The Reality of Being a Cat Owner

I'm writing this blog at 5:45 in the morning, because I am a cat mama... and James decided to scratch at his litter box at 5AM like a lunatic, and then peed in my clothes hamper. Because of course. So I've been up for almost an hour doing laundry and cleaning the litter box.

I love my cats... but being a cat mama is hard sometimes.

• I think I've had one full night's sleep without one of the cats waking me up within the past two weeks of being home.
• James has really annoying and noisy habits, like scratching at the walls of the litter box instead of scratching the litter itself.
• Leif cries and whines like a baby when he wants something.
• When James feels like his litter box is too dirty (ahem), he pees on things around my room.
• They eat way more food than you'd think 10-lb animals possible could, and their litter box gets full faster than seems biologically necessary.
• Cats are why I can't have nice things, because they knock everything over... especially full glasses of water.

Having cats, like almost any pet, is not a walk in the park. This morning at 5AM, I was so mad at James I thought I was going to explode. This is going to be a really, really long week, and I need my sleep. I needed to sleep in today, and instead, I was up way before my alarm, washing a pee-soaked sweater and dealing with a cat who feels the need to let everyone in the neighborhood know he's using the litter box.

As I'm looking around in bed, Leif is on the long pillow next to my head. He's spread out, with the kind of smile that only cats can have. He looks exhausted, and he's snoring (which is as hilarious as it sounds). James is next to me on the bed, purring softly and just finished nuzzling up against me. They really are sweet boys... most of the time.

I don't love them just when they're sleepy and quiet, but I'm gonna be honest: I love them a lot more now than I did at 5AM.

Cats are difficult creatures to live with, but I honestly can't imagine life without my two little lions. I love my cats desperately. It's not always easy to live with them, but I wouldn't give it up for the world. Part of my problem is that I tend to wish the cats would change their annoying habits without me having to do anything... and that's not the world we live in.

If I want the cats to sleep through the night, I need to wear them out playing every evening. If I don't want James (the picky bastard) to pee on my clothes when he thinks the litter box has gotten too dirty, I need to clean the litter box more. 

It's more work for me, but ultimately, it's for me.

How do you stop your cats from scratching at things? Would you change anything about your pets? How do you get them to sleep through the night?