We were just lucky that we had installed a cat flap as soon as we had moved into the house; therefore there was never a problem with having to let her out or in.  Even when my children and I had been on our own in our little house, we had a cat flap so I was never bothered by her in that way either.

As to her crying and disturbing us – well that I remember was often as she was a great hunter.  And what do great hunters seek most often?  Attention and praise for their catches.

We knew when she woke us with her crying, you could be certain that she was sitting on the floor at the foot of our bed with something to show us.  We had to just live with that although there were some nights that Keith locked her out so she couldn’t bring her prey inside to play.  We never really could get over that performance on her part.  After all, why does one have a cat in the first place, but to eliminate the unwanted livestock around the house and section and one should never discourage that if you want to be great friends and feel great love between you.

All in all, I think we enjoyed our cat in our lives.  And that is the secret.  Cats are such warm, loving pets to have around and so long as you treat them right and return the love they so unconditionally surround themselves and you with, then blending your lives together can be so rewarding.  Sleep patterns need not be interrupted if you carefully plan with love in your heart.

Debbie Nicholson

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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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Then of course their welcome first son came along.  And our welcome visit happened soon afterwards bringing to them gifts from home in New Zealand from their own parents.  And all I remember from that visit is that famous line from our cousin’s wife – “I am just waiting for life to go back to normal!”  I have never forgotten her saying that and I can still see in my mind’s eye the entire scene as it unfolded. Those of us who are parents know exactly to what I am referring here.

The same when you get a cat, only the cat will always be dependent on you and your schedule.  You used to sleep in?  Well, forget that in a hurry.  Cats like to go outside to check out the perimeter early in the morning.  They like to relieve themselves before their breakfast.  They want breakfast at pretty much the same time every day.  They like their sleep when they want it.  Does this sound oddly familiar?  I giggle every time I think about people who think that life will return to normal shortly.  Not so with the cat.

Keith used to get up to go to work at 4am every morning – naturally before he left he fed Mottel.  Mottel loved him – he bounded around him all hours of the day when they met up.  No sleepiness involved with either of them. You have to understand my husband – he was brought up on a farm when things had to be done at a certain time.  And no matter what hour of the day, and no matter how physically tired he was, if he came in the door and his mother needed something doing – he would go back out in all weathers to keep her happy.  Sleep in his life was a privilege not something accepted as a standard in his life.

Debbie Nicholson

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9am saw the postman walking through the yard – Whitey knew him too – he was always kind enough to bring him something tasty as he always had his cup of tea with Keith’s Dad at that hour of the morning.  Smoko breaks, between shift breaks, lunch breaks, tea breaks – Whitey was in attendance at all ceremonies.  He worked like clockwork just like those who frequented the truck yard every day.  Yes sirree – Whitey was the Yard’s cat – everyone loved him and he absolutely loved being the boss there as well.  When I have asked Keith on occasion what memories do you have of Whitey – he always says to me “well I know he was always taking over – he ran the show!”

So if you think that a cat cannot be trained to live side by side in the world of humans, then think again.  Keith had a very well-trained cat for many years until he got a little too old and once day missed his footing around the 32 wheels of the big-rigs around which he worked – you can guess his demise from those few words.

Do you like to sleep in?  Do you have a cat?  I am not sure whether sleeping in and having a cat are two things that go together well.  It’s like when you bring home the new human baby and you just presume that it won’t be long before life returns to normal.  Which reminds me of a cousin we visited soon after they had their first child.  Previous to this momentous change in their lives, they had both been avid skiers – travelling the world to the renowned ski spots thoroughly enjoying their chosen sport of fun, pleasure and lucrative income.  They used to teach skiing to patrons who were attracted to the mountains in every country they headed for – they had an ideal SINGLE life as a married couple – no encumbrances, no commitments other than to each other – life was truly fun.

Debbie Nicholson

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And with Keith being a workaholic, he had 3 jobs – his sleep pattern was never the same on any given day – and wherever Keith had to sit before and during work hours, he trained himself to doze off even if it was just for a few minutes at a time.  This habit of his was not looked upon as very polite when he and I got together several years later as we would go out on dates with my friends only to put up with Keith snoozing when we sat down for any length of time together.  Hence my friends thought he was quite rude.

It was nothing in those days to drive a truck for his dad all day, then do a courier paper run in the early evening followed by some other little job that needed doing and perhaps a date with his girlfriend at that time –  I think that Whitey always thought that bed was his most of the time as truly Keith was hardly in it.

Truck yards have their own unique hours depending on the type of freight they haul.  More often than not, the gate would squeak open at 3.30am; Whitey would be up and out of bed ready at the door for that first truck driver to let him out. Then he would wend his way between wheels, trucks, legs – sniffing for anything tasty that might have crept in through the night – there was always a rat or several mice available – there was a tannery next door – Whitey would have a field day all hours of the day with his open smorgasbord.

Truck drivers always liked coffee when they came into the yard, so there were always morsels to eat from each of them as well as the usual plate of kibbled food that Keith or his dad would pour into his bowl twice a day.  Then the first trucks would be gone by 4.30am, Whitey was always busy during the early morning hours of every day – checking out who was going out and to where.  Had he been a human, then no doubt he would have been their despatcher as Whitey knew everything from those wheels – exactly where they were going and coming from.

