Best Cat Radiator Beds and Window Hammocks in the UK

The best cat radiator bed for most UK homes is a metal-framed hammock with a cover that comes off for the machine and a stated weight limit your cat is comfortably under. The best window hammock is one whose suction cups carry a published rating, or one that avoids suction altogether with a sill clamp or a wooden bracket. Those two questions are how these purchases go wrong: a bed that does not fit the radiator, and a perch that lets go at three in the morning.

If you already know which side you are on, the cat radiator beds range lists every hook-over bed with its weight limit and cover, and the cat hammocks and window perches range puts the suction, clamp and bracket perches side by side. Read on if you are not sure which your cat will use.

Radiator hooks: will it fit your radiator?

The two rated beds we stock, the Iron-Framed Radiator Hammock Cat Bed at £21.99 and the Radiator Cat Bed with Folding Metal Frame at £35.99, both hang from hooks over the top edge, and the folding-frame bed's hooks are made for radiators of about 4cm. That is a conventional wall panel. A column radiator, a towel rail with close-set bars or a radiator boxed in behind a cover will not take them, and the Plush Radiator Cat Hammock Bed (£26.99) says exactly that on its own page. On a flat panel with a top grille, check the hooks will clear it.

If they will not, the Reversible Plush Hanging Cat Hammock Mat (£9.99 to £12.99) is the fallback: it ties on with corner straps rather than hooks, so it hangs from a radiator, a cage door or the arm of a chair, and the whole mat goes in the machine.

Weight limits, and which suction cups actually hold

Both rated radiator beds are limited to 5kg, and 5kg is not generous. A neutered male, a Maine Coon or a well-fed moggy is often over it, and a cat over the limit wants a floor bed or a cat cave rather than something hanging off two hooks. Weigh your cat before you buy.

Window hammocks are where the numbers vary most. The Window-Mounted Bolster Cat Hammock Bed (£30.99 to £32.99) carries a maker's rating of 40lb, about 18kg, on its suction cups and needs a window at least 68cm wide; the Window-Mounted Cat Perch Set (£36.99) is rated to 50lb, about 22.7kg. Both are a static hold on clean, dry glass; a landing cat loads the cups at several times its own weight, which is why the headroom matters. The cheaper hammocks, such as the Cat Window Hammock with Suction Cups at £7.99, publish no rating and we will not invent one: fit them low, over something soft, and stay in the room for the first few uses.

Whatever the rating, suction only works on smooth, clean, dry glass. Textured, frosted, leaded or dusty panes, and any window that runs with condensation in January, will let a cup go. Clean the glass with something that leaves no film, press every cup home, and re-seat them every few weeks. If your glass is the problem, skip suction: the Window-Mounted Cat Hammock Bed (£19.99 for the complete set) clamps to a windowsill with a free edge, and the Plush Cat Window Perch Bed with Wooden Bracket (£31.99) is carried on a bracket rather than the glass.

Warmth or the window: where does your cat actually lie?

Watch where your cat sleeps for a week before choosing. A cat that spends the afternoon on top of the radiator with two legs hanging off has already chosen; the bed just makes the whole cat fit. A radiator bed is only warm when the heating is on, which suits an older cat feeling the cold from October to March, and the Iron-Framed Radiator Hammock collapses flat for the cupboard in summer.

A cat that sits on a windowsill too narrow to lie along wants the window: a hammock on the glass gives height, sun and something to watch without costing any floor. Choose the cover by the room. Mesh, as on the Window-Mounted Cat Hammock with Suction Cups (£15.99), lets air move under a cat in a south-facing window; a plush bolstered rim like the Suction Cup Window Cat Perch Bed (£44.99) traps warmth and gives a cat something to press its chin against in a cold room. An older cat that would rather sit up and stretch out than curl into a sling does better on the flat Suction Cup Window Cat Perch Shelf (£7.99). If neither suits, our guide to heated pet beds covers the third option.

Washing

A bed above a heat source or in direct sun collects hair faster than any other in the house, so a cover that comes off is not optional. Both rated radiator beds have a machine-washable faux fur or fleece cover that lifts off the frame, the £7.99 window hammock's mesh cover unzips, and the Window Suction Cat Hammock Bed (£24.99 to £37.99) has a reversible plush cover over a mesh base. Anything with a fixed cover gets sponged, and a bed that gets sponged gets cleaned less often.

Which one for which cat

• Under 5kg and already sleeps on the radiator: the Iron-Framed Radiator Hammock Cat Bed, £21.99, in white, grey, beige or black.
• A curler who likes a lip to press against: the Radiator Cat Bed with Folding Metal Frame, £35.99, raised rim, still 5kg.
• Over 5kg: skip the radiator; the Window-Mounted Bolster Cat Hammock Bed is rated to about 18kg on the glass, or choose a floor bed.
• An indoor cat in a flat with no floor to spare: the £7.99 Cat Window Hammock with Suction Cups to test whether they will use a window at all.
• A south-facing window: the mesh Window-Mounted Cat Hammock with Suction Cups, £15.99.
• Textured, leaded or old glass: the Plush Cat Window Perch Bed with Wooden Bracket, £31.99, or the sill-clamp Window-Mounted Cat Hammock Bed.
• A column radiator or towel rail: the Reversible Plush Hanging Cat Hammock Mat, which ties on rather than hooks.

The other bed shapes are in the cat beds shop, and our guide to vertical space for cats covers shelves and trees.

Buy for the spot your cat has already chosen: a rated hook-over bed if it is the radiator and they weigh under 5kg, a rated or bracket-mounted perch if it is the window, and never a suction cup on textured glass.