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February 27, 2009
“Although You Can’t See It, You Know They Are Smiling,” or Why You May Not Want to Forget to Feed the Birds
I haven’t been blogging every day for quite some time now, but this last week or so, I’ve really let things slip. I blame sleep deprivation. My younger cat, Benny, has taken to waking me up every couple hours at night to ask me to pet him or turn on a water faucet or feed him. My theory is that he’s experiencing the same blahs the humans get around these parts in February. The days are somewhat relentlessly snowy and cold and dark, and Benny’s favorite recreational activity—aside from checking out his forts, which he does quite religiously at least twice a day—is watching what’s going on in the Not House. Benny doesn’t want to go into the Not House, but he thinks it’s fun to watch the birds and squirrels and whatever else is running around out there. Unfortunately, in February there isn’t a whole lot going on animal-wise in the Not House, especially when the resident human neglects to put birdseed in the feeders for a few months.
Basically, I think Benny’s bored.
I’ve taken several steps to try to combat The Sleeping Problem:
Step #1: I used to give Benny two scoops of food in the morning and two at night. Now I give him ONE in the morning and THREE at night. Of course, I have to *pretend* to give him two scoops in the morning, but what I really give him is two half-scoops. Anyway, with three scoops of food at night, he’s more full and less likely to crab at me about that particular issue.
Step #2: I’ve also been making an extra effort to make sure he spends time playing volleymouse every day. If you’ve never played volleymouse, this is when you throw a toy mouse high in the air, and the cat spikes it down to the ground. Benny is a good jumper, and he loves this game. He loves it so much that sometimes after he spikes the mouse, he picks it up in his mouth and brings it to me to throw again, which is really more like fetch, but I wouldn’t mention that to Benny if I were you.
Step #3: When I see Benny sleeping during the day, I wake him up. SEE HOW IT FEELS, BENNY? SEE??? IT’S NO FUN WHEN SOMEONE DOES IT TO YOU, IS IT???
*ahem*
Step #4: I’m filling the bird feeders every day again.
Last night, Benny only woke me up once, which is reasonable. I am not sure I’ve ever slept eight hours without waking up at least once on my own. We’ll see how tonight goes.
Posted by adrienne at February 27, 2009 10:20 PM
Comments
I swear Benny and my sweet Otto, who has passed, are brothers. They look identical. Made me smile. Oh, silly cats. My crazy siamese never woke me up....she always snuggled and slept with me, but Otto...now Otto was a night players. He never came in to wake us up, but boy did he like to have a game of ball around the house and keep us awake until we hunted the ball down ourselves and threw it in a drawer or out the window.
Posted by: Cheryl at February 28, 2009 12:06 AM
We're enjoying your blogging, Adrienne!
I have to go fill my bird feeder. Thanks.
Posted by: Deb at February 28, 2009 09:25 AM
We'll have to try volleymouse. Our orange tabby, Riley, would like it. He has to sleep in the laundry room because of his tendency to become a flying squirrel at 4 a.m. The rest of the day he sleeps. Or eats.
Posted by: Susan at February 28, 2009 12:02 PM
You poor thing! I feel the cat's pain though. I'm restless and edgy and stare at the "Not House" all day too...
I'm trying to remember what it was like to be outside all summer long and actually semi-looking forward to winter, just for some rest.
But I'm totally rested now and I want to play outside with the birds too. : )
Posted by: JJ at February 28, 2009 09:01 PM
Cheryl. My other cat, Ella, totally sleeps through the night, unless Benny wakes her up, but then she just growls at him and goes back to sleep.
Deb, Thanks!
Susan, One night, I did resort to the laundry room. We seem to be getting a little more under control the last couple nights, though, but we'll see.
JJ, Me, too. I'm off to California at the end of the week, and I'm hoping for good outdoorsy weather while I'm there. It feels so good to be in the sun.
Posted by: adrienne at March 1, 2009 01:19 PM
I do #3 to one of the cats all the time. Until now, I thought I was alone.
:)
Posted by: Saints and Spinners at March 1, 2009 11:39 PM
Your cat looks an awful lot like ours. And ours has started walking by our bedroom door between 3:30 and 7 AM and meowing at us. I don't know about your cat, but ours can be horribly loud, and it's worse when the rest of the apt building is so quiet.
We keep a spray bottle of water next to the bed and spritz her when she does that. We can only figure she's bored and wants our attention. If she's persistent, we'll get up and check her water and food, but that's only been a problem once. Usually, she'll walk to the couch and look up at us expectantly.
She hasn't done it for a week though. Maybe she just understands that we've been sick.
Posted by: Jena at March 2, 2009 03:52 AM
Farida, Oh, no, not alone. :)
Jena, Benny likes water, so the spray bottle is only so effective with him. He gives you a look like "What the hell?" and then just keeps going about his business.
Posted by: adrienne at March 2, 2009 06:15 PM
There is no time when a cat story is discouraged, and right now, as I'm deeply missing my cats, this made me smile. Thank you.
Posted by: Little Willow at March 3, 2009 01:32 AM
Little Willow, Oh, sigh. Hope it's a little brighter this morning.
Posted by: adrienne at March 3, 2009 09:35 AM