I’m not going to tell you that Miss Bean is amazing. After you read this, I won’t have to…

A few weeks ago, my darling little cat took to announcing her boredom, very loudly, in the middle of the night. Howling, walking over my head, insisting I might consider getting up and entertaining her….

I’m not sure why the change in behavior, but I do know it does not work well for me. She went through this phase before, a few years ago. I tried the same successful approach…

I had another discussion with her. I explained how I would prefer she not make her announcements in the middle of the night. I need my sleep, not everyone shares her schedule, her food dish still has food in it, the dog is NOT bothering her. You get the idea.

It apparently did resonate with her because she stopped howling in the middle of the night, and waiting until about 6 in the morning before disrupting the entire house. An improvement, but still not the best. I got more specific and told her I appreciated that she waited, but I’d appreciate even more if she would wait until I’m actually out of bed. Gave her the same reasoning as before…

Incredibly, she did! So far, two nights where she quietly waits for me at the bottom of the stairs, and murrs as soon as I come into view. I tell her, of course, how well she’s doing.

Maybe it’s coincidence, maybe its that she’s moved past it, or just maybe she got what I was saying… When you live with a being for nearly 16 years you tend to understand them.

Do you whisper to your cat?

**This month is Cat Health Awareness month, and our charity is the Community Cat Coalition, in Beacon NY. Serving the community in Beacon: it’s people, feral and stray cats. 10% of all proceeds will be donated to this fantastic group!