The Bathroom Cuddle

 Quick note before I tell my story...Last week my blog was reported for abuse. Don't know why, don't know who, but someone suggested Facebook itself may have done it. She thinks the word 'Ferociously' could be why. Considered aggressive. So the name of the blog is now "For the Love of Furchildren."

Our first week with Freya in our lives was AWESOME. I had a lot to learn, but we had fallen under her spell, and there are so many good memories I'll never forget. Lesson Number One: She sleeps wherever she wants.

I had made her a bed out of a cardboard box and tea towels. I threw in several of those knitted pot holders. Why didn't I buy her a bed? In all the excitement of getting a cat, I forgot. I also figured maybe it wasn't necessary. I thought I made her a soft place to sleep. Please remember that I was brand new at this.

She hated it. I put her in it, and she acted disappointed and jumped out. I suppose I shouldn't have put it in the basement either, but in my defense, I thought she would like the dark and quiet. I moved her box to the living room, and decided I'd better hurry up and buy her a bed. But where would I put it once I got it? 

She decided she would nap on our bed. I wasn't okay with that. I had decided that there would be certain rules, and one of them would be 'No Cats on the Bed'. Hah! 

That very day, I caught her napping on our bed. Oh, no, no, no, no. That won't do. I mentioned it to my husband., that Freya was sleeping on the bed. 

"So? She's a cat." he says. 

"We can't have cat fur on the bed."

Dan gets this sneaky little grin on his face,. "Then by all means....You go tell our new baby she can't sleep on the bed." Should have known by that weird smile that I'd never seen on his face before.

"I will!" I said, but I that look he gave me... It was a rare and suspicious thing. 

I walked into the bedroom and stared directly at her, prepared to shoo her off. I was unprepared for the beauty and serenity of a cat, perfectly at peace, slumbering away, like she was happy and absolutely at home. She had a little smile on her face. I left without saying anything. I could not disturb her. And weren't we trying to make her as comfortable as possible? I wanted her to feel like this place was all hers and she belonged here. I decided I wouldn't set limits on something like a bed. What if she wanted to sleep with us? Would it break the bond we'd already built with her if I didn't allow it? 

"How did that work out for you?" My smug husband asked. "Did you make our little girl leave her happy place?"

I muttered something to him about self-fornication. Since then Freya sleeps wherever she pleases. 

Remember when I said she didn't like the cat bed I made her? When it came to bedtime, we just left her to her own decisions and, well, we went to bed. She jumped up on the bed and joined us. 

But she needed to be the center of attention and the center of the family. She parked herself right between us. I couldn't see her, but I felt her place her back to mine as she stretched. And then I heard. 

"Meya...Maf's Mammy's Mouf." She'd placed her paws on Dan's lips and pushed until she got the space she needed. The bed shook with my silent laughter and I couldn't stop. Can you picture it? I could.

She slept like that ( She always pushed Dan's mouth away until he backed off.)  for a few days until Dan gently removed her to the top of the pillows, and away from his face. She was reasonably okay with that, and I loved to hear her purr as I was going to sleep. Bliss. 

I remember the day I woke to her purring loudly in my face. She licked my eyelids. Once again, I woke Dan with my silent mirth. Someone told me she was trying to get me to get up and feed her. I didn't get up, so she didn't do that again but what a weird sensation! 

Instead she started snuggling in on my side of the bed early in the morning. And I mean early...ungodly early hours before sunrise. I sleep on my left side and rarely change positions. This left her just enough room to lay close to my chest and tuck her head under my chin. 

She'd purr super loud, and I would stroke her fur for a bit, and whisper how much I loved her and how happy I was to have her in my life, just to let her know she was welcome and adored. It was a wonderful way to wake up, even if I didn't actually want to get up. We'd eventually fall back to sleep together.

One morning, I was just too tired. I still wanted to cuddle, but I couldn't wake up. I kissed her, muttered that I loved her, and after maybe three or four strokes, I let my arms go limp. 

She stopped purring and left the bed. She never came to bed again, and it saddens me. But Freya would find a new preferred place to get her cuddles.

Join me two weeks from now, and I'll take a break from talking about Freya to talking about my cats favorite cat toys!