Thursday, November 2, 2017

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...

11 comments:

Araignee said...

I am reading this at 3am because I have been up all night doing laundry because...gasp-I found Hoover in my bed. I keep my bedroom door closed because I am deathly allergic to cats. At midnight, I went in my room and voila...there he was sprawled out right in the middle of everything. How he got in there I will never know. I am not the kind who has extra linens so I had to wash and dry it all before I could climb in for the night. Now I am wide awake and very grumpy. I envy people who can cuddle with kitties.

Anonymous said...

Once having had a max of 11 cats, I can attest to the need for "catification", as Jackson Galaxy from My Cat From Hell calls it - multiple level perches (besides one cat tree or two) for the cats to sort themselves on. Put one in the bedroom, or even some cat-shelf beds, and see what happens. We had a king-sized bed and usually had at least 5 on there with us most nights... made it a little hard to sleep!

As for king-sized beds, I recommend two twins mashed together; here in Germany, most bed frames will take the supports for two twin-size mattresses, so it's much easier to get them up narrow, winding stairs.

I enjoy your blog posts, though I usually "lurk".

Cat Lover said...

I understand perfectly! Though the most we've ever had is two cats and a dog. We purposely bought our current queen size bed to accommodate our late kitty Sam. She loved to stretch out between the two of us so it didn't leave us a whole lot of room.
Have a good day.

Delighted Hands said...

Oh, the joys and trials of a large family!

The Well Fed Wheel said...

So funny!! Lilly Bean owns my bed...she lets me sleep there at night but gets very upset with me when I change the linens. I have to actually physically remove her from the room while I do it.

kathy b said...

Your post is fascinating. Fireman wont let the cats upstairs at all to sleep with us. Once upon a time, Radar, our deaf cat slept with us. I LOVED it. Even though he slept on our heads half the time.

Our cats have been space sharing. One sits on the back of the couch at certain times of the day, others at other times. I've read this is a peaceful sign.

Carry on. I only have 4 cats too

chrisknits said...

Aw, what a great problem to have. With 50 and 45 lb dogs wanting to curl up at feet or behind your back, I would take smaller animals!!! Good thing they prefer their dog beds or under our bed.

Eastside Cats said...

My bedroom is tiny, but I've got a queen-sized mattress in there, and would find a way to get a king in, if it would mean I could sleep with my cats. They never have.

Vera said...

Ahhh, sweeet pictures. Tyg sleeps on our bed occasionally (but he is often out, or sprawled on the table or another chair downstairs). Talbot, one of our son's cats sleeps on Mailing's head! LOL

elns said...

Okay I love your cat stories. Seriously, the best. I thought that first photo was absolutely telling, but seeing Relic's complete bliss sleeping is so cute. I bet you're one of those humans too, who doesn't move too much to accommodate the family sleeping serenely. I feel kinda bad for Ru, but he's got love so not too bad.

Mereknits said...

They are all so darling you have to let them on your bed. Four beautiful cats sounds perfect to me.