Hi everyone, it’s Ruby! I want to talk about sleeping with humans today, and tell you about how I’ve trained my Mom to do what I want her to do when we go to bed at night. Who says humans can’t be trained!
Some of you kitties probably already know that sleeping with humans can be challenging. They take up so much space! And why is it that they always seem to want to be in the most comfortable spot in the bed, which, and I’m sure you’ll agree with me on this, should belong to us cats! But fear not. Over the last five years of sharing a bed with Mom – what, Allegra? Okay fine. Sharing a bed with Mom and Allegra, I’ve learned a few tricks, and I’m happy to share them with you.
Cuddle with your human
Mom loves it when I cuddle with her. Okay, I love it, too. So every night, as soon as Mom turns out the light, I jump up on the bed, wait for her to lay on her side, and then I circle around twice and curl up in the crook of her arm. Sometimes I rest my head on her arm. It feels so nice – and I think she likes it, too, because I can feel all the stress of her day melt away as she pulls me even closer to her.
When your human moves, protest
What is it with humans moving around so much when they sleep? Have you ever seen a cat toss and turn after she settles down to go to sleep? I didn’t think so! I’ve gotten so used to Mom turning over a lot that sometimes, I don’t even wake up anymore, but when I do, it really bothers me, so I let her know by kicking her in the side, um, I mean, by stretching. It doesn’t seem to stop her from turning over, but at least I feel like I made my point!
How to get your human to let you under the covers
I like sleeping under the covers when it’s cold, but on cold nights, Mom has them tucked around herself so tightly, I can’t even get under there, How rude! But don’t worry, I’ve learned how to get her to lift them for me: I tap her nose with my paw a couple of times, claws ever so slightly out. Instant success! Ha! Once I’m under the covers, I like to burrow down far enough so all of me is covered, and then I wedge myself closely against Mom.
How to wake up your human
Mom is an early riser, so there are few mornings where we have to wake her up, but when we do, Allegra and I tag team each other. Allegra starts banging on the headboard (don’t ask me why, she’s weird that way,) and I jump on the bed with a running start and make sure that I land right on top of Mom. Let me tell you, it’s a very effective combination to get her up, although it usually results in some words that Mom said I can’t type here.
I guess it’s pretty clear by now that I need to be really close to Mom at night. Allegra, on the other hand, prefers to sleep near the foot of the bed. What, Allegra? Because you want some space from me? Blows raspberry at Allegra.
And now I want to hear from you! Kitties, how do you handle sleeping with your humans? Humans, does any of this sound familiar?
Sounds like we cats do know how to snuggle and control our parents! As for me, Lucy Lu, I have found a very special place to sleep: under the covers wedged between mom’s legs, stretched from knees to toes! If she happens to need to get up for any reason, she has learned to wiggle out of the bed and get back in without disturbing me … As if she could! I just hold my ground! as I said, it’s warm and cozy under those covers!
I used to have 7 adult cats, all Siamese, and 7 kittens and they all slept with me! Then as years passed and my cats went home I ended up rescuing 2 feril cats, one is now 6 and the other will be 4. They are NOT affectionate like my Siamese, or domesticated cats from the past. No matter what I do they are standoffish. I’ve been trying for a week to get them to sleep with me and fear I should’ve started when they were babies because they will come into the bedroom, get on the bed with help (:)), get some lovin’s and as soon as the light goes out they skedaddle! I don’t know what to do, I’m used to affectionate cats, this is a mystery to me.
My cat’s name is Max, he follows me around everywhere like a dog. When I take walks in the woods he follows me and when I get too far ahead he meows so I wait for him to catch up. I pet and talk to him a few times and then I move on. When we get back home I give him a few treats to thank him from walking with me.
When I am ready for bed he jumps up on the mattress and meows. I have to push him gently to the right side of the bed so I can get under the covers. Automatically he lies on my diaphragm and the loud purring and the kneading starts. Then the ole ritual of turning around on my stomach starts. He backs up on me till his tail and butt is at my face so I push him back some but he continues this ritual until he is finished.
When I stop petting him he nudges me with his head to continue. While petting him he wraps his front arms around my left wrist. His purring remains in a higher pitch at times while I gently pet him. This while go on for about 10 minutes till he can’t tolerate the heat from my body. He puts out some good heat too.
Next he will move off to the left side of me, while still purring loudly, starts with his back legs kicking me. This will continue for another 10 minutes, then he will jump off the bed and lay on the carpet in the room. Later on in the night he would lie on my diaphragm again until I move to my side. At times even on my side he will lie on my ribs which gets uncomfortable in a few minutes. Then I have to push him off which I hear the meow like I disturbed him.
