| All in a Good Night's Sleep |
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Lets talk about how to keep a cat happy. I mean, they do spend most of their life
sleeping SOMEwhere. And if you are not prepared to offer a warm lap at all times,
you have to provide accommodations. Which, in general, is easier then one might
think! There is no need for expensive cat tree-houses, fuzzy snuggle corners, or the
likes. Cat's will make do as they see fit. Cats just looove satin sheets. Since my cats have always been part of the family and, very well groomed, they are allowed full use of the house (minus the kitchen, that is). And you have to see reason here: Which cat would sleep in a basket when there is a bed around ? It's any cats favorite place. The covers are warm, soft, pliable, ideal for sharpening claws when the mood strikes, and usually it is the one room destined to be heavenly quiet and peaceful. Of course, not everyone enjoys the idea of animals being that close, but those of you who have ever been lulled to sleep by the deep rumble of a loving purr, will attest that they could not care less about a few thousand cat hairs on the pillow. It is definitely worth the allergies. However, sharing the bed with four of them can get tricky. I had to get used to not moving around too much, or expect to have my foot ripped off for accidentally kicking a sound asleep miniature tiger. Besides, when disturbed, they might get up and leave, and, God forbid, we would not want THAT. So I silently suffer with one of them crushing my legs, one on my tummy, one on my side, and one of my pillow (I'm grateful I am allowed half of it - most of the times). The one on my tummy (or on the small of my back, depending on my sleeping position) feels actually pretty good, unless the cat in question happens to be a 'dreamer' and claws away at me while chasing rabbits, or whatever it is that makes cats move frantically while otherwise dead to the world. Oh well, what is a little pain and another ruined patch of satin weighted against the loving attention of a fluffball against, say, my warm belly. Terrific. And no, you can't deny them this simple pleasure. Lil' ol' pussums has cold feet! Be sympathetic. YOU try to run around on cold floors all day long! More complicated can it be to find a partner who will accept that the cats have been there first, and HE needs to fit in, not the other way around. Rule number one is to never even try a relationship with someone not at least similar infatuated with cats, or it will be over 'the morning after'. Dog lover won't do! On cold nights there is a little struggle about who gets to come underneath the blanket. Not all of them get along in close quarters, so careful negotiation is necessary to distribute the four evenly on either side. The only drawback to these living hot-water-bottles is the fact that cats have VERY cold feet during the cold weather season, and believe me, they don't like it any better than we do. I try not to scream too loud when they push all fours onto something warm and available. Fortunately, my man is also a serious cat-addict. As I said earlier, they would not last any other way :) Apparently. The other night he nudged me awake: "Hun, scoot over, will ya? I'm hanging half out of bed, and you're hogging the sheets! "Hrmwrxf?" "I'm cold, wake up, gimme some room babe..." "Grxmph!" "Hello?" "Ummm....can't....cat's in the way...." "Move over!" "No! You disturb the CAT!" He finally got up and moved around to crawl back in on the other side of the bed. As I said, he's a serious cat addict, too. And even though most men pretend they don't like cats too much, I find that they usually are not able to resist them for long, and even get quite protective of them, which is to say they spoil them rotten with table tidbits and are therefore extremely successful to unbalance the established pecking order. There is one time only that I DO mind that they play the major role in our lives, and that is when he comes home from work and the cats get greeted before I do. Normally, this might appear a bit rude, but when one pauses to consider, however, that the animals in question are of feline origin, you have to understand, their act is worked out so perfectly, one could not compete with the whole nine yards of purrs, meows, and rubbing ups. (I'm sooo glad you're home, now go open a can....) Oh well, my turn will come, and in the rare event that he is home first, then he'll be the one to wait his turn too :) |
