cat - RL absence and O&C update (LONG)

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RL absence and O&C update (LONG)

Hi all:

I don't get to read the ng as much as I'd like. Such great folks and
stories that cheer me up and can also make me cry in shared pain. I read
Baha's thread on not feeling very merry and was awed by how so many of the
group have survived such horrible circumstances - not only survived but are
loving kind caring people. I am inspired by their strength and I sent lots
of telepathic hugs out all over the world when I read your stories.

Reading those stories sure put my ridiculously hectic and chaotic few months
in perspective. They were busy but good months and I have two lovely furry
creatures to cuddle at night that make everything alright.

One of those cuddly boys, Otis, is getting FAT!!! Seems that his long
escape on our holidays made him appreciate the comforts of home that much
more. He was nice and slim when we got him back and has been eating
constantly since his return. I've had to put him on a diet for the first
time in his life. He'll also be 9 yo on January 19th so maybe he's getting
his midlife paunch :-)

You can tell that its getting cold again since Otis sleeps under the covers
every night now. Hops up on the bed, burrows underneath the covers, and we
spoon the whole night - just his little pointed head sticking out of the
covers and resting on the pillow beside me. It's really lovely.

Otis also has a new habit. Before, he used to just tap me with a paw as a
first warning at night, usually on the face. If I didn't respond
immediately, then he'd break out a claw and apply light pressure until he
got my attention. Now, he *starts* with the claw. I'm walking around with
what look like acne on my face. They're not zits, they're little tiny cat
scratches. I've got three of them right now. Just add that to the list of
annoying, disruptive and destructive habits of my dear boy.

I've decided that sleeping with the cats is leaving us chronically sleep
deprived. One or the other gets up at 4 AM. If its Otis, he opens the
closet doors and tries to lick the plastic drycleaning bags on my clothes.
Either that or he jumps up on the dresser under the windows and bats the
wooden shades around. If its Chester, its harder to be mad. He jumps up
with his Kramer entrance and starts purring so hard we think he's going to
explode. He'll either present his head to Otis for a grooming, in which
case we are awake to the sounds of cats slurping for another 5 - 10 minutes,
or it jazzes Otis up and he hits the closets. We've tried locking Otis 2
floors down in the basement but he yowls so dramatically, that it wakes us
up anyway. We've tried locking Chester out of the bedroom but, since he's
discovered his inner cat, he scratches and makes a scene until we let him in
anyway. G*d forbid we forget to close the door to the ensuite. Chester
will fish around in the garbage can until he gags from the way it rubs on
his neck. This is crazy! Do you *all* have such a time sleeping???? Are
we all sleep deprived crazy people??

Otis now also defers to Chester at the food dish. Some kind of battle has
been won somewhere - Otis sits back patiently and waits for Chester to have
the first crack at it - even if Chester hasn't yet arrived at the dish.
Weird.

And Chester - still a total angel. He really is.

OK - my 3 hours a night of sleep this week has caught up with me so I should
go and tumble into bed.

Thanks for listening to my cat ramblings.

Susan M
Otis and Chester
Who'd better sleep tonight!

Susan M wrote:

Thanks for listening to my cat ramblings.

Nice to hear from you, Susan. Aww, those kitties of yours. Scritches to
them both. But you are not alone in the sleep-deprivation department;
Frank started yowling at 3.30 this morning. Since I had stayed up late
to watch a movie on TV, I got three hours' sleep this night. I can never
get back to sleep after waking. The other night, I awoke to the periodic
CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE of a thick paper bag that both Nikki and Frank
have adopted as their new favourite sleeping place. Apparently they were
waging war over who got to sleep on it. Right now, it's occupied by
Frank, and Nikki is inside one of her many boxes strewn aroun d the
flat. Tonight I must remember to hide that paper bag somewhere.

--
Marina, Frank and Nikki
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Hee hee! I guess that little chat I had with Otis worked then. I
told him he's got a good thing going in your gorgeous house and he
should really stay in more. Better to have a midlife paunch than to
roam all the time ;-)
I'm sorry to hear about your sleep deprivation. Vino used to be worse
in Vancouver but here he starts at 6:30 am and only goes on for 5-10
min. He stops sooner if we absolutely and totally ignore him. He has
another crack at it about an hour later but that's when I usually get
up anyway. I hope things improve for you guys in the sleeping
department!
Purrs for your life to slow down a bit so you can get more time on the
NG. Purrs for Archie too. I hope you guys have a nice Christmas :-)
Take care,
--
Britta
Sandpaper kisses, a cuddle and a purr. I have an alarm clock that's
covered in fur!
Check out pictures of Vino at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album

"Susan M" smawdsley remove @shaw.ca wrote in message
news:wkuud.457334$Pl.347208@pd7tw1no...
Hi all:

I don't get to read the ng as much as I'd like. Such great folks
and
stories that cheer me up and can also make me cry in shared pain. I
read
Baha's thread on not feeling very merry and was awed by how so many
of the
group have survived such horrible circumstances - not only survived
but are
loving kind caring people. I am inspired by their strength and I
sent lots
of telepathic hugs out all over the world when I read your stories.

