened cat cave.

Two purchasers of felt cat caves reported they have been tough to scrub completely after a cat threw up in them—cold-water washing didn’t get the scent out. My very own expertise with cleansing the Meowfia was optimistic: The dense felt is straightforward to hoover utilizing a bit of hand vac. I attempted spot-cleaning an space utilizing chilly water and a cold-water detergent, and the cave dried properly with no signal of any harm.

One good friend, who has Siamese cats, was cautious about felt cat caves normally. She says sure breeds of cats chew on wool, which may trigger intestinal issues. Positive sufficient, WebMD confirms that Siamese cats and Birman cats are likely to suck on or eat wool. In case your cat has these points, a Meowfia shouldn’t be a sensible choice for them. (Take a look at a non-wool cat cave as an alternative.)

What we preferred concerning the Meowfia:

• Stunning presentation. A Meowfia would make a beautiful cat-warming present.
• Top quality. This comfortable felted wool made me wish to climb inside it myself.
• It’s straightforward to scrub and to maintain clear.
• The Meowfia might simply deal with two mid-size cats or a gaggle of small kittens.
• Nice colours. Wealthy grays and beiges match properly with streamlined trendy decor.

What we didn’t like:

• Not all cats are curious about cave-type beds.
• Felt might not be a sensible choice for cats who’ve proven an inclination to suck on wool.
• Lack of padding. The thick felt of the Meowfia cat cave provides much less assist than a daily cat mattress, so it might not work for an older or arthritic kitty.

Conclusion: The Meowfia cat cave is nice for households with younger cats and kittens, and it’s ultimate for pet mother and father who need one thing extra enticing than a run-of-the-mill faux-fleece cat mattress. When you’ve got purpose to assume your cats would love a cave, that is the one to go for.

The Premium Meowfia is available in slate gray (with brown stripes), gentle gray (with darkish gray stripes), darkish gray (with gentle gray stripes), asphalt (with aquamarine stripes), and—for many who wish to go actually daring—vibrant aquamarine with gray stripes. (Simply my opinion, however I believe the aquamarine would look nice with an orange cat.)

Discover the Meowfia on Amazon

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