Nobody is in charge - we cooperate
"Early to bed and early to rise". That's me.
I am healthy, I am not wealthy, and I am by no means wise.
I am most often in bed by 8:00 p.m. (sometimes as early as 7:00).. A late night for me is 9:30 p.m.. And I sleep well (often through the night with nary a bathroom trip).
So, I am up early: 4:30 a.m. is the norm.
Senior cat Ada knows this. She lets out one load miaow outside my bedroom door at precisely 4:30. If I need 10 or so extra minutes of shut-eye I call out "oh go away" and she does.
But if I choose to arise, both cats and my dog "know it".
First I take a trip to the bathroom. Then I turn the computer on. Next I make my bed, and have a second bathroom trip.
Throughout this routine the cats are waiting patiently outside my bedroom door. When I open it, Penne comes bounding and singing towards me, ready for her early morning half-biscuit. As I move to the kitchen to get it, the cats follow all ready for their day-break snacks (two each of those little "Temptations" treats).
Coffee pot on, I go outside for my first smoke of the day. The cats invariably wait just inside the front door
. As I get back into the house, Ada runs to her bed, but Adelaide stalks down the hallway, tail erect as she leads me to the Lanai door which I am obliged to open.
With my first cup of coffee in hand I got back to my room to check for e-mail and look at various newspapers on line. This is a sign for Penne who comes bounding into my room and then leaps up onto my bed.
I arise from my chair, move towards the bed, and her tail begins to wag. I sweet-talk her. She gets all squirrely and bashful at the same time, wiggling her torso and then moving to her side all ready for a belly rub.
At about 6:30 I am ready for the first walk of the day with Penne. She knows this is imminent just as soon as I change from my sleep clothes (tee shirt and gym shorts) and into my walking clothes. Off the bed she leaps, and then waits by the front door - her tail wagging like a heliocopter rotor!
The walk over, I go to the bin which hold Penne's dry food to make her breakfast.
Just as soon as I open the bin, the cats come strolling into the kitchen - they know that their breakfast will be next.
The cats scoff down their little breakfast (a teaspoon full of canned food each), but Penne sometimes waits an hour or more before she eats her first meal.
Penne should be named "Shadow", for wherever I am she want to be.
1, If I am using the computer she gets onto my bed.
2, If I am reading in the sitting room, she gets on to her bed. (But when I use the vacuum cleaner she gets as far away from me as is possible!).
3. If I say "let's go in the car" she positively sings and dances until she is able to leap up into her back seat.
4. If I am leaving her at home I never say anything, but I turn on the T.V. or radio and give her a half biscuit.
She gives me that canine baleful look, and then rests on her bed, front legs all stretched out and her head between those legs. She often saves her biscuit until I return
At 4:30 p.m. precisely the cats march into the kitchen. They know that this is the appointed time for their afternoon canned food treat.
After my supper I am usually back on line. When Penne hears the "ping" as the computer shuts down she leaves my room. She knows that it's my bed time.
Oddly enough she does not go to her bed, but she hides behind a chair, always standing and never lying down. That's my instruction to give her the final sweet talk and ear rub of the day. I take it that she goes to her bed at "lights out", but I do not know if this is the case.
I've come to the belief that pets such as mine have both intelligence, memory and knowledge. I refuse to believe that their behaviour in solely instinctive. They know.
I am healthy, I am not wealthy, and I am by no means wise.
I am most often in bed by 8:00 p.m. (sometimes as early as 7:00).. A late night for me is 9:30 p.m.. And I sleep well (often through the night with nary a bathroom trip).
So, I am up early: 4:30 a.m. is the norm.
Senior cat Ada knows this. She lets out one load miaow outside my bedroom door at precisely 4:30. If I need 10 or so extra minutes of shut-eye I call out "oh go away" and she does.
But if I choose to arise, both cats and my dog "know it".
They know my routine.
First I take a trip to the bathroom. Then I turn the computer on. Next I make my bed, and have a second bathroom trip.
Throughout this routine the cats are waiting patiently outside my bedroom door. When I open it, Penne comes bounding and singing towards me, ready for her early morning half-biscuit. As I move to the kitchen to get it, the cats follow all ready for their day-break snacks (two each of those little "Temptations" treats).
Coffee pot on, I go outside for my first smoke of the day. The cats invariably wait just inside the front door
. As I get back into the house, Ada runs to her bed, but Adelaide stalks down the hallway, tail erect as she leads me to the Lanai door which I am obliged to open.
With my first cup of coffee in hand I got back to my room to check for e-mail and look at various newspapers on line. This is a sign for Penne who comes bounding into my room and then leaps up onto my bed.
I arise from my chair, move towards the bed, and her tail begins to wag. I sweet-talk her. She gets all squirrely and bashful at the same time, wiggling her torso and then moving to her side all ready for a belly rub.
At about 6:30 I am ready for the first walk of the day with Penne. She knows this is imminent just as soon as I change from my sleep clothes (tee shirt and gym shorts) and into my walking clothes. Off the bed she leaps, and then waits by the front door - her tail wagging like a heliocopter rotor!
The walk over, I go to the bin which hold Penne's dry food to make her breakfast.
Just as soon as I open the bin, the cats come strolling into the kitchen - they know that their breakfast will be next.
The cats scoff down their little breakfast (a teaspoon full of canned food each), but Penne sometimes waits an hour or more before she eats her first meal.
"Nobody is in charge" I said - "we cooperate".
That's what I think! The beasts know that they are running the show!
And so it goes.
Penne should be named "Shadow", for wherever I am she want to be.
1, If I am using the computer she gets onto my bed.
2, If I am reading in the sitting room, she gets on to her bed. (But when I use the vacuum cleaner she gets as far away from me as is possible!).
3. If I say "let's go in the car" she positively sings and dances until she is able to leap up into her back seat.
4. If I am leaving her at home I never say anything, but I turn on the T.V. or radio and give her a half biscuit.
She gives me that canine baleful look, and then rests on her bed, front legs all stretched out and her head between those legs. She often saves her biscuit until I return
The day winds down.
At 4:30 p.m. precisely the cats march into the kitchen. They know that this is the appointed time for their afternoon canned food treat.
After my supper I am usually back on line. When Penne hears the "ping" as the computer shuts down she leaves my room. She knows that it's my bed time.
Oddly enough she does not go to her bed, but she hides behind a chair, always standing and never lying down. That's my instruction to give her the final sweet talk and ear rub of the day. I take it that she goes to her bed at "lights out", but I do not know if this is the case.
I've come to the belief that pets such as mine have both intelligence, memory and knowledge. I refuse to believe that their behaviour in solely instinctive. They know.
But as I said: "Nobody is in charge - we cooperate".
(oh yeah?)
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