A pet bed system has an overlay removably secured to a pet bed. The pet bed has a top surface for supporting a recumbent pet within a supportive area, a basal area, and a transition area between the supportive area and the basal area. The overlay has a protective area generally disposed upon the supportive area of the top surface, and a plurality of extension areas extending from the protective area and overlapping the transition area of the pet bed while exposing portions of the top surface. The pet bed and the extension areas may be provided with mating attachment members to removably secure the overlay to the pet bed. A great variety of different types of attachment members are suitable. Alternatively, the extension areas may be joined by an elastic section to removably secure the overlay to the pet bed by compression. The overlay may be washable for reuse or disposable. A kit may be used to retrofit the overlay to a pet bed.