Cat Window Beds

Caitlin Dempsey

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An orange cat sleeping in a green cat window bed.

Cat window beds provide the best of two worlds for a cat: a place to rest and and place to watch from. With indoor cats, it’s important to provide them with plenty of stimulation and a cat window bed is one way to do that.

Cat window beds are easy to set up. Most are outfitted with large suction cups that secure the bed to the window. Cat window beds can safely accommodate up to 25 pounds and therefore can handle most sized cats.

What are the benefits of a cat window bed?

A place for your cat to watch from

Also referred to as cat window perches or hammocks, cat window beds provide a great place for your cat to view the outside world from. Cats love to sit and observe the world around them. If you don’t have furniture or ledges that your cat can sit on to stare out the window, a cat window bed is a simple way to provide them a window perch.

A place for your cat to sunbathe

Setting up a cat window bed in a window that gets natural sunlight is also a good way to provide a place for your cat to sunbathe. In addition to the benefits of direct sunlight, cats love a good sunbathe.

The thermoneutral zone for a domestic cat is 86-97 Fahrenheit which means they love to be in very warm places which includes lying in a beam of sunshine. Especially for cats that don’t have access to an outdoor space with sunlight, a cat window bed that gets direct sunlight is the next best thing.

An orange tabby cat lying in a cat window bed in the sun.
Cat beds placed on windows with direct sunlight give your chance a place to sunbathe. Photo: Caitlin Dempsey.

A place for your cat to sleep

Cats love to perch and sleep up high. Being higher up gives cats a sense of safety. Attached a cat bed to a window that is up higher will provide your cat with an elevated place to rest and sleep.

Just make sure that there is an easy way for your cat to get up to and out of the window bed so they don’t injure themselves.

A safer place to watch the outdoors than from an open window or balcony

If your live in a high-rise or on an upper story of a building, keep your cat away from unsecured open windows and balconies. If your windows aren’t screened in or your balcony has safety netting, there is a risk of your cat falling and seriously injuring themselves, a condition known as high-rise syndrome. Instead, offer your cat a window bed to satisfy their need to watch the world and bask in sunlight.

Recommendation for a cat window bed

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An orange tabby cat sleeping in a green cat window bed that is attached to a window with a white frame.
Window cat beds provide your cat with an elevated and quiet place to sleep. Photo: Caitlin Dempsey.

The tried and true cat window bed that we use is the K&H EZ Mount Window Bed. As you can see in the pictures in this article, our orange tabby just loves this cat window bed.

The K&H cat window bed comes in red, gray, green, or tan colors. The bed has three large suction cups that mount easily to a window.

Installing the K&H EZ Mount Window Bed

Installation is pretty straightforward – simply clean the window and make sure the suction cups are clean and dry (don’t skip this step or your suction cups won’t stay mounted to the window).

Turn the knobs for the two top suction cups to the left so the cups are loose. Place the cat window bed against the window and turn the knobs all the way to the right to tighten the suction cups while pressing the cups against the window. This ensures a tight mount that will last.

The window bed grips tighter when the suction cups are attached warm so the manufacturer recommends either placing the cup in the sunshine or in hot water before attaching the bed to the window.

The two suction cups at the top of the window bed have a screw top that tightens to form a secure tension grip to the window. The manufacturer states that the cat window bed can hold up to 50 pounds of weight.

To remove the cat bed, simply turn the screw tops to the left until the tension has been released and you can pull the cat bed away from the window.

The cat window bed’s dimensions are 27″ long, 11″ high, with a depth of 6″.

The cat window bed comes with a machine washable padded insert that goes inside the cat bed for comfort.

Occasionally the suctions cups will release from the window. The manufacturer recommends that the window and the cups be cleaned once a month and dirt is usually the culprit for why the suction no longer holds. Cleaning the window and cups will usually fix this problem. If the suction still fails, the manufacturer recommends boiling the cups, which can be unscrewed from their holders on the bed, in hot water to refresh the suction ability.

Some tips for where to put a window bed for your cat

Once you set up a cat window bed, it may take a while for your cat to accept it. Make sure the window bed is in a place that’s quiet and away from well trafficked areas in your house. The window bed should be a place of calm for your cat to enjoy watching out of the window and sleep.

Provide a way for your cat to get up to the window bed so they don’t hurt themselves trying to get in or out of it. We put a bench directly underneath the window which my cat using to access the window bed.

Make the window bed an interesting place to be. If you can, make sure the window bed gets direct sunlight at some time during the day. For a little “cat TV” hang up a bird feeder in view of the window for some entertainment for your cat.

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About the author
Caitlin Dempsey
Caitlin Dempsey holds both a master's in Geography from UCLA and a Master of Library and Information Science. She is the editor of Geographyrealm.com and an avid researcher of geography and feline topics. A lifelong cat owner, Caitlin currently has three rescued cats: an orange tabby, a gray tabby, and a black cat.