I don't work, but first thing in the morning I *have* to change the water in
each one of the cats' glasses or I get yelled at.  I can't use the restroom,
I can't get myself a glass of water - they have to be served first.  I guess
it's a slave issue.  Sigh.

Then, after that task is done I must pee!  Well, of course I can't do that
alone and each one vies for my attention with hissing and a few swats on
each other's heads.  Now it's time to check the kibble in the bowl we leave
out all the time for free-feeding.  All right, it needs a topping off.

Okay, time to feed the pet rats!  (The furbies love to watch me feed them.
It's the only time they pay attention to the *other* fur-critters in the
house, believe it or not.)  By this time, the hubby is up and I have to feed
and water him.  I always have 3 pairs of eyes on me when I make my hubby
breakfast - *espcially* if bacon is involved.  With bacon comes clawing,
climbing and lots of noise.  :~)

(As I type this I'm hearing the bathroom cabinets banging, but that's an
entirely different thread.)

When I finally can sit down in my recliner, Chloe literally screams at me to
sit next to me.  She's not a lapcat, she's a next-to cat, if that makes any
sense.  Pua & Tyrone always want THE LAP.  Chloe's a little more
standoff-ish.  She's got to be by your side, just a little out of reach so
she can scream at you.  Funny little critter.  I give her some scritches and
my real day begins.  :~)

kili

While I'm in the shower I usually get a visit from Ranger. He jumps from
the bathroom floor to the sink, then to the top rail of the shower door
frame. He then lies along the frame and keeps me company while I shower.

When I step out of the shower I usually have a kitty waiting to jump onto
my shoulders. Amelia, Tabitha, Harri, and Ranger all like to participate
in this. They sit there and groom my hair while I brush my teeth.

Once I get downstairs, I usually sit in the rocking chair to put on my
socks and watch the weather forecast on TV. While sitting there I have
Harri or Amelia climb into my lap for snuggles.

We then go into the kitchen to do kitty breakfasts. They have kibble down
all the time and they get canned food in the morning. The routine is
pretty well fixed. I wash the food dishes. While I'm doing so Harri comes
up beside me and squeaks. That's her signal that it's time to pick her up.
I pick her up and put her on the counter beside me. She gives me a
headbutt every time I put a freshly-cleaned bowl on the counter. I then
dry everything and serve the babies their breakfast. Harri eats hers on
the counter, everybody else gets theirs on the floor. While they're eating
the soft food I'll refill the kibble feeder if it needs it.

Then we have very similar routines when I cook dinner, and when we go to
bed at night.

Dan

Do we ever.... :)
Tom gets up before I do, so he does the breakfast ritual which involves
cats jumping on your head and lots of yowling. I sleep through it,
thankfully.
Reading the paper can be an exercise in futility, depending on how many
cats decide to join you. I usually have Basho on my lap at first, while
I read the first section. Then I get up to get my breakfast and Luna
usually comes join me to finish the paper. At various points throughout,
either Fez or Rufous or even Issa will come and stand on my paper and
demand pettins.
The most reliable morning routine is going to the bathroom with Rufous.
Right now he is waiting outside the study for me. I will go into the
bathroom and open the shower just enough so it drips a little bit. He
will sit there and try to catch the water droplets with his paw, all
while making the most joyful noises. Crazy cat. :)

Absolutely-- at least with Stinky.  Dante is usually too busy in the
morning-- he has a very busy schedule with lots of places to go (in the
house) and things to do.  Stinky plants himself in my lap every morning
while I read the paper (yes, I still read a paper newspaper ;)).  The
problem with this for me, as Stinky probably knows very well, is that I find
a purring kitty on my lap relaxing to the point of being narcotic.  I often
find myself nodding out, and have to fight to wake myself up to get out the
door.

g.gandalf@lycos.com (Gandalf) wrote in news:47ec9a41.3649156
@news.iphouse.com:

I get up at 3:50 and leave as soon as I am showered and dressed which
ends up being about 4:30.  I put dry food in the cats' dish and make sure
I see both of them have not been locked inside anything and tell them
both I will be back later and that I love them and goodbye and out I go.  
Many times they go to the window and watch me drive off.

