Some nights I don’t sleep well.
True, my job is stressful, and I often worry about the children I must protect.
And some nights my aging body betrays me, and wants to make repeated appearances in the bathroom.
But that’s not often.
No, what usually wakes me up and keeps me awake are the cats.
Take last night, for instance.
I woke to Malachi meowing non-stop. It unnerved me, because that’s not normal behavior for him.
So I jumped up, and went looking. He was at the door to the back porch with his catch- a wiggly worm. He was so proud of his accomplishment, he just HAD to show me. I rubbed his back and told him he was a good kitty. He then snatched up the worm and disappeared, lest I try to take it from him.
That was followed by a half hour of Solitaire on the cell phone while I tried to go back to sleep.
And what keeps YOU up at night?
Dogpaddling Through Life 
Yep cats dogs roos sheep…all try to keep me up…the Pickles throws herself at the doorhandle..i would have them in the bedroom with us but it’s curtain clawing race car smacky paws all night…no idea why the boy kitties never did this..the pups well if they hear roos they bark we get up..then the sheep baaing we always get up…oh dear….I understand completely..worse than raising the four kids I had!!! hugs Fozziemum zzzzzzzzz
I’ve thought of shutting them out of the bedroom, but the scratching at the door would just make things worse. *sigh*
Oh dear..i know…we pop the girls in the big bathroom with their beds and supper..Pickles used to actually open the door and release them all!! so we had to put a little snib on it..then she gave up and settled..it only took a few nights..Merlin and Simba always were happy to quietly snuggle but these girls are night time nuts..especially Full moons..it has worked thankgoodness..but if there are roos outside and they make noises in the bush the sheep start then the dogs..we have to check in case the sheep are being threatened by dogs..one day we may get a sleep in but the pups give one bark and it’s out to the toilet they go and we are up then!! *sigh* indeed…lucky I love em to bits 😉
Yeah…. so are mine!
Hahahaha 🙂
Jimmy Fallon 🙂 Watch him EVERY night, LOVE HIM…that usually leads to watching Seth Meyers after that……then I am up too darned late!
I min bed between 8and 9 each night, and good thing too or I’d not get ANY rest!
I’m loving Jimmy Fallon! I never watched Jay Leno before, but Jimmy is killing it!
Easy… he always barks when the bells of the church strike the hour :o)
Our Sage used to bark at doorbells!
Sleeplessness is and has been a huge problem for me, for many years now. As well as the usual brain in overdrive that most people associate with insomnia, I also suffer from restless leg syndrome and painful muscle cramps. Add to that, inability to reach a comfortable body temp – I’m either too hot under blankets, or too cold without them – and a relentless itching, often in places I can’t reach to scratch, my nights can be seemingly endless torment. Oddly, I used to sleep like a baby. These issues didn’t arise until my late 40s, early 50s. Since I refuse to utilize pharmaceuticals, and none of the chicken soup remedies such as melatonin and 5htp seem to work, I’ve had to resort to invention. What I’ve come up with took a tremendous amount of work to develop. I use a special 8 hour long audio file – not white noise – but a special file that both amplitude and phase modulates pink noise at 4Hz (Delta brain state frequency). This requires special headphones, that don’t hurt my ears after long periods. For the leg cramps and twitching, I use a modification of a system called TENS (Transcutaneous Electric Neural Stimulation). The whole thing takes about 15 minutes each night to put on, and again about 15 minutes to remove in the morning, but I’ve been able to achieve 8 hours of deep and restorative sleep for a consistent period now.
Both of my doctors have informed me that insomnia is a growing epidemic in America, and its effects are intensified with age. The medical community is at a complete loss as to treatment, and relies solely on the pharmaceutical approach, which has been proven both ineffective and dangerous.
Wow! That TENS sounds fascinating!
