No Sleeping With Cats

Our friend and neighbor went on vacation and was looking for someone to house sit and care for their cats. Naturally I pounced on the request figuring it was a chance for N to get some employment and make some money. The one issue was that they wanted someone to be physically present in the house, at least on some of the nights. I figure I could cover that part and he could do most of the cat care. The whole situation turned out to be way more interesting, if that's the right word, than we imagined.

The cats are super friendly, both males, and I might even go as far as to say very needy. I'm guessing they get a lot of attention on any given day and are used to it. If anything, they've come to expect it. To add to the drama, one of the cats has a cough and an inhaler, to boot. His cough sounds like he's evacuating a hairball, except that it lasts for a couple of minutes, which when you hear it for the first time is disconcerting, to say the least.

Anyway, I've been sleeping over there and the house is nice and cozy, except that the cats need to be near me at all times. One sleeps between my legs and the other on my arm. I am completely trapped, which is fine if I'm sleeping, but if I need to shift, it requires that I become a gymnast. The other night I had to wrestle with them to find a comfortable position and it was well past midnight when I fell asleep. Around 2:00AM I woke up to one of them having a coughing fit, which rattled me out of anything resembling sleep. I made sure he was okay, tried to employ the inhaler and failed, and finally booted both of them out of the bedroom and closed the door, like that did any good. They scratched and meowed at the door all night, and I had to be up by 6:00AM. I was so tired and was a zombie all day, but what are you going to do when you're taking care of someone's beloved cats? I don't think they were any worse for wear, and if anything, probably spent the rest of the day taking a long cat nap. Tough life.

I'm looking forward to getting my life back to normal. Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Ella Mullins for the pic.