Rule #9: YOU MUST ACCEPT THAT CATS ARE NOCTURNAL

I am working on this post at 3:30am. Why? Because cats are nocturnal. Which means that no matter what I do or how I attempt to "train" them, I have not slept through the entire night since I adopted them. (The fact that I might have to get up to pee notwithstanding.)

Since I have 2 cats, it's 2x the fun! 'Cause it's not like they coordinate when they decide to meow at me or jump on my head or paw at my hair or run around with the cat crazies and the sparkle ball in their mouth meowdeling like something is very very wrong!

Part of the problem might be that I am a light sleeper or that I have a very small apartment or that I put up with it, therefore reinforcing the behavior. The thing is, they can tell when I am sort of awake - and I guess I have a habit of waking up to pee around the same time every night. And cats love routine!!! "She's up - lets bother her!!" "Hmmm, she's not up? But she always gets up at this time, she probably needs some help!"

If you are a crazy cat person, you are well acquainted with the nighttime cat-crazies. Where they zoom around chasing each other and wrestle. Or run back and forth across the bed with tons of pent up energy. Or sit in a particular spot and howl at the top of their lungs just 'cause they like the sound of their meow. Or "kill" their sparkle balls. I think that my living room may be tornado prone, because sometimes when I get up in the morning there is a debris trail of cat toys.

Then there is breakfast time (which is still night/sleep time for me):



At around 5am I get: MEOW! Paw, paw, paw, paw, paw. Al has perfected the "get some of my hair in the paw and pull." It is guaranteed to wake me up. I tell him to go away. That works real well. He decides to paw at the wooden blinds. Then Gus will jump on the pillow. And meow in my ear. Very loudly. The only way to get them to stop is to walk to the kitchen and shake their food dish - WHICH HAS FOOD IN IT - and get them to eat some of their food. This reinforces the behavior. Sigh.

Lock them out of the bedroom? They sit by the door and YOWL. YOWL. YOWL. YOWL. And paw at the door.

And you know what? I can't be mad at them. They are so darn cute when they do it!! That paw move that Al has? So darn cute! When Gus sits on my pillow and sunggles me awake. Awwwww. Sometimes, when they are napping, I try to get them back for waking me up. I try to poke 'em! Does it work?? Nope. I get the cute eye plink and a yawn and a stretch. All of this results in them getting some skritching. But you can't blame me for trying.