Andy

You bet I do. =o)

The day starts with feeling Francesca lying on my hip if she's not
especially hungry. If she IS hungry, she sits next to me as I lie on
my side and bats at then chews my hair to get my attention. Nina is
usually lying somewhere down by my feet.  My first words of the day
are usually "Kitty Breakfast time?"  After louevering myself out of
bed, I use the bathroom with lots of supervision. The girls run in and
out and urge me on, depending on how long this takes me. Then they run
ahead of me into the kitchen and sing a chorus or two of "Hurry up
slave! We're starving" as I get the food out, clean their bowls,
refill their water and dish up the fresh stuff.

While the owners are eating, time allowing I make the bed and get into
my exercise clothes and do my routine. I do this in the living room
which gets morning sunshine.  Nina is fond of plopping down on the
sunwarmed rug and watching Meowmie do her weird motions that means
there's no lap for her. Sometimes, Francesca joins her.  After
exercising, I shower. Francesca is  usually seated on the lowered
toilet cover. She will remain in the bathroom while I clean myself,
either on the toilet seat or on the window sill which is wide enough
for her. When I get out, she is allowed to investigate the shower
stall.   On mornings when I don't have time to exercise or shower,
I'll wash  my face and  brush my teeth etc etc with a most fascinated
audience.  Nina has been known to wade right into the basin.  I guess
wet paws don't bother her that much!

Once I'm clean, dry and dressed, I sit in my desk chair to put on my
shoes and socks. At this point, Nina will jump into my lap for a short
cuddle session. She and Francesca follow me and make sure that I know
how to scoop out the solid matter from their box properly, and how to
go dump it and bring in the newspapers properly.  I get paper
newspapers too, which you must understand is not for my entertainment
or edification; it's for the amusement of the cats. You can't play
with a computerized newspaper. It doesn't make little tents or tunnels
to hide under, and it doesn't make that nice rustly sound. Nor does it
lie flat enough on the table  to sit on while Meowmy is trying to read
it. So it has to be paper. As I cook breakfast, Nina supervises the
water boiling, the coffee grinding, and the oatmeal making with great
interest.  She doesn't want any, she just finds these procedures
amusing. Francesca is the one who "helps"me read the paper, usually.
She'll sniff at my coffee cup, but is not tempted to taste it.

After breakfast while I'm writing, the girls take turns to come say
hello by sitting on my computer desk and watching me, begging for ear
scritches. Then they go lie down on the bed or in the window to catch
some rays.

When I leave the apartment for work or any other purpose, my last
words are always.  "Okay kittens, mommy has to go, but I'll be back
You be good cat-children and guard the house. Mother loves you!"

Exit

Melissa

My Brandy--my little (?) calico sweetheart--is mama's morning person. When i
wake up she'll hop first onto my gut to knead and purr, and she can purr like
a jackhammer; then between my knees for some petting, then she'll plump down
on her side and roll over so i can rub her soft little belly. She'll stretch
herself out half the length of the bed; she's really not a small kitty,
although she wants everyone to think she's a delicate little baby. Truth is
she's Mama's little ox. After some belly-rubs she'll play wrassle and grab my
foot under the covers and wrangle it around awhile, chomping on my toes
through the blankets. Then Brandy will ususlly end up chasing down Stosh for
a real wrestling match, and I end up getting some entertainment before
turning on the news to be told how crappy the rest of the world is. It's not
so bad when you get to rub a cat's belly first thing in the day.

