Day 90: Sharing a bed with cats

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 90: Sharing a bed with cats

I’m quite sure that cat lovers are familiar with cats sleeping on their bed. They curl up in the middle of it, at the foot end, or snuggle between the pillows. Seeing them fast asleep is cute and we don’t want to wake them.

It’s a different story when we want to go to sleep and there is no room for us to get into bed, or to get comfortable.

Take last night for instance. It was 1:00 a.m., I wanted to go to sleep, but … there were four cats on my bed. 

Halley got up when she saw me coming, but Charlotte, Holly and Greyson gave no sign of moving.

Somehow I managed to squeeze myself under the duvet and lay down. That is to say, I tried to get into a comfortable position, but I but couldn’t stretch out because Greyson and Charlotte were side by side at the foot end of the bed.

Holly, who was on the other side of the bed, lifted her head and glared at me as if to say … you woke me up. 'Sorry,' I whispered, and she went back to sleep.

When my legs cramped up, I ever so carefully stretched them out, my feet under Greyson and Charlotte. If you think those two moved, think again. I got absolutely no reaction.

Still not comfortable, I moved my feet from here to there, causing Charlotte and Greyson to bounce and roll around a bit. Charlotte didn’t care, she was obviously of the opinion … go with the flow, but Greyson eventually lifted his head. The message he sent me was clear … do you mind, we’re trying to sleep. Yeah well, so was I.

About ten minutes later Greyson got up and came to kiss me goodnight, as he does every night. A kiss on my right cheek, a kiss on my left cheek and another kiss on my right cheek. Next, he lay down on my chest. “Greyson you have to move,” I told him. “You’re too heavy.” I wasn’t kidding, Greyson weighs a good 20 lbs and is as such quite heavy. Fine, he moved.

As I turned on my side, he moved with me and curled up against my chest, right under my chin. Now I had a different problem … his whiskers were tickling my nose and cheek. When that brought on a sneeze attack, Greyson had the good sense to move.

Now it was Charlotte’s turn. She got up from the foot end of the bed and joined me under the duvet. She stretched out behind me and I prepared for sleep. Well, that didn’t work at all. Every time I moved, I got a kick in my back.

Meanwhile, Holly who slept on my other side had finally drifted off and produced all kinds of sound effects. Don’t imagine a gentle purring, she was snoring, sputtering and sighing.

Sleeping with cats, I tell ya, it’s no joke. It's a shame I don't fit into one of their cat baskets. Maybe I would find some peace and quiet there.

    

Day 129: Bed acrobatics

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 129: Bed acrobatics

When bedtime comes around, everyone has their own routine. Some people take a shower, others make a cup of chamomile tea, while others still read a few pages of a book to calm down. Me, I count my cats before turning in.

Most of the time, finding them is no trouble at all. Charlotte usually sleeps curled up by Dieter’s feet while Gabriel, Holly, and Halley are already on my bed. As such, getting into bed requires some acrobatics on my part. With a cat here and a cat there, getting a space to lie down takes a certain amount a sliding, twisting and turning to get under the duvet.

While some cats get up at the slightest movement, Gabriel, Holly, and Halley are like rocks, they don’t move an inch. I can push them, put a foot under them and try to lift them, it makes no difference whatsoever.

As soon as I turn off the light there’s movement though. Holly comes and drapes herself on my chest. Not only is this a considerable weight, it’s also quite warm. Welcome in winter, but not so much now in summer. Meanwhile, Halley likes to position herself on my head. Another source of heat.

Smart as they are, they know my routine though. As long as I’m on my back they can expect to be petted, but once I turn on my side, I want to go to sleep. So, they move. Now there’s another problem though … purring and snoring.

Holly likes to share my pillow, which is fine, but with her happy noises, it sounds like there’s a helicopter hovering near my head. As for Halley, she’s only a big baby, but her purring reaches quite a few decibels.

In the morning things are quite different.

Charlotte and Holly are late sleepers, but Gabriel and Halley rise with the sun. They seem of the opinion when we’re up everybody should be up. As such, Gabriel starts meowing, only he doesn’t meow like a normal cat, he pronounces meow as mayo, as in mayonnaise. When I try to shush him, he adds a few decibels. Not that I have any intention of getting up at whatever time he starts his nonsense.

Halley never asks for food, she knows she’ll get her breakfast in good time and until then she plays with her favorite toy, a plastic spring. Unfortunately, we have hardwood as flooring and when she chases the spring her nails make a scratching noise. It’s like an army of mice running around.

Eventually, I give up and get up.

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Sleeping with cats

Do any of you sleep with a pet?  If you do, you have my sincerest sympathies. I slept with Chanel last night and oh my, it took forever for her to settle.

She was purring so loud that I wondered … is this a cat or a small propeller plane?

Usually Chanel sleeps elsewhere and Mickey and Gabriel curl up with me.  In fact, it’s a funny thing.

While I’m on the computer, Gabriel sleeps and when I say “sleeps” I mean he’s out like a light.  A bomb can go off next to that cat and he won’t flinch.  But … fast asleep as he is, as soon as I prepare to go to bed, he joins me.  He quite literally wakes up to go to sleep.

Once in bed he starts making funny noises, meaning … rub my cheeks, scratch my head, rub my belly, and rub my cheeks some more.  If it was up to him, I would be rubbing his cheeks until dawn.

Meanwhile Mickey wanders around.  He inspects the linen closets, sits on the windowsill, checks under the bed, before finally jumping on the bookcase and stretching out.

At some point the bookcase starts cramping his style and that when it happens … from roughly 6 feet 5 inches he launches himself on the bed.

This never fails to frighten the hell out a me.  Just imagine … it’s dark, it’s quiet, I’m just starting to drift off, when suddenly … boem, a weight lands on the bed shaking me wide awake.

While I’m trying to get my heart out of my throat, Gabriel barely opens an eye. It’s like he’s trying to say … “What?  What’s the big deal? He does this every night.”

And it’s true, Mickey does this every night, but I fall for it every time.

So last night I thought I would sleep in peace and quiet, without Gabriel’s need for attention or Mickey auditioning for Cirque du Soleil. I was wrong, now it was Chanel who kept me out of dreamland.

She snuggled up close to me and went … krrrrrr, krrrrrrrr, krrrrrrr. I’m telling you, she sounded like a plane getting ready for take-off.

Maybe tonight I should sleep with Charlotte.  Charlotte is a quiet cat. She doesn’t wander around, she doesn’t climb on furniture, and even though she can purr, she does so at a normal level.

The only thing is, Charlotte doesn’t move, for anything. She needs a lot of space and once she lies down, she lies down. Whether feet, legs or even a body are in her way, she doesn’t move, not an inch.

I wonder how people do it who sleep with a big dog ….