Reading those stories sure put my ridiculously hectic and chaotic
few months
in perspective. They were busy but good months and I have two
lovely furry
creatures to cuddle at night that make everything alright.

One of those cuddly boys, Otis, is getting FAT!!! Seems that his
long
escape on our holidays made him appreciate the comforts of home that
much
more. He was nice and slim when we got him back and has been eating
constantly since his return. I've had to put him on a diet for the
first
time in his life. He'll also be 9 yo on January 19th so maybe he's
getting
his midlife paunch :-)

You can tell that its getting cold again since Otis sleeps under the
covers
every night now. Hops up on the bed, burrows underneath the covers,
and we
spoon the whole night - just his little pointed head sticking out of
the
covers and resting on the pillow beside me. It's really lovely.

Otis also has a new habit. Before, he used to just tap me with a
paw as a
first warning at night, usually on the face. If I didn't respond
immediately, then he'd break out a claw and apply light pressure
until he
got my attention. Now, he *starts* with the claw. I'm walking
around with
what look like acne on my face. They're not zits, they're little
tiny cat
scratches. I've got three of them right now. Just add that to the
list of
annoying, disruptive and destructive habits of my dear boy.

I've decided that sleeping with the cats is leaving us chronically
sleep
deprived. One or the other gets up at 4 AM. If its Otis, he opens
the
closet doors and tries to lick the plastic drycleaning bags on my
clothes.
Either that or he jumps up on the dresser under the windows and bats
the
wooden shades around. If its Chester, its harder to be mad. He
jumps up
with his Kramer entrance and starts purring so hard we think he's
going to
explode. He'll either present his head to Otis for a grooming, in
which
case we are awake to the sounds of cats slurping for another 5 - 10
minutes,
or it jazzes Otis up and he hits the closets. We've tried locking
Otis 2
floors down in the basement but he yowls so dramatically, that it
wakes us
up anyway. We've tried locking Chester out of the bedroom but,
since he's
discovered his inner cat, he scratches and makes a scene until we
let him in
anyway. G*d forbid we forget to close the door to the ensuite.
Chester
will fish around in the garbage can until he gags from the way it
rubs on
his neck. This is crazy! Do you *all* have such a time
sleeping???? Are
we all sleep deprived crazy people??

Otis now also defers to Chester at the food dish. Some kind of
battle has
been won somewhere - Otis sits back patiently and waits for Chester
to have
the first crack at it - even if Chester hasn't yet arrived at the
dish.
Weird.

And Chester - still a total angel. He really is.

OK - my 3 hours a night of sleep this week has caught up with me so
I should
go and tumble into bed.

Thanks for listening to my cat ramblings.

Susan M
Otis and Chester
Who'd better sleep tonight!

I don't know if this will help, but Soncek sleeps through the night since
I've gotten him used to about an hour of playing before going to bed. He
even does it himself sometimes (if I'm too busy reading rpca).
Lots of purrs and best wishes for your good nights' sleep,
--
Polonca & Soncek

"Susan M" smawdsley remove @shaw.ca wrote in message
news:wkuud.457334$Pl.347208@pd7tw1no...
snip
OK - my 3 hours a night of sleep this week has caught up with me so I
should
go and tumble into bed.

Thanks for listening to my cat ramblings.

Susan M
Otis and Chester
Who'd better sleep tonight!

Oh yeah, I know about sleep deprivation.

First Mischief will hop up on the windowsill and her wagging tail makes
the vertical blinds go C-CLACK C-C-CLACK!!

Then at some point Imp will use the litter box in the bathroom and
start scratching the wall.......over and over and over and over until I
have to sit up in bed and call his name.

Then there will be a middle of the night romp, which usually involves
some or all of the following : the thundering of little feet;
clattering of vertical blinds in the living room as the cats run up the
cat tree; growling; and other assorted noises of two cats romping
around.....