Blessed be,
Baha

I often wake up really early (like yesterday, when I woke at 3.30.
Aargh!). I'm usually up at 5-6 at the latest. I feed the cats at 7 and
not one minute earlier, so my morning ritual is listening to Caliban
meep for his breakfast for a couple of hours. ;) If he's really hungry,
he climbs onto my arm and purrs his fuzzy little head off and tries to
walk around on my chest and shoulders but he's not a little kitten any
more so it's more of a balancing act than it used to be.

Miranda wants out in the enclosure first thing every morning. She has to
check her domains, you know. When she comes inside, she often talks a
lot and runs back and forth. I haven't figured out what this means, but
sometimes I'm allowed to lift her up at this point and she settles on my
arm for a little snooze.

On days like today, when I'm working from home, the cats give me dirty
looks for not leaving them alone to sleep, though I try to be very quiet
so the poor dears can get some ZZZs. After all, they've only had 8
hours' sleep during the night. :P

When my alarm goes off, Miss Lily Whiskers usually jumps on the bed to
make sure I'm awake. Everyone in this house gets up via alarm clock. I
let Cara out, supervised by HRFL and Miss Lily Whiskers who also do
their morning consitution, then I say good morning to everyone else
because they're all up by then. Everybody has a "good morning"
scritches and nose sniff with everyone else, and it's all very
relaxed.

Cats then get their gooshy food, Cara gets fed and the Ferrets get
fed. Then I make my coffee and everyone goes about their day. If the
routine changes, my God do they let me know about it!! :)

Helen M

This has been a great thread! I really enjoyed reading about everyone's
morning (and evening) routines with their furballs.

Ditto! I don't have to be at work until 10 AM. Sounds cushy, but I have
a 45-minute commute, so that cuts into my sleeping time. :) Because of
this, I've cut out as much as possible from the morning routine, so that
I can use every possible minute for sleeping. At this point I can be up
and out in 30 minutes.

A very important and gratifying time of day with kitties, I agree!

As I said, I've cut down on my morning activities as much as I possibly
can. I prepare everything I'm going to take to work with me the night
before. I eat my breakfast at work. So my routine at home consists of:

Alarm goes off. Because I sleep deeply I use the radio, turned all the
way up. This scares the sh*t out of me, and usually costs me at least one
bed companion (who has left a cat-shaped hole in the wall trying to get
away). Once I've shut off the radio, I'll usually lie in bed trying to
work up the fortitude to sit up. During that time, I am visited by each
cat in turn. Smudge will pace back and forth, usually stepping on my
face, scratching at the covers, and/or meowing loudly. Licky will sit on
the floor by my bed, meowing loudly. Roxy will climb on me, kneading and
purring and nose-rubbing. Guess who gets the best response from me? :)

So I get up, pee, brush my teeth. Feed the cats. This is a big production.
Smudge eats on the counter, so no bratty boy cats can disturb her. (Because
of a change in Licky's routine, he can no longer bother her, but she still
prefers the counter.)

Smudge gets fed first. Then I dish up a big blob of wet food and microwave
it for Her Highness Roxy, who Doesn't Eat refrigerator-temperature food.
She takes hers in the pool of sunshine of the front living room window.
Finally, Licky gets his special c/d wet food, mixed with water, and is
served in a room with a door. Usually that's the computer room, which I
don't use on work mornings. But on weekends, I'll feed him in my bedroom,
since my next destination, with my own breakfast, is the computer.

While everyone's eating, I take a shower and get dressed. Then I heat up
the mug of tea that I made the night before, to drink in the car during
the commute. I pack my breakfast stuff into a small cooler, and then I'm
pretty much ready to go. I open the door to Licky's room. Hopefully he's
done, and usually he is, but sometimes he's just really slow about it.
Then there's a risk that the little piglet (Roxy) will horn in on his
breakfast. But I don't want to lock him in a separate room all day, so he
just has to learn to eat faster!

If I haven't already let Smudge out for the day, she and I leave the
house together. But in either case, I usually come across her rolling
around on the sidewalk, so I have a little petting session with her
before getting in my car and driving off.

Joyce