How do blind cats know when to sleep?
As a blind cat obviously I can’t really tell day from night by seeing the sun rise and fall. There are a couple of tricks I use to help me know if it’s day or night, the feel of the sun on my face and fur (which is easier in the summer than the winter); by where mummy and daddy are (in bed or up and about); how noisy or quiet it is. I can hear when all the birds have gone to sleep and if I sit outside on the balcony or by a window the night time sounds of the outside are very different to the daytime sounds and it tends to become cooler too. It took me a while to work things out and that humans aren’t like cats sleeping on and off all the time, they’re strange and are awake for a long time and then have their daily sleep all in one go.
It takes a while to figure these things out when you haven’t grown up in a home and when I first arrived and was still finding my way in my new home I hadn’t quite understood the humans sleeping pattern, combine that with my early life on the streets where I was too scared to have much proper sleep I was awake and ready to play whilst they were asleep. Also, like any young, cat I might sleep for a little bit and then be fully charged and wide awake and ready for the next play session. I love playing and would play and play and play for hours and hours, this was often later in the evening and when mummy and daddy were just about ready for bed. I spent enough time when I first arrived in my own bedroom playing by myself so I don’t want to go back to that, it’s a bit lonely. I wanted to play with the lovely people who gave me my furrever home, I wanted to show them that I love them and that I was part of their family. Peppar and Mia were that bit older and knew about bed time and human sleeping patterns, they also didn’t always want to play with me as I was just a bit too energetic and excitable.
When I wanted to play in the evening mummy or daddy would often play with me in the kitchen, we’d play either the ‘ready ready’ game or fetch. I could play for hours, for some reason though at some point (usually mid play) they would want to go to bed and go to sleep. “But mummy, daddy we’re having so much fun playing together” I would protest, “sorry Jenny, but it’s really late and we need to go to bed, we’ve got work in the morning.” I wasn’t ready to go to bed or stop playing so I was quite sad that my playtime came to an early end, I wasn’t at all tired so I tried to think of something to do to pass the time whilst mummy and daddy were asleep.
Well, I thought and thought about what I could do and then I had a fantastic idea, if mummy and daddy won’t come to me to play I’ll go to them. The second best option other than playing with them is to play near them, then they can still be part of the game.
So, I came up with a great idea, I could take my playtime into the bedroom to be with them. Under the bed they keep some plastic boxes which mummy keeps stuff in, I could turn this into an underground playground. Each time I went under the bed I nudged the boxes a little more so that there were gaps between each of them, little tunnels for me to run through. I could take my toys under there during the night and chase them round the tunnels, mummy and daddy’s bedding made my playground secret from Peppar and Mia and I could have it all to myself. Being blind I don’t need any light to be able to navigate through my secret tunnels, I can do it all by the touch of my whiskers and the memory map I make in my mind.
When I run around under the bed with my toys I try to play a little game with myself, I create a circuit to run around under the bed, in and out and round and between the boxes. Then how quickly can I get the ball round the circuit? How far can I go without the ball touching the boxes? Can I keep the ball under the bed without it escaping from my den?
Then as I was running around the ball hit the boxes and made a very satisfying ‘thunk’ and the ball bounced off in a different direction for me to chase after. Ooh I like that noise and it was fun chasing after the ball as it bounced off in different directions. Thunk, doink, thud, time after time until I was all worn out.
Mummy and daddy said to me in the morning, “Jenny, what were you doing all night long under the bed?” Then I thought wouldn’t it be fun if mummy and daddy could experience the game properly and really follow me as I race round the circuit, it would be like they were there under the bed with me. So, that night I found the ball that made the loudest noise, the one with the rattly bits inside that roll around as the ball moves and took that under the bed to play with. I thought to myself this would be purrfect to make them feel completely and fully interactive with me. That night I had great fun, think, rattle, doink, rattle, rattle, rattle – it was purrfect. I could tell that mummy and daddy were imagining playing with me as I could hear them sighing and fidgeting whilst they imagined being under the bed playing with me. After a full night of playing I found a snuggly spot to curl up and sleep in but then I was rudely awoken by the noise of mummy and daddy getting up, “Come on Jenny, it’s time for breakfast” mummy said, I stayed curled up ignoring her as I was tired. “Come on Jen Jen, if we have to get up after hearing you play all night long then you’ve got to get up too” she said as she yawned.
I kept trying different toys under the bed on different nights crinkle ball, bell toys, balls and anything else I found in the toy box. Gradually though as the nights went on I noticed that the more fun, noisy toys seemed to go missing at the end of the evening, I couldn’t find them anywhere. Then one evening, I wandered into the living room to find mummy and daddy picking up all the noisy toys and putting them where I couldn’t reach them. “What you doing with my toys?” I meowed, “I’m really sorry Jenny but we just can’t cope with the noise all night, we need to sleep, we’re so tired” said daddy. “Oh no daddy” I said, “ I thought that you enjoyed us playing together all night, I didn’t realise it was making you so tired.” Then we talked about it and agreed that I could have playtime in the evening before bed and then when mummy and daddy went to bed I could stay up and play as long as I wanted, even using my under bed circuit but only with the quiet toys so mummy and daddy could sleep.
What a purrfect resolution, I’m so lucky to have such a lovely family who let me do what I need to do, when I need to do it. Gradually though I’ve learnt to play whilst mummy and daddy are awake so I can play with them and then I go to bed and sleep at the same time as they do. If I do want to play with someone in the night I’ve now got Millie and Angelin to play with as they’re always up for it, whatever time of night. Peppars always snuggled up on mummy’s pillow all night. I’ve also got my footballs to run around after which are nice and quiet so mummy and daddy can sleep through my night time play sessions.
Jenny’s Story 