Debbie Nicholson

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Life Happens Volume 1 A Collection of Funny Emails and Facebook Messages Dating From The 1980s To 2012

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Getting Your Cat To Sleep

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Another friend has not been strong in her endeavours.  While at first, their cat appeared to be very well trained to just have its own sleeping quarters, with the cold winter nights setting in and often being home alone with the cat most evenings, that little minx has moved into the forbidden zone. First of all, it became very friendly with my friend – you know how it is, “let me sit on your knee and enjoy your company that way.”  “Let me wander around your legs as you move around the house.”  “Let me stay near your feet by the fire.”  All those little “let me” thingies that if you are not awake to it, eventually become “it won’t really matter if I just curl up on your feet while you sleep would it?2  To “it does feel nice that you are keeping my back warm when it is so cold” – to taking advantage of half of the soft pillow beside her head.  Needless to say hubby who was extremely happy to come home to a feline-free bed, now is not so happy sharing pillows and wife with “the cat”.

We have a special needs young granddaughter – I say young – 11 nearly 12 and going on 30.  She can become quite disruptive when out of her routine; therefore, rules have to be established right from the beginning when she comes to visit.  And now that she is able to converse with you sensibly, it is becoming easier to talk to her about what would she like to do and when.  Unfortunately she also never lets you forget once you have said something is about to happen.  And her memory is the most perfect memory God ever blessed anyone with.

We have had probably 2 cats between us before and during our marriage.  Keith’s cat before I even met him – loved the routine of the truck yard.  He of course, slept with Keith in those days – after all it was only him, Keith and Keith’s dad.  Plenty of room in 2 beds if one became boring.

Debbie Nicholson

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Life Happens Volume 1 A Collection of Funny Emails and Facebook Messages Dating From The 1980s To 2012

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Getting Your Cat To Sleep

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Thankfully she had her  own cat flap to go in and out therefore we did not have the bother of getting up and down to let her out or to let her back in. And  her entrance and exit was way down the back of the house, therefore by the time she had padded her way down to our bedroom which was right in the front of the house, there were no longer wet paws climbing in between us making muddy paw marks on my lovely waterbed fitted sheet.  Her fur might still be wet though which was often something that upset me on rainy nights.

By the time we downsized to our bus our favourite Mottel was no longer – as I mentioned earlier in another chapter she had suffered a fatal stroke when jumping up into Keith’s arms.  Before we downsized however, we did take a couple of trips away to Auckland to visit our children in the bus and their cat loved our bed – not inside – but on the outside this time – we often found him curled up on the soft blanket that covers our duvet as we always left the door open for young grandies frequent visits during the day.  And because we were parked in their driveway – we were just opposite their back door, therefore it was very convenient for their cat to slink in – sometimes sitting in the sun on the steps or up on the dashboard by the wheel, but mostly on our bed down the back.

Our Mottel never travelled with us – she was quite happy being left at home guarding the place – well why wouldn’t she be?  She had the free reign of a nice warm house with multiple rooms and waterbeds to curl up on and no doubt made the most of our bed when we were away.

One of my friends finds it very easy to put a no go zone on their bed – their cat is so well trained and knows it’s place in its own bed out in the lounge. Even in the daytime, there is no sign of the cat on their bed or anyone in the house’s bed for that matter.  She started out as she meant to carry on and right from the minute the kitten came into the house, it was introduced to its own boudoir luxuries.

Debbie Nicholson

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Life Happens Volume 1 A Collection of Funny Emails and Facebook Messages Dating From The 1980s To 2012

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Getting Your Cat To Sleep

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Losing Sleep Because Of Your Cat Pt 1

I’m not sure about you, but I do suffer from sleep deprivation at night. Not because I have a pet of any kind, it’s just that I wake up to a call to nature and find it difficult to get back to sleep again.  I have tried reading. I have tried writing another chapter to a book. I have tried staying up to get a few hours work done so that I could possibly sleep in in the morning.  None of it works.  I still find myself a victim of less than 5 hours sleep most nights.  What’s more, the more I get into health issues, I realise that that is not a good thing for someone my age – or anyone really as during sleep time, your brain is supposed to be resting and your body is supposed to be healing itself.

Therefore it leaves me wondering how do people with pets get on when they want to play and go for walks outside and then to be let back in again during the night time hours when their owners are themselves settling into a good eight or nine hour block of pure rest.

I thought I would ask around to friends I have who have cats and ask them if they have possible solutions to this problem if they have it in their house.  Actually from memory when we had cats ourselves – only one at a time as that was all I could handle!  – I remember our cat Mottel loved our water bed.  She loved to lie right down between us which was often a problem for me as I like to cuddle my husband at night and especially when he worked late and came home not just tired but very cold to the touch.  Of course, he wanted to be by the source of heat in his bed when he eventually was able to climb in.  However, when you have a very long stubborn sleepy cat between you, then I can assure you that our nights were not often peaceful, calm and loving towards each other.  He loved the cat in our bed while I did not!

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Debbie Nicholson

Click here for your Audio link to this blog

Life Happens Volume 1 A Collection of Funny Emails and Facebook Messages Dating From The 1980s To 2012

Our Favourite Links

Cathy’s Well Groomed Site

Debbie’s Other Blog

Cats

Getting Your Cat To Sleep

Amis de Chat Book 2

New Product Launch