Cats in the Morning

Life Lessons Learned-

I never realized that when a cat gets hungry or needs something when their owner is sleeping, they’ll find a way to wake them up. Cats are very smart animals and will do anything to wake you up. They don’t really care what you’re doing and won’t stop bothering you until they get what they want. There are some pros and cons to having your cat wake you up in the morning. A good thing is that you’ll usually never oversleep since they’ll be there to wake you up early in the morning, but a bad thing is they will wake you up when you still want to sleep in and relax.

Until one time on a Saturday I was sleeping in and all he sudden I hear my cat screaming. I was too lazy to go see what she needed so I stayed in bed and went back to sleep. A couple of minutes later she jumps onto my bed and starts to lick my face. It was really disgusting because cats tongues are just like sandpaper so it hurt a lot. I woke up and just pushed her aside because I was really tired and she just sat there next to me. Then all the sudden I hear a big crash and I wake up to see my lamp on the floor. No one was around except for my cat sitting on the table where the lamp was. I yelled at my cat for knocking down my lamp and then I finally went downstairs to feed her and take her outside.

Then I realized my cat will do anything to wake me up so she can have food or go to the bathroom outside. I was shocked she could push my lamp off the table because it’s really heavy and close to the back of the wall. Also, I didn’t even realize how smart my cat was since she knew she needed to make a loud noise to wake me up. Everyday she would meow in my face but I would get up because I would have to get up for school. It’s kind of annoying having her wake me up very morning but I think it’s good because I’m never late to school.

So now I will try to always wake up the first time my cat tries to wake me up so she doesn’t cause a huge ruckus. I’ve learned that having a cat is a big responsibility and waking up early to feed her or taking her outside to use the bathroom is all part of it. Sometimes if I really don’t want to wake up I’ll close my door and leave my siblings or parents door open so she’ll wake them up.  I’m glad my cat tries to wake me up instead of her peeing or pooping in the house.

 

Cats Just Love to Hunt

Many cats love to hunt and are evolutionary specialized for hunting. Their fast and nimble legs help them catch insects or rodents. Cats are also very sneaky and quiet so their victim never sees them coming. Some things cats hunt and kill are birds, mice, rats, lizards, and insects. Cats are carnivores and can’t taste sugars so they don’t eat a lot plants. Multiple times my cat caught monarch butterflies and loved to play with them since they have gigantic wings and fly. Most of the time cats leave the victim they caught in front of the door for the owner as a “gift”. I think its pretty disgusting since we have to clean up the dead bird or rat. One time my cat caught a rat and only left the head, tail, and heart. In the wild, cat mothers teach their babies how to eat their food by bringing home a dead or injured prey. Usually that’s why cats don’t eat the prey they caught and just leave it near the door. Sometimes cats won’t kill the prey, but they will play with it for entertainment. Cats have such big ears that help them with picking up faint sounds for hunting. Also, the sense of smell helps guide the cat to their prey. Even though cats sleep a lot, they have a lot of energy and love to be in the outdoors.

Why Cats Sleep so Often

Cats are the definition of sleep. They sleep for about 16 hours a day and older cats sleep for about 20 hours a day. Usually they aren’t really sleeping because they’re in a state called snoozing. Snoozing is where they get all the rest they need, but they’re still alert to wake up at any moment. When a cat is in light sleep their ears will twitch and move toward noises. Also, cats can get into deep sleep but it’s usually only for a short period of time. A cat is in deep sleep when their eyes are closed tightly and they will have their paw or tail in their face. Deep sleep is very important for cats since it’s helps their body regenerate itself and stay healthy. During their deep sleep, cats can even dream like humans. If your cats paws or whiskers were twitching while their sleeping, there’s a good chance they could be dreaming. Since your cat is always hunting and playing, they burn a lot of energy so they need their sleep to rest up. Cats can even snore while they sleep since their airway is obstructed by extra skin from the soft palate. Snoring usually occurs in short-nosed breeds like the Persian, Himalayan, and the Exotic Short-hair.  Most cats sleep during the day and are awake at night because they’re nocturnal. Usually house cats are not nocturnal, but they’re crepuscular. Crepuscular means the cat combines daylight activity with nighttime activity. The next time you see your cat sleeping, don’t think that they’re lazy, think that they need their rest from all the hunting and playing.

 

How Many Kittens from One Cat?

Kernel writing- Elimination or confirmation

I’ve never been sure about how many kittens does an average cat have since I always see so many stray cats on the street. All I remember is going to the vet and seeing a bunch of kittens each time I came and I saw that they were always all different. Also, another time I took a tour around a college and saw a whole litter of kittens with their mother near the garbage bins.

But I’ve always suspected that it’s over two or one since my friends always give away at least three kittens when her cat has them. Also, since humans reproductive systems and cats reproductive systems are very different so usually humans don’t have more than one baby.

Also because once I experienced my friend’s cat giving birth to kittens. It was an interesting experience and she gave birth to five baby kittens. I was shocked because I didn’t expect to see so many kittens and I thought cats usually only have one or two babies.

Which made me think that a lot of people don’t get their cats neutered since there’s so many kittens for sale or on the street. I feel like people don’t think they have time to get their cat neutered and they don’t really care about how many kittens they have since they will just give them all away. Moreover, I think people think that getting their cat neutered is too expensive so they don’t want to put in all the money for their cat.

Finally, I realized that more people need to get their cats neutered so the population of kittens don’t over populate. I think it’s sad to see stray cats and kittens on the street because they have no one to care for them so a lot of them end up dying. Also, it’s hard when a vet gets new kittens and no one wants to adopt them so they end up dying too. I just want each kitten or cat in the world to have a safe home and someone to care and love them.