Does anyone know this?  My puppy LOVES sleeping in her cage and puts herself to bed there at every opportunity, which i am eager to encourage, as my original dog was never very keen and it was always a bit sad to put her in.  I think the reason she likes it is because in this chilly weather it is toasty warm due to the heat pad being on..but I don't want it to be costing me an arm and a leg...it really doesn't get that warm so it can't be costin that muich can it.....????

Turn it off and save the planet :-D  Puppies are not hot house plants and should not need heating in their bed after about 4 weeks old.  As long as their bed is draft proof they will generate enough body heat to keep themselves warm.

What about a hot water bottle, my oldies use them.

I find VETBED is just as efficient as a heat pad (used to have one for the kittens many years ago) and far more convenient - it doesn't even have to be the expensive stuff - I buy the cheaper stuff from the shows ;)

How many watts does it have? We got an electricity bill for £3600 when we used small heaters in the house rather than use the central heating ( was trying to save oil as the fools we were) -turned out each small heater, not even big enough to heat a room, cost around £120 to run per month if switched on for ten hours a day.

Why not try a Snugglesafe heatpad, I got mines from petsathome all you do is microwave it then put the cover on and it stays warm for hours. Here's the link about it http://www.snugglesafe.co.uk/heatpad.htm

As well as what everyone else has said Westies have double coats and rarely need addtional heat.

Put vet bed in her cage , even two layers that will be an ample snug warm bed.

if you really think she needs warming, why not get a microwavable heat pad, i think they have them in places like pets at home, that way it stays warm without using leccy??

A 'bumper' around the inside of the crate keeps out draughts or a blanket over the top makes a little cave.
Dogs sleep on the floor ( I should tell that to my cavs :-) ) and it's amazing the draughts that can whistle around. My lot make a 'dam' and sleep next to it if they are cold -so bumpers work well.

If really necessary we use hot water bottles, in order to keep the warmth
longer I wrap them in bubble-wrap as the sheets are brill for insulating heat.

I'm afraid my dogs would EAT the bubble wrap and end up with a costly Vet bill!! Let alone the fact that the bubble wrap might kill them! You will have to tell me your secret! Do you put mustard paste or something on it to discourage them??

I also use the 'snuggle safe' microwave heat pad/mat from PAH...costs about £18 from PAH (easy to use, microwave for 8 minutes and stays warm all night, we don't have central heating so we need to put something in with the wee ones)

BTW! It's CHEAPER to buy it at PAH than the website listed above!!

Good lord.. Bubble wrap would be the last thing I would put in with pups and dogs.. that is so dangerous

I'm afraid my dogs would EAT the bubble wrap and end up with a costly Vet bill!! Let alone the fact that the bubble wrap might kill them! You will have to tell me your secret! Do you put mustard paste or something on it to discourage them??

No secret. Hot water bottles can be as dangerous as they are made from rubber, too ... :-).
Wrap the lot in a blanket/towel ... in 9 years of (often hand-) raising puppies I never had one
to eat either the hot water bottle nor the bubble wrap. I encourage my dogs to sleep piled up
on top of each other. But for those who need special care the hot water bottle works ok.
There are probably more puppies killed by careless nursing bitches squashing them to death
than puppies being killed by eating bubble wrap.

Well, I think rubber on a hot water bottle is less likely to be eaten as it's tuff stuff!(I don't advocate using hot water bottles either, heat pads or petnap pads are much safer)
However, I feel that you have been very lucky, we can't exactly remove the risk from a mother smothering her young...BUT...we can remove any unneccassary risk like bubble wrap!

To be honest I think it's quite dangerous suggesting something like using bubble wrap for pups when there are quite a few naive and inexperienced puppy owners on these boards! You may have escaped mishap...you are probaly very experienced with pups, but others aren't...sorry, it's not a risk I would be prepared to take, or recommend to anyone!

To be honest I think it's quite dangerous suggesting something like using bubble wrap for pups when there are quite a few naive and inexperienced puppy owners on these boards! You may have escaped mishap...you are probaly very experienced with pups, but others aren't...sorry, it's not a risk I would be prepared to take, or recommend to anyone!

Well, then I wouldn't recommend keeping or breeding dogs to anyone, either ;-)

It has worked well for us and nothing to do with luck. As I said, I prefer "natural warmth" provided
by a doggiemom or doggiefriends myself but a lot of people have problems with that, too for fear
a pup may be squashed. Lots of people would not let a small breed/type puppy play with "bigger"
dogs, in case something may happen. Lots of people would not let a male adult mind a puppy,
in case something may happen. Lots of people on the other hand would let their inexperienced
dogs chew on a pig's ear. I know I wouldnt.

I think we need to agree to differ then! ;-)

Nothing wrong with that, newfiedrams ... :-)

i used to run heat pads for my snakes and they hardly cost a thing, ring up your electric provider and they will happily tell you how much it would cost

Mine has vetbed and thats it!!

I have a snuggle safe microwavable, but I only have it ready in a box, in case of emergency dash to vet.  I use an electrical heat pad under my vet bed turned on 24/7 for the first 21 days. 

i use snuggle safe mircowavable just heat mine togo in my own bed not the dogs,
but i do use them for the puppies with a water bottle cover or they do come with a cover now,

> I also use the 'snuggle safe' microwave heat pad/mat from PAH...costs about £18 from PAH (easy to use, microwave for 8 minutes and stays warm all night, we don't have central heating so we need to put something in with the wee ones)
>
> BTW! It's CHEAPER to buy it at PAH than the website listed above!!

The link posted is the official website of the snugglesafe heat pad posted only as it had more info on the product than the PAH website.

I wasn't criticising, just passing comment! Sometimes I struggle to see the justification for charging more from their own website!

Interestingly, with Autarky, I buy at Costco for around £10 odd, on the Autarky website it's £19!!!

if you go pah website buy up to £50 free delivey plus the one on web site have covers.

The ones I bought recently...one 6 months ago, one last month, both had covers from the PAH shop...