My cats Puff and Yellowfin have temperature regulation issues in winter

One of issues I needed to solve to improve my sleep was the cats coming into my room (or scratching at the door if it was closed) and being very agitated when they came.

Cats are small mammals and it’s important to them to regulate their temperature.

I used to turn my gas heater off when I out because I felt anxious that it wasn’t all that safe. My cats can get quite crazy running around and I felt anxious that they would move something against the gas fire which would be a fire risk.

However in the spirit of iteratively solving problems I tried the experiment of leaving the fire on overnight. The result was although Puff sometimes does come and visit during the night she is seeking affection - she seems a lot less anxious. Prior to this change she would show a lot more anxiety and seek out the spot on the bed under the heating vent. Now she just visits for a bit and usually goes back downstairs to this:

Open

Notice at this stage I have got an electric oil filled heater which I feel is much safer. I now just leave this heater on and only have the fire on when I am physically in the room.

The cats like it - when they need to cool down they move.