I Better Get Some Sleep Tonight or Else!

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This is my 16-lb cat named Welling.ton. He came with the name, but it suits him. At the moment, he and I are not very happy with a little pup named Frieda. Last night there was a very bright moon, if not full. I didn't look. It was enough to have to close the bedroom blinds and wrap the tinfoil around my head.

Frieda, I thought, was getting better. We had a pretty crazy lightening storm the other night and she didn't bark once! This, I made the mistake of thinking, was progress. I was oh-so-wrong.

Last night I don't believe she slept a wink. Therefore... yes, everyone together now... I didn't sleep a wink. She would quiet down for about an hour, just enough time for me to start dozing off, when she'd start with a low grumbling noise that I could tell was working up to a sharp yip followed by an all-out bark. Ignoring her did no good, because she'd just continue from step 2 (the yip) and keep repeating until I would get up and tell her to be quiet and/or give her a chewy or something to keep her little mouth occupied.

If it were up to me, I'd just ignore her until she got tired of making noise... kind of like training your child to sleep in a crib (Jack's mom). Unfortunately, if I would do that my husband would probably dis-own me. He isn't as good as ignoring as I am. I've also considered putting her in another room in a crate, but then Frank would start barking his fool head off because he doesn't like to be away from her! It's a no-win situation. ...and, yes, I can hear those of you in the background whispering "people training". I, too would think that but for the fact that she only does it when there is a full/bright moon. Not nightly (thank God).

This brings me back to the cat at the top of this post. This is only one of the other members of the household who also have to put up with Frieda's obnoxious behaviour. We have four indoor cats and last night they all got their point across. Pat.ch, my daughter's cat who is a calico female usually doesn't have anything to do with us when were in bed. She made a lap or two through last night as if to say... "what's up?". We have a himalayn (sp?) named Snob.by that rarely comes into our room or gets on the bed unless her food dish is empty. It wasn't. She came through a couple of times, choosing not to lay on my side as she typically does, but to walk over my head and sit on the nightstand staring at me in the not-so-dark.

Welling.ton likes to sleep on me and will come through several times at night to cuddle and sleep for awhile before going off on his nightly rounds. I usually feel him curl up on me - as he is rather a chunk, but he purrs and goes to sleep and I don't notice him more than I would an extra blanket thrown over me. He is the calmest, coolest cat. He has always let the pups play all over him and thinks nothing of laying on the floor and letting them tug on his tail. He puts up with it for awhile, then will saunter off and get up high where they can't reach him. Even he'd had his limit last night. About the time he'd get all snuggled up and start falling asleep, Frieda would start the grumblings and I'd jump out of bed to hush her up - sufficiantly waking up and throwing off Welling.ton. You'd think he would have gotten fed up with that after about the sixth time!

Finally, we have a cat that is barn-cat-turned-house-cat. She's a yellow and white short-haired cat with yellow/green eyes and no tail. Just a nubbin, anyway. My son rescued her from one of our dogs years ago and we don't know if she had a tail at the time, or was born without. At any rate, she's named Jam.mie (short for Jasmine, not Jam.mie days) and I call her my "bunny kitty". She has the softest fur and her little white feet look like bunny feet and her nubbin of a tail looks like a bunny tail. She's the oldest of the bunch and feels the bed is her domain. In the mornings before my husband swears HE even knows he's awake, she knows it and is in his face talking to him. She loves to get into the covers when he gets out of bed and curls up in the residual heat. Most days she spends the whole day curled up on the pillows or flaked out on the bed and woe be any other cat that decides they want to lay on the bed, too. Depending on her mood, she may tolerate it, but more likely than not she'll scram them off. She also has this weird thing she does when anyone raises their voice - whether they are actually yelling, or just raising it to be heard in the next room. She hates that. She'll get right in your face and yack at you until you stop. I do mean IN your face, too. Once I thought she was actually going to put her head in my mouth! At night she will often times sleep in the livingroom on the sofa, but not last night. Last night she curled up on the pillow next to me - ignoring Welling.ton completely (which was strange in itself) and ended up talking to me every time I got up with Frieda. I told my husband I'm just positive she was telling me to "shut that damn dog up so we can get some sleep!"

Needless to say, I'm really really tired today. Leaving work early to go home and take a nap. Oh, and we had a rainstorm this morning as I was getting ready to go to work. The house was dark from the black clouds. The storm was settling in. The puppies were totally silent... not even the usual morning rassling and thrashing. Go figure. Hubby said they were probably tired and were going to sleep all day to make up for last night... and to get ready for tonight. <sigh> He did make the comment this morning as we were leaving the house... "Did you ever stop and think that maybe we were cat people?".