We're going to need a bigger bed...

If you've lived in a multi-cat household all you life like me, the thought of four cats doesn't seem too terrible. My usual is three. Though twice in my life (not including this time), we've had four. But it wasn't until we brought Relic into the house that I realized... we lived in larger spaces both those times.

The first time was when I was in my late teens. We had a senior ginger girl named Monkey, a grey tuxedo named River, and a black tuxedo name Kobi - then one day, Mom walked through the door after work with a fat ginger kitten she found on her mail route. He absolutely wasn't staying, she said... but before long, we'd named him Russell and he wasn't going anywhere. While the family home wasn't huge, it was comfortable and four cats was just a blip amongst the regular chaos of a house with two teenagers and two working parents.

The second time was just over five years ago. I had Peno, Tux and Rocky, and Dave had just moved in with me. He'd left his very senior cat Mopar behind with his Mom, because he was worried that Rocky would drive the old man crazy, and Tux would be mean to him. Then one day, Dave's Mom called, she no longer wanted the burden of caring for the poor old guy. It took me no time at all to tell Dave we'd take it on. The townhouse we had wasn't huge, but it was bright and airy. And poor Mopar only lived about a year more, and we were back down to three cats.

And now... the townhouse we live in is a fair bit smaller. The layout is much different with smaller rooms, a tiny little cube of a kitchen, and narrow dark hallways. Now there are times (feeding time!!!) when four cats seems like a whole lotta cats!!

Especially now that former-stray Relic has discovered the comforts of the human bed.

Because not only is he a big boy who takes up a lot of space, he's made Rupert jealous. Rupert hasn't slept in the bed with us since I brought Burton home. Burton still sleeps on my pillow (and he's taking up more of it every day. Relic has decided that sleeping at my feet is a good balance to Burton. But Rupert just couldn't stand not being involved... and has resumed his spot at my knees. It's great when we all first get in and they are purring up a storm.. but as the night wears on.. the start stretching out, and I need to move and shift...

I wonder if we can get a King-sized bed up our narrow stairs...