When it comes to sharing your bed with a cat, I can think of far more benefits than I can drawbacks! I find nothing more soothing than having a cat curled up in the bend of my knees or the small of my back, making a little warm spot and purring contentedly whenever I move. I have had cats sleeping in my bed since I was a child and our Tiger cat would sneak upstairs when it was time for Dad to put him down the cellar for the night and hide under the covers by my feet. I would pretend to be sleeping, and even though Dad had a pretty good idea where Tiger was, he wouldn’t want to disturb his little sleeping daughter. We had it all figured out, Tiger and I. As soon as Dad was bedded down, he’d crawl out & curl up next to me for a sound night’s sleep, after giving my toes a complimentary wash with his scratchy tongue. Much cozier than a damp smelly old cellar.

After Tiger came Cougar, the Siamese cat that adopted me at the home where I boarded while I was going to Tech. After him came a myriad of other cats that left less of an impression on my mind, but always made a large impression on my heart as they dozed beside me. The next signifigent cat was Fido, so named because I couldn’t have a dog. He was a tabby striped, blue cross-eyed, kinky-tailed, spare-toed Siamese colored mutt, and he purred his way into my bed and my heart, more than any cat I had owned (or actually who had owned me, one does NOT ever own a cat!)for many years. He went everywhere with me, except to work & out on dates, including sitting on the side of the tub while I had a bath, he fetched (compulsively)& his “fetchee” was a rabbit’s foot – he must have gone through a dozen of them, and he was my nearest & dearest friend. He was murdered, at the age of 7, by a rotten Himalayan I had foolishly adopted, and I hated that cat forevermore.

Fido was followed by Sylvester and Travelling Wilbur, who metamorphed into Barnacle Bill when we all moved onto our 42′ wooden sailboat. The bunk was pretty small, so he would sleep on me, instead of beside me – not nearly as desirable for either of us. Eventually sea life made him quite neurotic & we found him a safe and solid home “on the hard” with some good friends where he happily lived out the rest of his days. We eventually sold our boat & bought an acreage, where we are at the present time with our 3 cats – Radar, Flossie & Bert (poor Ernie was et by the evil coyotes) & they all take turns cuddling up to us and purring us to sleep, either singly or en masse! Disadvantages: they can be real blanket hogs at times, their feet can pack an awesome amount of detritus onto the covers, and they do shed. A small price to pay for their loving presence & soothing purrs!