The Kitty Tube Pillow - Outdoor Insulated Cat House -Gen 4 Design

Okay, maybe I wouldn't live in it if I could. But you know what I mean, right?I've had this hut for about 5 or 6 years. I normally don't wait to review a product but back then, I couldn't be bothered so here I am, six years later.I have all indoor cats. I have 6 ft high, freestanding chain link dog kennel panels enclosing my concrete patio. The patio is their only "outdoor" space. One climbs the fence, so he's not even allowed out. One is afraid of the air movement when she walks, so she WON'T go out. My third kitty respects the fence and love, love, loves her outdoor time -- and that includes this hut. She bounds out the door, looks around, rolls on the concrete, watches the birds and does all that important cat stuff that has to be done every day. Then she retires to her hut and naps for several hours before coming out and scratching at the door to be let back in for a snack or a meal. To say she loves it is to understate it. It is her go-to place and so I love it too.The patio is on the southwestern side of the house. We live in western New York and, during the winter, we can have some pretty wild torms due to the Great Lakes having their effect on the weather system. There isn't a lot of clearance between the ground and the opening of the hut, so when winter is coming, we set the hut on three four inch landscape blocks to elevate it. We also spin the opening so it is facing the house, to protect the opening from snow accumulations as much as possible. What happens with that is when it snows and the wind blows, the wind and snow tend to swirl in the middle of the patio and drifts form along the edges. Because the opening is facing the house (and almost touching the house), there is rarely any accumulation around that opening. When she wants to go out, we open the door and she's instantly in it. It also helps that we have a "Weather Trax" heat mat right in front of the sliding door to melt the snow there. (As an aside, she often just sits on that heat mat, while watching the winter world that is our yard.)During the warm weather, we spin the hut so the opening faces the yard, so she can get the breeze and whatever air is moving around. We also spin the top to "vent" it so we don't end up with baked kitty for dinner.We've only ever had one problem with this hut. Like I said, we get some wild winters here and sometimes we get wind gusts over 60 mph. When that happened the first time after we bought this hut, that hut got knocked off those blocks and went rolling on it's side, lost it's lid and we had to run out after it. You certainly can't blame the manufacturing process, though.Now it not only sits on top of the blocks, but we also spray painted an old rusty patio umbrella base black and set it on top of the hut. That sucker has gone NOWHERE since.I'm so taken with this thing, I can't begin to articulate how happy we have been with it for these past six years. We have gotten more than our money's worth out of it, and I really believe, based on that, we have at least another six years worth of use out of it, too.It is WELL worth the price.*2023 update*I have had this kitty hut for EIGHT years now, and it is still standing strong. My Sadie spends HOURS each day in it, no matter the weather. My deck is enclosed so she can't wander, but she loves to sun herself, watch the birds and squirrels, and chase leaves. On rainy days, she's inside napping the day away. On cold, snowy days, she's inside napping the day away. On hot, humid, sticky days, she's inside napping the day away.The insulation has held up to every kind of wind, rain, snow, and heat that bipolar Mother Nature can throw at us. It has not crumbled or otherwise deteriorated in any way. The pillow inside has NEVER gotten wet from weather. This is likely because I spin the opening so it is at a 45 degree angle from the house - room to enter and exit, yet protected by the house from inclement weather. I set a heavy meyal umbrella stand on top of it, and it doesn't blow around.Honestly, this is the best value I have EVER gotten from all the years of purchases at Amazon. Nothing else has held up as well and as long.*****JANUARY 2024 UPDATE*****I have had this kitty tube for ten years now. It has served us well, and shows no signs of needing replacement.At the end of the fall, and just before the winter weather arrived, I took it apart, vacuumed it thoroughly, and wiped it all out with warm soapy water on a swedish dish cloth. While I had it apart I inspected it thoroughly.The insulation is not only still completely intact, but it isn't even discolored. This tells me that this tube doesn't create/retain moisture and the insulation keeps it from discoloring from the heat. I have washed the "pillow" at the beginning of Spring every year since I bought the tube. The cover has seen better days and my friend made a new cover for it - but the pillow itself is still fluffy and my girl still loves her hut. There's some slight discoloration of the hut itself, from ten years of exposure to the elements, but it is surprisingly still very good looking. The little awning over the opening has a broken tab that won't let it stay in place if I fiddle with it, but it still stays on without falling off. During the winter, I turn the hut toward the house so I can see inside through my French doors, and that helps protect the inside of the hut from any snow/rain blowing inside. Last winter, we had a significant accumulation snowfall, but between having it turned toward the house, and against the house in the back where it's protected from *most* wind, the snow didn't even really pile up against the little portal. This has been an excellent investment. I just wish my own house held up this well! Still 10 of 5 stars! :)***March 2025 UPDATE***This kitty tube has taken a lickin' and just keeps on keepin' on.We had a pretty rough winter, with 40-50 mph wind gusts at times, monsoon-like rain at times and, out of 22 days in the first three weeks of February, measurable snow on 20 of those days. The kitty tube now resides on a deck, inside a wired catio cage, covered in 3 sides with tarps to protect my cat from the wind and blowing snow or rain.Because it has spent 11 years out in the weather, it's dull in color, but that is the only sign of age. It is uncracked, undamaged in any way, and the insulations is still as intact as it was on day one. Of all the things I have bought on Amazon, this has been the best value, and has given me the most joy because of how much my furry girl loves her hut. I turn it so I can actually see inside the portal from inside the house, as it sits by the French doors that go to the deck. I can see the telltale “smirk” on her face as she naps happily in there. She's 16 now, and has had her hut for 11 of those 16 years. It is her happy place, which makes me grin every time I look outside and see her in it.This item has been practical, easy to care for, durable and everything I had hoped it would be, and more.I CAN'T LOVE IT ENOUGH!

