MALTA

Three raised sides, so they sleep feeling held Standing on legs, away from damp and cold floors A washable cover, so it stays clean Solid Tohoku walnut, handmade in Hida-Takayama Holds 25 kg - fine for small dogs or two cats Reads as furniture, not as pet gear No assembly. Ready the moment it arrives Make the place they spend most of their life the best seat in the house. Cats sleep through most of the day. And yet a cat bed somehow becomes a thing you replace. It flattens, it collects hair, the color goes. It only cost a few thousand yen, so you buy another - and while you're doing that, the room slowly fills with things that look like pet products. The name comes from Malta, the Mediterranean island people call a cat's paradise. Could you put one piece of that into a room - a cat asleep on stone, with nobody hurrying it? That's where MALTA started. The frame rises on three sides, at a height where a cat can sleep with its chin or front paws resting on the edge. The straight silhouette, with the decoration taken out, is closer to a small piece of furniture than to pet equipment. A bed you don't have to push into a corner. The only thing that flattens is the cushion inside. The cover is 100% cotton and comes off to go in the washing machine. The wood stays as it is. Chin on the edge, front paws hanging out. The frame rising on three sides gives a cat exactly the right thing to lean against. Chin over the rim, one front leg dangling outside, back pressed against the wood and curled up. Ways of sleeping that never happen on a flat mat come out of an edge at this height. Lift it off the floor, and the bed stays dry. Black legs open a gap beneath the frame. A bed sitting flat on the floor traps moisture, and in winter it picks up the cold coming through. Raising it a little lets air move underneath and keeps the bedding dry. The matte black also tightens the outline in a room, balancing the lightness of the wood. The 100% cotton cover comes off to wash. The cover is 100% cotton with the character of the weave left in it - soft against the skin, and easy on a cat's coat. We chose charcoal grey, which doesn't show hair. It zips off in a moment and goes straight into the washing machine. The filling is urethane foam that holds its thickness and spring, so your cat doesn't sink too far in and the shape stays. Built one at a time in Hida-Takayama. The frame is solid walnut from Tohoku - gentle in the grain, with a softness that stops it being too hard. It's finished by furniture makers in Hida-Takayama, who read the grain and the angles as they assemble each one by hand. Knots and grain differ from piece to piece, and no two are the same. Keep replacing them, or keep one. A bed made only of fabric and filling flattens within months or a couple of years, collects hair, and never comes back from a wash. With MALTA, the only thing that flattens is the cushion, and the cover washes. The frame is solid wood, so it holds its shape however long your cat uses it. Buy a cheap bed over and over, or keep one in the room. MALTA is for people choosing the second. For cats, and for small dogs. It holds around 25 kg (55 lb), which covers small dogs such as toy poodles and miniature dachshunds, and takes two cats lying side by side. The bed itself weighs about 4.8 kg (10.6 lb) - enough not to shift when someone lands on it. It's fine if they just watch at first. No assembly and no tools - take it out of the box and set it down. A cat who is careful about new things may keep away for a while. But a bed with sides speaks to something instinctive. They'll check the scent, start resting their chin on the edge, and before long this is where most of the day goes. Laying a familiar blanket on top usually shortens that. Two &CAT beds. Choose by your cat. For a cat that wants to be properly enclosed, the HÜTTE house. For one that wants to stretch out - and for anyone who likes watching a sleeping face - the MALTA bed. It comes from the same Hida-Takayama workshop as the KINOBORI cat tree. Curled up there again today. In that one corner, time seems to move a little slower. A cat asleep, and the air in the room softens. MALTA exists to make that happen every day.