It is soft and I could see how it would be warming. However, it makes nose every time the cats step on it or move. My cats didn't like the noise so I ended up giving them away.

I ordered the large mat in gray leopard. Disappointed, I was looking for something ultra-inviting for my cats to sleep on so they would leave our bed (they hog the pillows!) My Maine coon and his buddy like to sleep together, so the fleecy beds I already have are just too small, so I thought I would try this Mat, not too small, not too big, looked just comfy cozy right! Very soft leopard fleece layer, love that, but no poly fiber thermal core layer, got the shiny reflective aluminum film layer, but then the Sherpa side of the "pocket" was not Sherpa, no Sherpa anywhere...just a super thin pseudo fabric with plastic dots. It looks like I can add some quilt batting or a thin foam pillow layer to make it more inviting. It might work. It maybe durable enough to wash on delicate cycle a few times. Wish I had received the layers pictured and described.

After reading some of the enthusiastic reviews of this I thought I'd order a couple to help our cats through the winter. We have five cats. I ordered two mats, to start, and figured I get more if the cats liked them. I was surprised, after the positive reviews, that our cats do NOT these mats.. They hate the soft spotted side, especially. That's OK with me because it's immensely ugly; and the ones I ordered are not actually gray, the color it said, but much more blue, which doesn't fit with any of our decor. The "back" side is black, which is fine, and a very different material, slightly nubby. One of the five cats has started to lie on the mat, on the black side, where I have it at the foot of our bed. The other mat is one of our dining room chairs (covering a cushion on which we don't want to get cat hair). The cat who normally sits on that chair during the day has only now, after several days, reluctantly come back to the chair with the mat on it. It may help some if I take the mat covers off and wash them. Among other things, I'm pretty sure the cats don't like how these things smell, or the smell is foreign to them and they are not quick to adapting to it. Had I saved the packaging I would have returned both of these mats. They've been pretty much a waste of money, and, as I said, I think they're really ugly.

My cat doesn't like the printed side. He won't even step on it for years but the other side is ok I guess. He didn't tell me that in so many words but indicated the texture was icky.