We have three cats. One sleeps by my wife’s side, another by her pillow, and the third sleeps by her feet. She is basically not allowed to move until they are ready.
What a lot of lovely, clever comments…. and how very true the article is Ruby, we feline loving humans can all relate to that I think. George, Ella and Alice all agree with me about that; BertieBoots, who is a relative newcomer is still one for the outdoors no matter what but he does have his moments and a few nights now he has been in, which I love very much; never though, does he want to share beds….. never telling with cats is there, you’re strange, wild and beautiful creatures. No wonder we love you so much
The part about cuddling is definitely true, after a stressing day of work, there is nothing I look forward more than cuddling with one of my babies at the end of the day; it definitely relaxes you.
Resi, in the great tradition of cats who inherit the human pillow has perfected the art of preventing the unauthorised movement of the human pillow, chiefly by falling asleep on her stomach. We used to guard her toes, but as she has proved the oddity who doesn’t move when asleep that became dull as we lacked an excuse to pounce on them.
When the glowing yellow orb makes its appearance we have no scruples about singing at her while tapping her nose.If that fails we’re quite happy to threaten her eyes with our claws but so far that hasn’t been necessary.
Hi guys – Chelsea and me, Charlie, always start out sleeping on our side of the bed together. Mom gets the smaller side, of course. She has a nasty habit of moving around in her sleep sometimes and when that happens we go to the living room and sleep in our favorite chair. Together. We usually sleep through the night and let mom wake us up because we really don’t need her in the morning. We have her pretty much figured out and she knows any cuddling happens on our terms. She’s ok with that. We’re a very loving little family, the three of us.
Ruby — and Allegra, all of us usually stake out the bed first, and Mommy usually has to ask us nicely to move until she gets comfortable. We usually comply without much complaint — yeah right, but we do move, and as soon as she’s cozy, we pile up on her — especially on those chilly nights!! Mommy works nights, so generally when she is ready to go to sleep, we are too. We luv ya!! *Vegeta and the Ricciardi Clan* ♥♥♥
Great tips Ruby. My cats seem to know all that stuff 🙂
The names have been changed to protect the innocent. My cats really wrote this post ;-D
Ruby, you sound a lot like Ashton. She sleeps right next to me all night, every night, right at my hip. She isn’t interested in going under the covers, though. That violates her need to have a quick escape route at all times.
Ruby is impressed with how creative all of you kitties are when it comes to sleeping with humans. Tuna for everyone!
three years ago I adopted my first Torti ( Claire) from the local shelter. She was a young adult. I love her very much and have been surprised at how attached to me she has become. She comes when I call her and wants to pretty much always be with me, except when she is cat napping. She is very jealous of other animals which surprised me as I was not used to seeing that in a cat. She is wonderful and I am so glad that I chose her.
Hi, this is Anya typing. Every evening dad watches TV until he gets tired. I take a nice nap in the Family Room until after he goes upstairs and takes a shower. When he turns the water off, I go upstairs and jump into his bed and cuddle with him. Then, after about 10 minutes, I remember I have something to do. I go downstairs and find one of my favorite toy balls, and I bring it to dad and drop it on the floor by his bed. Sometimes I do this three times a night! (I love bringing him toy balls, and if he’s not asleep yet, sometimes he’ll get out of bed and scratch me on the tummy to say thanks!) Then I jump up on his bed, and sleep through the night down at the foot of the bed.
Oscar says: Most nights, I’ll come upstairs with dad and jump right up on my bed on the brown chair. That is, unless Anya tries to chase me out of the room. Apparently, she thinks dad is ALL HERS!
Hi, I’m Mojo, and I’m the third cat my human has had. The other two taught me all I know from the Rainbow Bridge. Angels Squeakers and Sandy were known as my human’s bed rail. I’m don’t know why, she doesn’t fall out of bed…much. But they laid by her, Miss Sandy at her feet and Miss Squeakers took the upper half. Miss Squeakers also liked to keep her awake/wake her up by banging the pictures on the wall! It got so bad, that for a couple weeks, Mom had to sleep on her friend’s couch! So she taught me the tricks of the trade. But instead of banging the pictures on the wall across the room, I bat at the HUGE picture above the bed! I stand on the extra piled-up pillows and bang away! Mom keeps telling me that it’s very dangerous, that if that picture would fall, it could kill us both. Nah, I think she’s just a scaredy human! But it IS effective, it wakes her up every time! Before, I just would play with her little bedside lamp. I knocked it over a couple times. It’s a wimpy lamp. It can’t stand up to my mighty paw! But the dang thing didn’t even break! Another way to wake her is the most effective. She has a CPAP and nose hose. She has to be hooked up by that nose hose every night! I’ve stepped on that button she pushes to turn it on/off, it was an accident! I was sitting on the machine so I could get a better grip on the lamp, and it went “Beep” and she woke up! I also play trampoline and bounce on her full bladder when I think she’s slept enough, or I’m about to die of starvation. During the night, though, I’m the good little kitty at the foot of the bed. At times though, I have been known to sleep papoose-style up against her back or on her side.
