Nothing, except I am talking about the stage where I want the leaven to grow, not go into suspended animation. In summer the ambient temperature in the kitchen is fine but as the weather changes, I'm looking for a bit of warmth.
I use one of those airing racks over the radiator. There are some that are horizontal. This works really well, although I suspect the cat would probably still get to it. Aren't you covering it?
Cold raised dough makes better bread than warm raised dough(imo), If you want it to rise quicker use more or fresher yeast. The slow cooker will kill the yeast as it will cook it. If you want to warm it out of reach of the cat, put the oven on for 5 mins then turn it off and put the bread in the oven.