Padding is the choice you are really making here. Where a mesh window perch is built around airflow, this one is built around comfort: a bolstered plush rim runs the whole way round the edge, giving a cat something to press a chin or a spine against. That is how most cats prefer to sleep, tucked into a side rather than lying flat and exposed in the open with nothing to lean on.

It mounts on suction cups directly onto the glass, so it takes up no floor at all. In a small flat that is the entire argument for it: a cat tree eats a square metre you may not have to spare, and a window ledge too narrow to lie on becomes usable the moment something wider is fixed above it. There are two options, a boxed and a bagged version of the same large plush-rimmed perch.

• Plush-rimmed bed with a raised, supportive edge
• Strong suction cups mount it straight onto glass
• Takes up no floor space
• A sunny spot with a full view outside
• Available boxed or bagged

On suction and warmth. Suction cups need clean, dry, smooth glass, so frosted or textured windows will not hold one, and every mount wants pressing firmly back down every few weeks. The plush rim also traps warmth, which is welcome in a cold room and much less so in a south-facing window in high summer, where a breathable mesh perch is the better answer.

Who it's for: indoor cats in flats and small houses, particularly in colder rooms where a padded perch beats a breezy one.