It is. It works amazingly well, but it takes a while to get used to. Also, it has to be adjusted and placed just right (and I’ve heavily modified all of mine) or it’ll have the opposite effect, and actually keep you awake. When I have more data, I might write something about it, and hopefully that can help some other people who suffer from these things too.
Oh, BTW – all the companies that I’ve dealt with, who manufacture TENS devices, will specifically tell you not to attempt to use them for sleep. So if you’re interested in this, you’re going to run into some resistance.
haha I also play Solitaire on my phone to put myself to sleep how funny. And those cats.. always craving our attention.. 😀
Solitaire focused me and shuts out everything else so I will go back to sleep.
I have a new kitten who wants to sleep with me…until he wants to play “chase the feet” under the covers, or “nibble the nose” or “lay across the face” or or or…*s* But he’s so sweet I can’t get mad.
June Buggie is 16 yrs old and he STILL does that!
I’m kept awake by my brain constantly mulling over ideas for the blog or the shelter I’m volunteering at. News of animal abuse keeps me up sometimes. The cats generally leave me alone unless someone wants cuddles.
Maybe they don’t wake you because you’re already awake.
Very true. Snuggles are very important.
My terrier just had major surgery and her breathing was raspy from the procedure. I listened to her breathe for hours. She slept very well, me not so much.
I can relate. How’s she doing?
Quite well. Have a vet visit today and then stiches out next week. So far so good. Thanks for asking
My mom says that she very much understands how Jen feels….when she slept with her 4 cats together in her room, she almost couldn’t sleep…even the sound cats dig the sands in their litter box woke her up….it continued for 2days and she gave up to sleep with them…now they sleep in the different room.
Pretty smart move!
BOL !!!! Aww! I am sorry you had a rough night, but I have to say, that is soooo funny!!!!! The kitty was so proud of his worm he had to show you!!! hahaha!!!! Just like fur-less children!
My kitties keep me up at night as well. They tend to wait until lights out, then run around the house like crazy for quite some time!!! Also throughout the night we get husky tongues across our faces while we are sleeping! BOL silly pups!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Rumpy has never bothered me. DeDe used to. If she thought I was awake, she’d run around the bed and shake it until I’d wake up.
My (3) cats favorite way to keep me awake at night is by accidently closing my bedroom door and crying until I get myself out of bed to open it, or they go for the “let’s all run as fast as we can, jump on the bed and back to wheverer we came from”. Those little paws really hurt!
I’m always happy (not really) when morning comes and everyone is all cozy sleeping with me and I have to get up. HA! Take that kitties!
Yeah! Revenge is sweet!
Last night it was a boy dog George who howled at the full moon 😉
Boy George!!!!
Shelby kicking me in the back when she decides it is time to move. The Scottie doesn’t keep still all night. At least her partner in crime, Sidney, stays in one place.
Well that is some comfort! Oh Shelby, please be still!
What keeps me up at night is when Boomer decides to jump in bed with the hubby and I and proceed to sleep across the bed on top of my legs and kick me in his sleep… not cool Boomer Dog!
Oh Boomer! You’re acting like a cat!
What keeps me awake? Well, now it is that I lost my job Thursday. and having to get up and go to the bathroom often, and SamCat the Ripper bouncing off walls in the next room. he isn’t closed up in there, he just …. just is him.
Sorry to hear you lost your job. The rest of the stuff I can relate to.
getting old is the pits. but I’ll make it. I’ll go back to school. being a senior and unemployed, maybe I’ll qualify for some kind of financial aid. nothing helps the bathroom though…sometime I think about bunking down in the tub to be close, LOL
Oh dog/cat, it’s those middle of the night presents that are killers. Our two talk in their sleep, what’s that all about?!!! Hope you’re not too tired today.
I wonder if they’re talking to each other?
I like to wake mummy up in the night to let me out. But sometimes I don’t really want to go out, I just want to poke my head out and then go back to bed lol
I’m so glad Rumpy doesn’t do that! ACK!
