Early morning wake up calls!!

[Shelly and Dora]

Ohhh Willowgill. Your story of Harry has really struck a cord with me.

Its so similar to the bedtime routine with Dora. She has her treatsies at the bottom of the stairs and then I walk upstairs but she has to get to the top first, round the corner into our bedroom at 100mph and be waiting at her foodies bowl & meowing for her biscuits as I get to the top of the stairs.

Once we've both wee'd (beside each other in the ensuite!!) she jumps on the bed and waits for her glucosamine. I break one piece into 2 (its quite big). She has the first piece & then I give her the 2nd piece with a little message & several kisses. It's the same message every night & its the one my dad used to say to me every night.

When she was kept in for tests at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket I booked myself (in a complete state with no overnight bag - I'd expected to bring her home - its a 2 hour trip away) into the nearest hotel. The consultant was superb and kept calling me to let me know although she was grumpy, growling and hissing she was generally ok. In the midst of my tears during one such call the consultant said she was then going to do her final check before bedtime. I asked her between sobs to give 'the message' to Dora.

She called me back about 20 minutes later and said she'd opened the unit Dora was in, gave her a treat like I'd asked and gave her the message. She said that there was a clear difference in Dora's attitude as soon as she started saying 'the message'. The consultant said after passing on my words Dora let her stroke her and give her bedtime fusses!!!

There's a lot to be said for routine x

[HRHFluffy]

Shelly that is such a lovely story about Dora at the vets and the vet giving her the message. That has brought a tear to my eye. Not only was it the routine she recognised but it would have been the words themselves. The familiarity of them would have calmed her. How very lovely and sweet. What a wonderful routine you have with her.

Sarah I am glad that Edgar has altered his very early morning routine. He is learning to compromise Let's hope it continues.

Fluffy has slightly and with some encouragement altered her routine. I have discovered that if I respond to her and stroke her, as she's climbing on me and meowing in my face at 5am, then she does settle down a little on my tummy and doesn't demand that I get up with her. I tried to ignore her for a couple of mornings but I felt so guilty and she wasn't having it. So that is when I thought I would talk to her and stroke her to "acknowledge" her presence on my tummy. So it looks like she has trained me and I have made the compromise instead of her Oh well. At least I don't have to physically get up.

I had to smile at Harry's bedtime routine. What a lovely boy he was. Very much missed I'm sure but his memory lives on!!

[SarahT1 [PLLE]]

Carol and Shelly, you make very good points. The little ones so like routine and only want it changed if it's their idea! I'm impressed that Dora could respond to the words even spoken by someone else. They are so familiar to her they can offer comfort in an unfamiliar setting. And I think Carol is spot on about acknowledgment. When Edgar is fussing OH at 4am I say that he only wants a few minutes response and he'll settle again. We've now had a third night of Edgar's changed routine and he slept on OH's bedside table till nearly 6am. Funnily Lou Lou who for nearly a year has slept every night between her Daddy's leggies has taken to stretching out by his side for the last two nights so he can cuddle her! Meanwhile Pepsi and I fell asleep together on the sofa till 1am again!!!