Product Review: PawsOFF™ Protective Bed Cover

Being covered in cat hair, is not always a goal in my home. It can be an annoying price to pay living with eight cats. When I was asked to test drive the PawsOFF™ Protective Bed Cover, I jumped at the chance. I asked for two samples; one for me and one for my co-hort in crime, Jennifer, who also has a few issues with cat hair, as well.

The cover comes in a few different colors, supposedly to match any decor. That is true, unless you're like me and have bright orange or lime green sheets. In truth, they are wise to use “sand,” “chocolate,” and “charcoal” for the color choices since it will hide the fact that you have day-glo colored sheets, anyway. PawsOFF comes in sizes ranging from twin to king.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Spencer enjoying some quiet-shedding-time on the new protective bed cover.

Once I got over the fact that I would never see my sheets again, I found that the cover was very well made, with sturdy elastic straps that, if you aren't lazy, as I am, you can easily slip under the mattress, giving the cover a relatively snug fit. The bed looked lumpy, but heck it was COVERED. Maybe I wouldn't have to see a mass of cat hair at the end of the bed-the favorite napping location of most of the cats.

The cover is soft and appears to be durable. Jennifer has a CH Cat, named Lilly Grace who is actually fed on her bed. Since Lilly Grace cannot walk easily, she usually claws her way across the bed. Good luck to keeping nice looking linens with a cat clawing at them every day.

©2010 Jennifer Jasensky. Lilly Grace and friend on their PawsOFF Protective Bed Cover.

Here's more about Jennifer's experience:

It's easy to clean off Lilly Grace's canned food crumbs, the stuff that dries up and becomes part of the bedding after a while, I was never able to get that off the old bedspread without pulling hard or just running it through the washer. With the cover, the food can be wiped off even if it dries, wet - the food comes off easy. With CH, Lilly Grace bobs her head to get food so often the food flies a few feet away from her.

For myself, I admit to being somewhat skeptical that this was a necessary item. Why couldn't I just buy a cheap bedspread that I use to cover my bed, instead? Also, I just wonder if it's a good idea to cover the bed, when the linens really should be aired out during the day, right? That said, if you have a slobbering dog or it's spring and the cats are shedding, who cares if the bed is aired out?

The bottom line for me: I'm too lazy to make my bed and use the elastic bands to hold down the PawsOFF Protective Bed Cover, BUT, I still have the cover on my bed. I just use it to cover the bottom half of the bed, so my colorful pillows and sheets can still be seen. I have a sand colored cover and it's so neutral it goes with anything-though I do wish there were some colorful options.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Spencer and Blitzen like the feel of the soft cover.

The last test I WOULD NOT DO is to find out of cat urine would seep through the cover. That would be the BIG reason to buy this cover. Twice, one of my cats has peed on the bed. If I could be certain this cover would protect that from happening, I wouldn't hesitate to tell the world to buy them for that sole purpose. Since I can't know that, I can simply say it does exactly as advertised. It keeps the fur off the bed as long as when you move the cover to get into the bed, you keep the fur side UP. One of the cats made a slight “stain of mysterious origin” and it kept it off my sheets and was easy to clean up and lastly...

When you get into the bed, the cats are still going to climb onto it, so you should keep the cover on..but it can be a bit warm. I just move it to the end of the bed in the worse fur “zone” so I don't get too hot.

LiveWell Pet Products is based in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. For the next week, use the coupon code CCH10 to save $10.00 off (a VERY GOOD DEAL!) your order of a PawsOFF™ Protective Bed Cover. This offer is exclusive to Covered in Cat Hair readers (you lucky guys!).

PLEASE NOTE: Jennifer and I test drove the covers for a few MONTHS. We were not paid for our review, but we did receive a free cover. This is only our opinion of this product, your results may vary, along with your opinion of the product. There, the FTC can be happy with me now-full disclosure! This review also is not an endorsement.