Then Mischief will jump on the bed and start kneading the pillow right
next to my head and starts purring and lets out her little meow that
says, "Pet me!" Whether I pet her or not she will collapse, (normally
on my face) and continue to purr so loud I can't sleep. Then after a
few hours and will come back again at some point.

Next thing I know it is morning and time to feed the kittles. This
morning happened to be the first morning I didn't have to get up before
8 in the last 2 weeks. I hear Mischief jump on the bed, and meow at
me. She starts purring up a storm, and I'm just ignoring her. She
then goes through her repetoire of 'waking meowmie' techniques; the
walking over the meowmie over and over again; the head butting; the
cold nose on the hand and face; the flopping on the face so the meowmie
is inhaling fur, etc....

None of which are working, but then I feel Imp jump on the bed, and I
could envision their conversation...........

Imp: Whatcha doin?
Mischief: I'm trying to wake Mama Kristi up, so she can feed us,
dummy.
Imp: Have you tried purring in her face?
Mischief: Yes, I tried that....
Imp: what about walking on her tummy?
Mischief: YES, I tried that too. Look, if you know so much, why don't
YOU get wake her up?
Imp: But I don't know how to do.........Look out!! It's a bed
gopher!!
Mischief: That's her foot, you moron...
Imp: Die!!! I got it!! Kill Kill Kill!!

Me: Ow! Knock it off, Imp!

Mischief: Hey, it's actually working! Keep killing it!!
Imp: Uh, helph........ Mithchiefth, my teeth are stuckth on the
blanketh.
Mischief: Oh great.... Nice one, dummy..
Imp: I'm stuckth!! (popping and ripping noises are heard)

Me: Imp!! What are you doing?
Mischief: Yeah!! Mama Kristi's awake!! Time for food!!
Me: You silly catssss.......
Imp: Hey, she's going back to sleep!
Mischief: Oh great, nice going, you moron, now we're not going to get
any food.
Imp: Why are you always yelling at me? I didn't see you making much
progress....
Mischief: Will you shut up already?
Imp: Hey, how about I come over there and shut YOU up for once?
Mischief: Bring it ON, Imp the WIMP!
Imp: Don't CALL ME THAT!!!
Mischief: IMP THE WIMP!!
Imp: DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I sit up to two cats wrestling on the bed next to a bunch of teeth
marks and claw holes in the comforter.
*sigh*

Well, I do need to study for finals............

Kristi

Susan M wrote:

OK - my 3 hours a night of sleep this week has caught up with me so I should
go and tumble into bed.

Thanks for listening to my cat ramblings.

Either I am totally spoiled, or the soundest sleeper in the western
hemisphere. The cats don't wake me up at night. I usually get up
sometime between 2 and 4 am to use the bathroom, then go back to sleep.
The number of cats on the bed varies with the weather (last night was
a four cat bed) so I may or may not have to talk a cat out of my side of
the bed in order to have room to climb in. Other than that, the cats
are absolutely no problem. Now watch them prove me wrong tonight.

Pam S. who usually watches the midnight races before going to bed

Mischief wrote:
snip bickering cats
Imp: DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL! Frank doesn't flop onto my face, but he does curl around my head
and purr when he wants me to get up in the morning. Sometimes, he drags
a claw along some exposed bit of skin to wake me. He does the digging to
New Zealand thing in the litterbox, too, and the other morning, he
scratched in his litterbox, then he came and scratched scratched
scratched at the bedroom door, just to make a point.

--
Marina, Frank and Nikki
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Marina wrote:

Mischief wrote:
snip bickering cats

Imp: DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL! Frank doesn't flop onto my face, but he does curl around my head
and purr when he wants me to get up in the morning. Sometimes, he drags
a claw along some exposed bit of skin to wake me. He does the digging to
New Zealand thing in the litterbox, too, and the other morning, he
scratched in his litterbox, then he came and scratched scratched
scratched at the bedroom door, just to make a point.

He probably wants to help pee in the Greebling Queen's sink.

Pam S.

"Susan M" smawdsley remove @shaw.ca wrote:
Otis now also defers to Chester at the food dish. Some kind of battle has
been won somewhere - Otis sits back patiently and waits for Chester to have
the first crack at it - even if Chester hasn't yet arrived at the dish.
Weird.

If Otis is getting fat, then that's a good thing. :) I've heard
before of cats reversing their usual dominance roles at the food dish,
like how adult cats often allow kittens or youngsters to eat at the
dish first.