I'm not sleepy, it's just that. . . . my cat

It’s only 9 p.m. and tonight a bunch of us have meet at a restaurant, which has a dance floor in the back. I yawn. I hope no one saw me. Oops, someone did! No, I am not bored. I’m not particularly sleepy. Well, take that back.

You see, I have two cats. Cat #1 insists that 5 a.m. is a good time for me to wake up. Cat #2 loves to sleep. Cat #1 begins with the purr, the nudge with whiskers. When those maneuvers fail, she moves to the back-and-forth jump over. A cat who weighs 9 pounds and who wants you out of bed gives the impression of something much larger. When that fails, Cat #1 goes for my glasses or begins to move fragile objects on the bookshelf and watches them fall to the floor.

O.k. I’m awake. What’s the rush? Cat #1 waits for me to open the back door. She goes to the screened porch where she promptly settles in a lawn chair to catch up on sleep. Cat #2 continues to snooze. Tonight I’ll be yawning again, but maybe tomorrow morning Cat #1 will let me sleep in.

Life is good. . . .for the cats

Imagine a typical Florida September day. Pushing 100 degrees and 99.9 percent humidity. Given the choice, my cats will lie on the back porch, soaking up the sun.

“Don’t you realize black fur absorbs heat,” I am tempted to say.

They give me that look when I bring them inside. But after a few minutes of a cool tile floor, they seek the warmest places—on top of my clothes in my closet, under my bed or on my duvet, which still needs to be stored.

Our cats develop specific tastes
My cats are connoisseurs. Each day I have to use a specific treat to get them to come back inside from the back screened porch. Of course, I can only live in place that provides a screened porch.

Our cats train us
A friend reported on FB that her cat had gotten stuck on a roof, and she had to use an extension ladder to get him down. Except for my fear of heights, I would have done the same. But as one reader commented, the cat probably laughed about it with all of his friends.

I made an appointment for two cats with the vet the other day. But I arrived with only one. Impossible to get Porsche in the carrier, and my friends, known as the “cat whisperers,” now live in Charlottesville.

Cats at play

They have a sense of humor.

They miss me (or do they?)
I worry they will miss me when I travel. I make sure I have their favorite pet sitter.

I know they miss me when I leave for work. They know the routine--I give them treats and talk to them. I pick up my bags, lock the door. The car pulls out, and the garage door closes.

But the other day when I returned for my coffee, the cats were already on the couch. The remote between them and the TV on. I could have sworn I had turned it off.

How do your cats manage?

Pampered by Jane Tolbert

Early mornings . . . my internal alarm goes off before NPR comes on. I make a frenzied and inefficient rush to fix coffee, grab breakfast and run to work. However, my path is littered with obstacles—crumpled rugs, toy mice and rearranged furniture—all evidence of some wild pet play during the early morning hours.



Coffee—shower—dress—pack bag—make an effort to make the bed—tasks that are normally fairly simple in a pet-free house. However, here, my one resident cat usually has cousins visiting. To access the coffee pot requires negotiation--a cat treat, an open window so they enjoy the early morning. If a dog is visiting, that means a trip outside.



The cats usually beat me to the bathroom—that’s where the cat hair brush is kept, and they both want to be brushed before I can take a shower and put on makeup. I’d like to scrub out the shower, but a damp shower is another favorite place to pad and track prints. . . .and of course the bed will never be made because I find them sacked out, dead to the world.

While I race liked a crazed person on a caffeine high, the pets, exhausted from nocturnal activities and from early morning ritual, now lounge. If laundry or ironing is in the plan, the pets position themselves atop the basket of clothes, making this impossible for now. Back to the closet to find another outfit for work. The vacuum at any time of day—nearly impossible—not just because the pets dislike the sound and disruption. But pet toys have been known to clog even the most powerful systems.




People from pet-free households probably wonder why my books and notes are scattered and chewed, or why makeup brushes can be found in odd places and why my clothes always seem to have pet hair or snags. . . .

But on the flip side, these pets are always happy to see me, and they never have grumpy days or mood swings. . . or complain or want to return to their cave. Most importantly, they are teaching me to loosen up. They have given up on my caffeine addiction, but so what if the bed isn’t made, the clothes aren’t ironed. . .