When All’s Quiet on the Tojo Front
Posted by Lynnster on September 4, 2008
And now, on a lighter note – sleeping with cats. Sleeping with Tojo the Psycho Cat, specifically. Somewhat surprisingly, this is usually a more than just pleasant experience.
Lately (for reasons too long and boring to go into), I’ve been sleeping in the guest bedroom – which, as readers know, is Tojo’s room, mainly because all the other cats hate him so much. That’s where he mostly lives, playing with and arranging his Beanie Baby dog and cat army (and the flamingo, who always seems to get tossed on the floor for some unknown reason), rearranging my guest room in ways I don’t quite understand how a relatively small cat manages to do – I’ve long since stopped to go open the door and look when the odd thump or bang emits from that room.
Tojo is great fun to sleep with, though. All his other psychoness aside, he actually is one of the most affectionate cats I’ve ever owned, and is surprisingly snuggly. He will curl up in my arm, or alongside my arm or leg, snoozing away and purring loud and happily and doing what an ex-boyfriend’s mother used to call “making biscuits” (patting with his paws) on my arm or leg.
And sleeps the sleep of the DEAD. That cat does NOT wake up unless I actually am getting up and getting out of bed and moving. I have rarely seen a cat that is THAT unconscious while asleep, other than my brother-in-law and sister’s cat, Mouse, who is missing a few important brain cells anyway.
I’m so used to sharing a bed with various pets that when I’m spending the night away from home, sometimes it takes a little getting used to having a bed to myself and falling asleep.
And sleeping with cats is not always so pleasant. When Schuyler, who passed away this summer, was healthy and big, he was great to have cuddled up with you in the winter and some nice extra warmth – not so much in the summer, and even more so with his habits of sleeping on your head (our family research over the last 40+ years shows this to be a definite black cat thing) or biting you sometimes – not hard, but not very comfortable, and another black cat thing – in places you would rather not be bitten. He also had really bad breath as he got older and more sickly, so that was even worse.
But Tojo is just a delight to snooze away a rainy morning with. I woke up several times yesterday and just got a kick out of him, purring and snoozing away, unconscious like the dead, occasionally stretching and so obviously happy and comfy and snuggly, just so peaceful. And you think, how on earth can this relatively small and – right now – very, extremely peaceful little being be such a psychotic chaotic maniac tearing through the house like the Tasmanian Devil most of the time, terrorizing the other cats and sometimes a dog or two, and just generally leaving mayhem in his wake everywhere he goes?
In any case, I truly treasure our fun and sweet little naps together. As I should, because those hours before he wakes up again are like the eye of the storm in Hurricane Tojo.
holly said
This is SUCH a cute post. One of my joys in life is sleeping with my kitty :). There is this depth of peacefulness that is just indescribable. I’ll get to do it again soon, since I haven’t been able to have Dorian in my parents’ house and I’m moving into my own place next week!
churlita said
How funny. I wish I had a cat to sleep with on rainy mornings. I just don’t know if I want to have to deal with the psycho behavior to get that.
Lynnster said
Holly – the rest of mine are peaceful at other times, so it’s doubly amazing when Tojo looks like an angel…. briefly…. until he wakes up. ;)
Churlita, they’re great to snuggle with. It’s just Tojo that’s psycho. The rest of mine are normal. Well, maybe not normal…. but they’re not psycho.
He means well, he just hasn’t quite gotten the hang of proper etiquette with other cats and after a year and a half almost, well…
Lynnster said
(He really is a sweetheart tho when he’s not terrorizing the rest of the house) :D
Cluttered Brain said
Kitties are the best. I would probably spend many weekends snuggling with mine, but Hubby does not allow them in the bedroom. :-(
Lynnster said
Aw yes, they definitely are. I am of course used to sleeping in a bed full of cats AND dogs, but Edge is not too keen on that either so I figure when we get married we might have to get a duplex, or maybe a place with a full basement that I can have an extra bedroom in, so I can at least some of the time get my snoozing with the pets in.
Tojo’s still going to have to have his own room, though. He is getting a LITTLE better about not driving everyone else crazy all the time, but they all still hate him and he still has no friends (except his Beanie Baby army). ;)