Sleeping With Your Cats
What do you think of sleeping with cats? Some cat parents love it, while some say it’s impossible to get a good night’s sleep with their cats on the bed.
Here are the things to consider if you’re thinking about sleeping with cats in your bed:
Is having the cat or cats on the bed worth sacrificing a full night of sleep? Only you can answer that! Some fortunate people need little or no sleep. I envy these people. Oh, the stuff I could get done if I didn’t need eight hours of sleep time.
Is your lovely, deep, REM sleep interrupted suddenly when your sleeping cat decides to jump on your face? Does the tender pat pat or scratch scratch of a gentle paw wake you up earlier than usual? But more important, does this bother you? If not, great! If I could go without sleep, I would surely and generously share the bed with my cats.
If sleep doesn’t matter, or if you sleep so deeply that no cat could wake you up, consider whether bedtime privileges make your cat deliriously happy and add to his quality of life. Maybe that sounds over the top, but honestly, I’ve had cats that light up for hours after getting coveted time on the bed with us. Note that in our household, bedtime with people in the bed seems to be much more special than time napping on a bed devoid of humans.
I have used the bed, on occasion, to give a cat needed attention in certain situations. For example, if one cat is really tired out with the arrival of a new kitten, I might give that adult cat a break from the kitten by allowing the adult some night time bed time, even if I know that adult (a certain black cat comes to mind) is going to get very lovey at about four in the morning with the intention to wake me up. When my buff cat Chester was grieving the loss of his buddy, I gave Chester lots of bed time. He needed the extra attention. I’m not completely rigid about keeping cats out of the bed when we are sleeping!
How does one small cat turn into a concrete brick? It’s one of the magic
tricks that cats pull. If you cannot sleep because you run into a feline brick every time you toss and turn, well, the cat might have to get off the bed. Some cats have also perfected the art of being fluid concrete bricks, as they drape themselves over your sleeping body and refuse to move.
If you have clever cats who have figured out how to make noise on the other side of the bedroom door, letting the cats on the bed might be the lesser of two evils. You decide!
Here are the things to consider if you’re thinking about sleeping with cats in your bed:
1. Are you getting any sleep with cats on your bed?
Is having the cat or cats on the bed worth sacrificing a full night of sleep? Only you can answer that! Some fortunate people need little or no sleep. I envy these people. Oh, the stuff I could get done if I didn’t need eight hours of sleep time.
2. Does sleeping with cats interrupt your sleep?
3. Are the cats happy sleeping in your bed?
4. Does one cat need special attention?
5. Do your cats turn into concrete bricks on the bed?
How does one small cat turn into a concrete brick? It’s one of the magictricks that cats pull. If you cannot sleep because you run into a feline brick every time you toss and turn, well, the cat might have to get off the bed. Some cats have also perfected the art of being fluid concrete bricks, as they drape themselves over your sleeping body and refuse to move.
