Losing Sleep Because Of Your Cat Pt 7

: When Keith retired

: Keith sold his business and the need to get up at 4am no longer existed

: He started leaving food out for her

: She also had to learn to go to sleep earlier

When Keith retired – and I should laugh at that statement – as he never will – I should really have started that sentence out with when Keith sold his business and the need to get up at 4am no longer existed – Mottel didn’t understand one bit. It took Keith several weeks to retrain Mottel to stay asleep until he stirred. While our Mottel loved his daily routine where Keith was concerned, the change in routine was not an immediate or happy transition for a very long time. As he told me with Whitey – I don’t remember a whole lot about Whitey, I just know he ran the place. Well, from that experience, Mottel was not to get her way. My husband had years of sleep to catch up on and no cat no matter how fond he was of her was going to get in the way of that much needed relief.

He started leaving food out for her – the kibbled type – she began to get the fresh food before bed so that was a change in her life she took a while to get used to as the feeding routine had to change as well as the sleep routine. Eventually the pair of them got it right – discipline was badly needed on both sides. Keith eventually won after many early mornings of giving in. However, Keith’s needs were greater and Mottel finally succumbed to an entire new daily routine.

She also had to learn to go to sleep earlier. Keith’s previous life had been to arrive home at any hour in the dark – he was always the first in the gate and the last to leave – that was his priority as the boss of his trucking company – therefore it was nothing for Mottel to be out on the driveway waiting up for him long after I had failed miserable and crawled into bed myself. Suddenly and without warning Keith was home at a decent hour to eat, have time to read his newspaper, get his shower and retire at a friendly hour of the night. Mottel didn’t know where she was at first – being able to crawl around his legs around the table for long hours into the evening and enjoy sitting on his knee while he read. Keith has never been a TV watcher, therefore the usual cat image of being on the knee while watching TV is not a memory in our house at all. It took a while to retrain her, however, retrained she did become.

Debbie Nicholson

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