March 19, 2024
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The fashionable Meowfia Felt Cat Cave is so tender and exquisite it makes you wish to be a cat. The mild wool, the subtle colours, the concept of a toasty hidey-hole. It’s so interesting we want they made them for people! But that’s the laborious factor about choosing out merchandise for pets, and cats specifically—what appeals to our senses doesn’t all the time have the identical draw for them. Do cats suppose felt caves are as great as we do?

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

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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 let you know is that they’re not all the identical. Some are thick; some are skinny. Some are coarse; some are luxuriously tender. Some hold a pleasant, spherical form, and others are inclined to sag. And some are extraordinarily sturdy, whereas others shred after a number of months.

If you’re like me, you’re in all probability questioning: why the craze for felt?

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

While spinning and weaving wool from sheep, goats, and different bushy animals is a reasonably complicated course of, felting is far easier. Usually, this entails 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. (If you’ve ever unintentionally washed a wool sweater on the “sizzling” setting and shrunk it, you’ve seen the outcomes.)

Once 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 quite a lot of pure lanolin within the wool, felted supplies may even be extremely water-repellent.)

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Fast 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 an enormous pita bread—with an entrance gap left for the cat.

You can discover YouTube movies like this one by Chezlin that present tips on how to make your personal felt cat cave from scratch! Not being the DIY kind, I checked out the cat caves in shops and chosen a Meowfia, which is thick, tender, and has a repute for sturdiness.

The Meowfia Felt Cat Cave

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

The Meowfia cave is fabricated from top-quality New Zealand Merino wool. Merino sheep, initially from Spain, are recognized for his or her extraordinarily tender, effective wool. However, 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 package deal that arrives, although. The Meowfia is shipped flat, and the flat disc is folded into quarters and tied with string, which makes it a extremely fairly package deal. It even features a felted wool ball in your kitty to play with—ours was vivid aquamarine.

cats with package

Tink and Tippy examine the folded felt cat cave.

folded felt cat cave

The Meowfia got here with a felted toy.

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

instruction card

Meowfia reshaping directions.

My cats confirmed quite a lot of curiosity within the Meowfia package deal, and as soon as it was totally operational, they cherished it . . . not as a cave-style mattress, however as a storage basket for all their toys.

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In hopes of getting the cats to discover the Meowfia, we tossed in some catnip mice and different playthings. The consequence was that they’d spend the night time reaching in, grabbing the toys, and scampering madly round the lounge. But then they’d pad off to sleep of their common beds as a substitute of the cave. The three older cats want closely cushioned cat beds, and the three youthful cats want 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.

cat outside Meowfia

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

Is a Meowfia Right for Your Cat?

To get a bigger pattern measurement, I threw the subject open to my cat-owning associates. As 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 specifically go wild over a felt cat cave. Linda Jordan-Eichner experiences that her new kitten, Nut, took to a cat cave instantly.

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

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

cat on squashed cat cave

Zoe sits on the flattened cat cave.

Two purchasers of felt cat caves reported they had been tough to wash completely after a cat threw up in them—cold-water washing didn’t get the scent out. My personal expertise with cleansing the Meowfia was constructive: 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.

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One pal, who has Siamese cats, was cautious about felt cat caves typically. She says sure breeds of cats chew on wool, which might trigger intestinal issues. Sure sufficient, WebMD confirms that Siamese cats and Birman cats are inclined to suck on or eat wool. If your cat has these points, a Meowfia shouldn’t be a sensible choice for them. (Check out a non-wool cat cave as a substitute.)

What we appreciated concerning the Meowfia:

  • Beautiful presentation. A Meowfia would make a beautiful cat-warming present.
  • High high quality. This tender felted wool made me wish to climb inside it myself.
  • It’s straightforward to wash and to maintain clear.
  • The Meowfia may simply deal with two mid-size cats or a gaggle of small kittens.
  • Great colours. Rich grays and beiges match properly with streamlined fashionable decor.

What we didn’t like:

  • Not all cats are all in favour of cave-type beds.
  • Felt is probably not 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 offers much less assist than an everyday cat mattress, so it could 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 perfect for pet dad and mom who need one thing extra engaging than a run-of-the-mill faux-fleece cat mattress. If you have got cause to suppose your cats would love a cave, that is the one to go for.

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

Meowfia Premium Felt Cat Bed Cave

Meowfia cat cave bed in aquamarine

Find the Meowfia on Amazon

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