Cats pick their sleeping spots by warmth and grip long before they consider softness, which is why they end up on the radiator shelf, the windowsill and the top of the fridge instead of the bed you bought. The useful move is not buying a nicer bed, it is putting something warm and non-slip on the hard surface they have already chosen. That is exactly what this is, and the five sizes exist so you can match the surface rather than the cat.

The pile is bubble velvet, a short dense plush that traps air against the animal and does not flatten to nothing after a fortnight, and the underside is a non-slip cloth. That backing does the quiet work: a cat landing on a windowsill from the floor arrives with force, and a mat that skids takes the cat with it. The practical note on colour is that beige, khaki and matcha hide light moult better, whilst the grey hides dark fur better than any of them.

• Sizes 35 x 35cm, 40 x 40cm, 35 x 50cm, 40 x 60cm and 60 x 80cm
• Bubble velvet plush upper surface
• Non-slip cloth backing
• Beige, khaki, grey, matcha green or skin pink
• Supplied as one mat
• 130g to 415g listed weight depending on size

On what this actually is: a flat mat, not a covered cave and not a bolstered bed, whatever the styling in the photographs suggests. There are no raised sides to lean into, so a cat who sleeps jammed hard against something will still want a walled bed as well. The manufacturer also gives no washing instructions, so treat it as cool hand wash and air dry until we have confirmed otherwise with them.

Who it's for: cats who sleep on windowsills, shelves and radiator tops, crate and carrier liners for cats and small dogs, and households wanting one washable layer per favourite spot rather than one expensive bed.