They know what the alarm means.

The other night DP was on call in the hospital overnight and I flicked
on the alarm clock without looking what time it was set to. It was set
to 6 am, ugh. Well, I didn't have to be up for another two hours so I
was going to go back to sleep...

That wasn't happening.

The cats have realized that I sleep later than DP does and they've
learned to accept that I do not get out of bed before 8 am at the
earliest unless forced. BUT...if the alarm clock goes off, they lose
all sympathy and want their food NOW.

So I'm hearing trills...Smokey isn't warmed up enough to do his usual
caterwaul, the early alarm has caught him off guard. I'm pondering if
I can sleep a half hour before he reaches his ear-splitting volume when
I feel something wet on my cheek. It's Nocturne, bunting me. Bunt.
Bunt.

Then, I feel a little fang pressed against my cheek.

"This is my fang. It's not digging into you YET, but it COULD be. And
it WILL be. Unless you get out of this bed and feed us. NOW."

I don't relish getting bitten on the face by Nox, so I give up, get up,
and spend two hours in my pj's reading articles for class. With a
lapful of Tyche.

--Fil

Then, I feel a little fang pressed against my cheek.

"This is my fang. It's not digging into you YET, but it COULD be. And
it WILL be. Unless you get out of this bed and feed us. NOW."


Rita ever-so-delicately touches me with one claw, in the middle of
my back. It's enough to make me jump and yell at her. Quietly,
though, because I'm still not awake.

Jane

On 23 Nov 2005 08:50:09 -0800, "Enfilade"
yodeled:

The other night DP was on call in the hospital overnight and I flicked
on the alarm clock without looking what time it was set to. It was set
to 6 am, ugh. Well, I didn't have to be up for another two hours so I
was going to go back to sleep...

That wasn't happening.

The cats have realized that I sleep later than DP does and they've
learned to accept that I do not get out of bed before 8 am at the
earliest unless forced. BUT...if the alarm clock goes off, they lose
all sympathy and want their food NOW.

So I'm hearing trills...Smokey isn't warmed up enough to do his usual
caterwaul, the early alarm has caught him off guard. I'm pondering if
I can sleep a half hour before he reaches his ear-splitting volume when
I feel something wet on my cheek. It's Nocturne, bunting me. Bunt.
Bunt.

Then, I feel a little fang pressed against my cheek.

"This is my fang. It's not digging into you YET, but it COULD be. And
it WILL be. Unless you get out of this bed and feed us. NOW."

I don't relish getting bitten on the face by Nox, so I give up, get up,
and spend two hours in my pj's reading articles for class. With a
lapful of Tyche.

--Fil

You are so owned.


Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

Make Levees, Not War

On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:50:09 -0800, Enfilade wrote:

The other night DP was on call in the hospital overnight and I flicked
on the alarm clock without looking what time it was set to. It was set
to 6 am, ugh. Well, I didn't have to be up for another two hours so I
was going to go back to sleep...

A similar thing happened this morning. I was up until 1:00 AM working on
one of our servers, but still had to get up to go to work at my usual
time. The alarm went off at 5:00 AM but I figured "I can squeeze in
another 30 minutes before I HAVE to get up". I reset the alarm and tried
to go back to sleep, but way was that going to happen. Ranger had heard
the alarm and knew what it meant. Moments after my head hit the pillow he
was rubbing his cold, wet nose all over my face.

So I got up and fed everyone.

Dan

Jasmine usually sits next to me and quietly and determinedly starts grooming
my ear. there is nothing more disconcerting than having your ear groomed at
5am. if i roll over she starts on my hair....she must think i have fleas or
something, she gets the teeth in there and everything!!!

--
There are many intelligent species in the Universe. They are all owned by
cats.

Anonymous

One cat just leads to another. -Ernest Hemingway


"Dan M" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:50:09 -0800, Enfilade wrote:

The other night DP was on call in the hospital overnight and I flicked
on the alarm clock without looking what time it was set to. It was set
to 6 am, ugh. Well, I didn't have to be up for another two hours so I
was going to go back to sleep...

A similar thing happened this morning. I was up until 1:00 AM working on
one of our servers, but still had to get up to go to work at my usual
time. The alarm went off at 5:00 AM but I figured "I can squeeze in
another 30 minutes before I HAVE to get up". I reset the alarm and tried
to go back to sleep, but way was that going to happen. Ranger had heard
the alarm and knew what it meant. Moments after my head hit the pillow he
was rubbing his cold, wet nose all over my face.

So I got up and fed everyone.

Dan

On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 22:21:26 +0000, meee wrote:

Jasmine usually sits next to me and quietly and determinedly starts grooming
my ear. there is nothing more disconcerting than having your ear groomed at
5am. if i roll over she starts on my hair....she must think i have fleas or
something, she gets the teeth in there and everything!!!

Samuel used to do that to my mustache! He'd climb up on my chest for pets,
and before long he'd be pulling at my mustache with his teeth.

Dan

Dan M wrote:
On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 22:21:26 +0000, meee wrote:

Jasmine usually sits next to me and quietly and determinedly starts grooming
my ear. there is nothing more disconcerting than having your ear groomed at
5am. if i roll over she starts on my hair....she must think i have fleas or
something, she gets the teeth in there and everything!!!

Samuel used to do that to my mustache! He'd climb up on my chest for pets,
and before long he'd be pulling at my mustache with his teeth.

Dan

I don't know why she won't touch me. Probably because if she does I
grab her and pull her under the covers, with her head on the pillow. So
she attacks paper. Scratch, scratch, scratch. And then just stares at
me. Scratch, scratch, scratch. Stare, stare, stare. Sometimes I
relatiate with wet food that is only moderately liked, so there!

Well, yesterday, she did reach in under the blanket and gently touch me
with one paw. That is a first. Very good manners. Just a gentle touch
on my hand. Who can resist that? If I really want to sleep, I put out
wet food that she is so-so about the night before I go to sleep. If
there is food out, well, she eventually eats it in the late morning,
even if not a favorite.

"Enfilade" wrote in message
oups.com...
The other night DP was on call in the hospital overnight and I flicked
on the alarm clock without looking what time it was set to. It was set
to 6 am, ugh. Well, I didn't have to be up for another two hours so I
was going to go back to sleep...
snipped

Smokey is convinced the the alarm clock is "second call". It matters not a
whit that he has food in his bowl, he wants me to get up when he first
wakes. OK, he usually has a stimulus -- I frequently have to make a "head
call" an hour or so before the alarm sounds. When nature calls, Smokey
interprets that as the time to start the day.

Smokey's not into the *tap tap tap* school of human rousing. Nor is he
usually up for *poke my whiskers up the human's nose* maneuver. Smokey's
method of arousal is to jump up onto the bedside table beside me and rake
stuff (a book or two, several magazines, etc.) off into the floor. If none
of the above does the trick, he knocks the phone off onto the floor. Many a
morning have I awakened to the extremely annoying "brap-brap-brap" of the
phone telling me that it's off hook.

We have an *understanding*. If I get up at his request, he's probably going
to be closed out of the bedroom. Once closed out, he's OK until the real
alarm clock goes off. As soon as it does, he starts "mrowl-ing" as though
he hasn't been fed for days.

Sam, closely supervised by Mistletoe