Treat your cat with this DIY cat bed (and treats!) #PAWsomeGifts #ClausAndPaws #ad @walmart
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Next week marks our eighth Thanksgiving with our cat, Chloe. When we first got married, I joked that we wanted to adopt a cat and then have children. One day we may even add another animal to our family, but we had to master parenting a cat and humans first. Chloe has definitely been one of my favorite challenges.
I’m a firm believer that pets are family members, and should be treated as such. They are a huge responsibility, but the return on investment is even greater. This is why I choose to treat (ahem, spoil) Chloe whenever I can. Sometimes this is done with a Temptations® Snacky Mouse filled with her favorite treats.
Chloe is a tortoise shell cat, and before we adopted her I had no idea what that meant. Many tortie owners believe that tortoise shells have “tortitude.” I completely agree with this. Chloe is the sweetest and meanest cat you’ll meet. She loves people who are allergic to animals, and she will randomly “slap” you with a paw. If she demands to be pet, she may bite your hand out of the blue, while you’re petting her.
That said, when our son came along, there were so many nights I would be in his room nursing him, and Chloe would come in to keep me company. She would nudge my hand with her head or rub against my feet or legs as I was falling asleep. It got to the point where I would sit in the floor for fear of falling asleep and dropping the baby – but Chloe always came in with me to keep me awake.
She loves playing – even at 10+ years old! (We don’t know for sure how old she is. We just know she’s getting up there in age.) She’s a feisty little one, even running through the house in the middle of the night and meowing to get some extra attention. (Not cute at 2 am!)
I’m so thankful that she’s part of our family. At night she sleeps on my side of the bed, and during the day you can find her sleeping in the small patches of sun in our house. Sadly for her, the baby swing is taking up part of her sunlight. She has a bed in the living room, but it’s almost 9 years old and has seen better days. I decided to try to make her a little bit larger bed for that room, and incorporate some of her favorite fabrics into it. (Believe it or not, my cat has favorite fabrics. She will knead the heck out of certain blankets.)
In addition to her new bed, she also has some new treats and a treat toy that I found at Walmart. Chloe deserves to be treated, just like the rest of us, for Thanksgiving. (And she really loves this Temptations® Snacky Mouse!) Not quite sure what your cat deserves? Check out Walmart’s site for more ideas.
Ready to make a bed for your feline friend? It’s fairly simple, and ours has been getting a lot of use since I handed it over to Chloe!
What You Need:
2 pieces of foam. My foam is 22 inches by 16.5 inches by 2 inches thick.
One yard of fabric (and I had leftover fabric).
How to make it:
1. Places your foam pieces on top of each other and cut your fabric to size. I wrapped my fabric around both pieces of foam to figure out how much I could cut off. Leave about 4 inches on the sides to sew it shut.
2. Hem the two ends that will meet in the middle (these will be the short ends.) To hem, fold the fabric over an inch, and then fold over another inch. Sew along the edge.
3. Fold the short side of your fabric towards the middle (length-wise) of your fabric so the wrong side is out. Repeat on the other short side of the fabric. Pin in place.
4. Sew an inseam of about 1 inch on each long side. The middle will be open, and you can pull your fabric right side out.
5. Stuff the foam into your cover. The opening will go on the bottom of the pillow.
6. Hand it off to your cat. He/she will thank you in purrs.
How do you spoil your pet?
It’s an amazing idea! My grandmother-in-law made a cat bed for my kitty this past Christmas, so I think I may wait a little while on giving him a second, but this one is very different from hers (hers hasn’t got foam) so I think he’ll enjoy having many different kinds of pillows if I ever get around to making him another!!
Thanks for the craft. 🙂