The sweetest clingy cat ever, she's such a doll! This was Maesi cuddled up against my daughter last week..
Did you think I threw them out?
I hope not! Clearly they still live here, I don't know what I'd do without them, they are so loved! But there was this thing with the sleeping arrangements that I didn't really agree with from the first moment but decided to sit it out until they can behave properly at night. This meant to make sure they don't tear down the house, especially thinking about the office setting as well as other things they can seriously damage while we sleep, I took them into the bedroom because the room has plenty of space and only a bed with a chair inside.
I made it their bedroom too
Moving can be challenging with pets, and I wanted them to feel at home and safe too so I decided to make the big bedroom theirs too to get them adjusted as quickly as possible. The chair was an issue at first because it's an IKEA frame chair, you probably know these chairs as many houses have one of them inside.. I was shocked to find out what they cost nowadays knowing the high (ahum) quality fabric they are, lol. Anyway the one in our home is one with leather, but not great looking, ugly brown leather and too thick, making it uncomfortable to sit in. Either way, I let it as is at first because I figured it's convenient to dump clothes on as I didn't have any other furniture in there. HUGE mistake!
They seem to love the sound
Of crawling on that leather and catching each other while one hides behind or under it. It took me some weeks of annoyance at night before I realized I could take off the leather and have a black frame only. We have a pink round soft cat bed which has been a nightmare to put anywhere because of the size (it's too big) and then I saw it, I could put the bed on this frame and they'd be able to sleep from the ground (they prefer that) and it even looks ok! So the ruining of the chair was over, one problem down, several to go.
Maesi wants to be near me, always
She kind of demands that she crawls up against me and starts purring into the soft blanket. It's quickly become a thing of us. I first enjoyed it, and appreciated her for trying to heal me with her vibrations, but sometimes she's taking it too far and I can't even watch something on my phone without her bumping into the phone and laying there. I figured when things get annoying, it's time for a change.
Rituals
Can you imagine having the litterbox in your bedroom? Me neither until I had to because otherwise they'd tear down the house the first period. I sacrificed my sleeping area not only to have them keeping me awake some nights, but also having them poop in the same room where I was sleeping. I quickly realized that I should take away the food a few hours before moving things into the bedroom, and keeping water there only. They understood fast enough that they should eat in time, lol.
My life before the move out of the bedroom! See how that can become annoying? :)
After a while they had the routine of doing the number 2's while the litterbox was still at the normal place during the day and woke me up in the mornings around 7 to start using the box in the bedroom. I would then jump up quickly, carry it inside and if possible, snooze a bit longer OR just get up, depending on the time. This worked ok for me but I still thought it was about time they'd just behave inside and not bother anyone during the night, lol.
Treadmill to the rescue
When the treadmill arrived, it was clear the big bedroom would be the place for it. There's no other option that fits the thing so it was a no brainer. Finally the bedroom started to be filled up a bit but now the big question, will they not ruin the brand item?
Those cables!
We decided to put up the belt as it's easy to put up and then the only thing that concerned me were the cables. Of course the thing needs to be sniffed thoroughly as they need to get used to the scent but I was not going to risk them biting the cables while I was sleeping. I rolled up the power cable and put a sock around it (lol) and then put this behind another part so it was not visible.
Luna still kept going to the cable part that was still visible and I had a bright moment the third time I sprayed her with water.. I saw these instagram clips where cats were jumping on the kitchen counter and then scared shitless because of aluminium foil. Brilliant! Midnight and I was walking into the kitchen to get me some foil (not for a tin foil hat though!) and tape.
It was the sound of water on foil
That made them give up sooner than I expected and so Luna slept at my feet while Maesi slept in the scratching post hammock. I figured this was a great time to just try to ditch them fully at night so the treadmill would not be collateral damage over time, I mean, cats gonna cat at night, aren't they?
All day I kept them out of the room, they didn't like it but hey, I don't like them ruining a brand new item either, so fair game if you ask me.
Result: four nights and they're ok with it. Sometimes they make a little fuzz in front of the door, but I put their big pink bed in the corner in the hallway so they can at least sleep near everyone. I'm so happy as it also means we can use the curtains again after having them curled up for months because you know, again, cats be catting!
One last clingy cat picture to end this post :)