The media could not be loaded. I ordered this by accident, on my phone, as I was browsing Amazon's cat beds. I thought it looked neat and wanted to look into it later so I "added to my cart" or so I thought! I must have hit the "one click purchase" instead and did not know it until I checked my email the next day and it had shipped. So I couldn't cancel and return shipping would have been half the price of the item. So I kept it since I was on the lookout anyways. It cost more than I'd like but I think it will be around a long time.After having it a couple of weeks, I can say, I really like this kitty tube and a couple of the cats do too but I have not seen all of them go in it (but that could be a territory thing). We have taken in 5 cats that have been dumped and just shown up at our rural home. They typically live in our detached garage but the recently dumped cat (I watched this jerk dump her but he was gone before I could get in my car and get him!), I believe, was an inside cat and does not care for the other cats. She is not mean to the others but wants to be away from them, likes people and dogs more than other cats, likes clean stuff and not to share beds. I was in search for a home for her when I bought this because she spends many nights outside (she is the one in the video), and for our others, that get left out at night... We lock up the garage at night because we keep food out for them, and to keep other animals from making homes in the garage and keep the cats safe.I like the simplicity of the kitty tube. It is just a round, plastic "igloo" with a 1'' layer of foam insulation. The plastic will last forever. The insulation I was worried about being scratched on but they have not touched it, outside of a feral spraying in it but I sprayed bleach water on it and the bleach didn't hurt the insulation, thankfully, so I believe the insulation will hold up for years, as well. There is only one door, which I was not a fan of, but it works and is easy to maintain. I like the little eve over the entrance and I think it helps a little to keep out some blowing rain (we get terrible wind our on the farm). My fear is not of big animals, like coyotes, getting the cats, but more like the opossums (or skunks) that I have seen go in the other outdoor beds, and a opossum could easily get in the kitty tube, so that is why I have always been a fan of having an escape entrance.The entrance is about 4'' off the ground. The issue I see with this is that the rain could bounce off the ground, saturating the bed, or even blowing snow can enter. I wish the door was twice as high as it is. I think a higher door would be nicer because of the wind coming in and even rain bouncing off the ground and being able to come in contact with the bedding. If the door was higher, the cat could still easily see what is in the bed already and could easily climb in as well and then hunker down. It is all give and take though. Some cats (maybe more wild or feral) might like a lower door because they could see out easier. My cats are pets and around the house there isn't a lot to be worried about for our cats. A solution to the weather elements is putting the kitty tub under a covered porch, like we did, or even on some bricks, or supports, and place it facing the wall of the house where the eve/gutters of the house over hang the kitty tube entrance. We built a cat house with 2 entrances and the main entrance is under our gutters about 12'' from the house, and we have the entrance about 8'' from the ground and we put the house on 2 by 4 supports to get it off the ground so rain or snow will drain away. We also covered it with a tarp and the back "escape" exit is fully covered by the tarp (so no wind, rain, or snow can get it, and they themselves can't enter this way, but if they needed to get out of the box, they can leave, and then get under the tarp we have being held down by some bricks, except one looser corner.Kitty tube approximate dimensions:Outside dimensions: 25'' diameter, 22'' tallInside with the single insulation: 21.5'' diameter, 16 ¾'' tallInside with second layer of insulation (sold separately) : 19'' diameter, tall 12 ¼ `'There is a heated bed made for this kitty tube and it is a circle and would fit in nicely but is costly so I have not made that purchase yet. The Kitty Tube has a little hole specifically made for there heated bed's cord to fit thru so it would probably be a snug fit and air couldn't get in around the cord. When not using the heated bed, there is a plug to place in the hole and it comes with the purchase of the Kitty Tube and is made out of the same plastic as the tube. We have used the plug. There are other small heated beds out there, which I like and use in our garage, that are not round but would fit in the tube at a lower cost; you would just have to run the cord through the entrance of the tube, which is no big deal.I would recommend this tube and will purchase another in the future.