This is the beginning of a series of blog posts dedicated to the felines who disturbed my precious sleep. First up is Sam, our Siamese.
As a child, I used to love having my cat sleep with me, keeping cuddly and warm. But things changed and it started with Sam. I got the Siamese from my father as a gift from his house to mine. The kids and I fell in love with Sammy, as we called him. He was affectionate, cute and gave nose kisses. But when the nighttime came, things changed.
On more than one occasion, I woke up to Sammy nibbling on my hand, looking for loves. Half asleep, I’d pet and scratch him until I fell back asleep then he’d wake me up again. So I pushed him away and said, “Sam, leave me alone.” Which he did for a little while. Then instead of biting my hand, he would push his paws with claws into my hand. It got to the point where he woke me several times a night. My sleep was suffering.
I changed tactics. I slept with my hands under the covers so he couldn’t get at them. In response, he started pushing his paws on my face. That was enough. I got up and put him out of my bedroom and closed the door. I almost got some sleep until I heard my four-year-old daughter exclaim “Sammy!”
The cat had gone into her bedroom and woke her up. Also being a cat lover, my girl loved it that Sammy joined her in bed even waking her up. Soon, he was waking up my six-year-old son, as well. It had to stop.
First, I tried putting the Siamese in the basement but he would scratch the door, causing damage my landlord would not like (note: I wasn’t allowed to have pets there. We snuck Sammy in). So I had to put him outdoors over night so we could get some sleep. This worked out as Sam was an indoor/outdoor cat. For cold nights, I built him a heated cat house. He would go in there or roam the neighborhood while we slept. Problem solved.
Life is all about cats,
Peter Scottsdale
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