Thanks for this Ruby….you should try sleeping with 4 cats. Bed hogs…..
Tami, I so understand!! I have 10 — all adopted/rescued!!! ♥♥♥
Hi Ruby! Hi Allegra!
It sounds like you’ve got Mom pretty well trained. It’s taken some time, but I have finally succeeded in training Mom (she’s pretty stubborn).
I let Mom crawl into bed and adjust her pillows. Then I settled down on top of my pillow which is next to Mom’s arm. We snuggle for a few hours, then I get up and get my midnight snack. Sometimes I will make Mom get up with me just because. A good smack with my paw on her nose usually does the trick. Then we go back to bed.
When she turns over I will switch sides and nudge her to make room for me in her arm. When it’s time to get up I usually walk across her a couple of times or I will perch on her and stare at her. If all else fails another bop on the nose or a gentle nibble on her cheek does the trick.
One of my favorite things to do with her in the summer (especially when it’s really hot) is to sleep across her neck. I know she doesn’t like it, but I like to remind her who really runs the house!
Have a great day! ~ Piper
I have one kitty that likes to be under the covers too. Another loves my pillow. Otherwise it my feet. LOL.
Hi my name is Munch and my brother’s name is Sylvester. We don’t sleep with Mom & Dad because Dad says he’s allergic, b ut when I love him up on his lap he doesn’t sneeze, cough or itch his eyes, so what’s up? Mom used to have 14 cats/kittens and they all slept with her, I’d love to try it, I come into the bedroom at night and walk the footboard, then play with Dad’s feet, and go over to Mom’s lap to get some lovens but when she turns off the light I run!!! Dad always yelled to “Go Munch, it’s bedtime” so now I’m in the habit. Veeter never comes in at night to join us for a nite cap but I don’t know why.
How can we train our parents to let us in to snuggle with them, or should I say , my Dad?
Y’all have trained your mom well. I like to make sure my mommy looks nice before getting out of bed early. So I start an hour early licking mom’s face. Pono likes to knock over the perfume bottles on the dresser to wake everyone up. Pele is always the patient one and waits quietly for everyone to wake up. ….Miss Kiki
Well….Ruby, seems you and Allerga, do have Mom trained!
As for me, Milo and Grayson, we have our parents trained too. I cuddle next to Mom, rest my head on our pillow and, stretch out side ways on the bed. This way I get plenty of room! And have Mom trained to curl up.
As for my brother Grayson, he sleeps next to Dad, on top of covers. Or at foot of bed. Sometime, he goes under neath the covers. When Dad starts to snore, he jumps off. To much noise for him. Doesn’t bother me.
That’s our routine. But….. subject to change without notice!
Milo and Grayson
Tortie Willow says- the minute dad is in bed I throw a fit untl he gets on his side and makes a crook with his arm. I put my head in his hand, curl up tight and go right to sleep. I don’t mess around. Sometimes if I’m feeling generous I let mom and dad have some cuddle time, but then it’s my turn! I let Taz sleep on mom’s feet- he follows them all night long. I’m pretty sure he’s afraid gravity will fail at some point and he doesn’t want her to float away. He’s 3 feet long and 20 pounds so he might as actually have a shot at helping! Gnite!
Kajsa cat says – I have never been allowed to sleep with the humans I’ve lived with before, my first humom was handicapped and the next family had allergies, but now when I’ve settled down with the best family ever, I am starting to come up in the bed, and I am not so afraid of the covers anymore. Last evening, I even played with Dad’s hand for a bit, and this morning I woke them up by sitting between them, on the pillows, purring very loud.
Maria says – Yes, we are thrilled that Kajsa finally feels secure enough to stay in the bed, even for a little while. Previous cats have slept in the bed – one on the pillow, the other between my feet, and the third at the end of the bed where she would sometimes put her claws in our feet to wake us up.
I really enjoyed reading this post, Ruby you are such a talented writer 😉