Cat Reveille and Other Antics

They will do what they need to in order to get you up. I have heard of people who had to remove the headboards from their beds as their cats would use them as diving platforms in order to jump on their humans to wake them up.

One time, I really tried to sleep in. Gracie hooked a claw inside one of my nostrils and commenced to pull. Another time, George started patting me on the nose. I ignored him. He then put his paw on my nose and started flexing his claws in and out. I didn't ignore that.

Now I find it easier to get up at the usual time, give them breakfast and then go back to bed.

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I used to live near the water (one of the really big lakes). A storm was coming in off the lake and the wind was howling. In order to get some sleep, I used a pair of the yellow foam E*A*R-brand earplugs. Over time, they tend to slowly squeeze out. Gracie saw this thing extruding from my ear and, being the helpful and caring cat that she is, she hooked it with one claw and began to pull it out.

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I sometimes wonder just how much they understand. When Gracie was a kitten, I began waking up in the morning with horrible backaches. After a few nights, I woke up and found that she was curled up on the small of my back. I didn't yell, I didn't make a fuss, but I did explain to her that she shouldn't do that because she was hurting me. And she never did it again.

However, there have been a few times that I have been home because I was really sick, usually with flu. I'd lie in bed, feeling absolutely miserable, and trying to fall asleep. Gracie hopped up on the bed and stretched out along my spine, with her paws on my shoulders and she would then start to purr very loudly. I couldn't reach her to pet her, she just stayed there and purred until I fell asleep.

Like I said, she's only done this a few times and only when I've been really sick, never any other time.

I can't explain any of this.