Sometimes, my two dogs like to wake me up with barking in the middle of the night, but fortunately, I’m able to sleep peacefully through the nights most of the time! :
Rumpy hardly ever barks, so if he was to wake me up barking, I’d best respond and quickly!
Well, Rumpy you may have heard we had dis fing called an EARTHQUAKE 2 mornings ago. So dis morning I was nervous it be loud and shaky again!! Oh I was brave though *Chazz puffs out chest* I had to protect my Mama. Phew it’s not always easy takin care of our hoomans…..haz a good day pal 🙂
I knew you’d be brave, Chazz!
Fanx pal. I may be medium size dog, but I got a whole lot of brave..specially when it comes to my Mommie!
Nightmares!! and worrying for no reason.. but then I am human and human’s are stupid!
And I am the Queen of Fools. LOL
😉 I bet you are a very clever woman! xx
What keeps me up at night? you ask. Well, I suffer from movement disorders: Restless Legs Syndrome and something called Periodic Limb Movement Disorder. It’s funny that you ask because last night was a bad night for me. I also have muscle spams that seem to be related to my level of stress. My two fur babies, Maxwell and Natasha comfort me with their purring, but last night it was NO-GO. Maxwell sleeps between my feet and the urge to kick was so overwhelming. I waited until he moved on before I got out of bed and moved around. That helps. Also, what keeps me awake is the guilt and remorse I feel over the death of my beloved wife, Robin. I hear her voice calling my name at it is so clear that I answer, “Yes?” Well, you asked, and I had to answer. Pray for me.
You might want to read bitcodavid’s comments about restless leg. As for Your grief over Robin’s death, that is normal. I know that don’t make it any easier.
Thanks for the reference. I’ll check it out.
Hi Rumpy, I too am kept awake by cats so I do sympathise! Stanley likes to do an impression of Incubus in the middle of night and comes and sits on my chest and wraps his paws tightly round my neck. If I manage to roll over onto my side then he will perch on my shoulder and pretend to be a parrot. Eventually, he’ll get bored and go to hunt my husband’s toes under the duvet. Meanwhile, Cookie curls up on my pillow and purrs loudly into my ear, which really tickles! x
Maybe they work for companies that sell sleep drugs!
After reading the comments, I hate to say it but we don’t bother mom. I sleep next to her so she stays warm and when I had cat siblings, they never bothered either of us. Now even with the interkopaw in his crate we sleep well. Except of course when she paddles to the bathroom. I hold it in until the morning.
Your mom is so lucky!
Dude. NOTHING keeps me from sleeping- (except the Creature)!
*(tail flap)*
NOTHING bothers cats! *rolls eyes*
Baby. Likes to wake up at 5am on the dot for a feed. =b
I could live with 5 AM!
Cupcake and I sleep like a couple of logs! A big log and a little log. I don’t like the dark, so I keep the TV on all night, on mute.
I actually slept all through the night last night. When the alarm went off, I was so surprised I didn’t realize it was time to get up!
I love that photo: “Hello? A little attention here?” That’s so familiar in our home. 😉
Due to the serious pain I live with & Non Restorative Sleep Disorder I have to be medicated for bedtime. It was a hard choice I had to make back in 2006. I was using Anti-Histamines but was breaking out from them so went to Doc for a proper sleep med & for the most part it works. Yes I am addicted but that is a small price to pay to get proper sleep. I even go into REM sleep & dream which is necessary for the mind & body to heal itself.
Some nights tho the *wild brain* is very active & I have trouble settling so I read using a small flashlite til I feel relaxed & then return to bed!!
Nylablue used to wake me up alot; now she sleeps thru the night until she is hungry…ususally 6 A.M. so I get up & feed her & then go back to bed & sleep til 9 or 10 A.M.
If I did not take the med I would only sleep 3-4 hours a nite & trust me I can not function on so little sleep!
Sherri-Ellen xx