King Cairn and the queen bed

[Lupinegirl]

Nikki and I have been silently "arguing" over which side of my bed is his for the past couple of nights. Up until a couple of months ago, I always put him on the floor when I was ready to go to sleep. He usually argued by growling in mild protest or by rolling over and wagging his tail, playing on my sympathies by showing me how darn cute and sweet he is. Lol. I think it surprised him when I turned out the light that one night and let him stay on my bed, but he had gone to sleep while I was reading. Those first few nights, he stayed right on the corner of the bed. I barely heard him and I didn't feel any movement. He was the perfect little gentleman and I started looking forward to having his warm little body near me when it starts getting cool out. Now... Well, I'll just let you read the little true story I wrote a few minutes ago.

King Cairn has decreed that a fourth of a queen-sized bed is not enough for his two foot long back. He has ventured into the dangerous territory owned by the Restless Leg Syndrome human. Boldly he waded into the waves, straddling those tossing limbs with stilt-like paws and his low-hanging potbelly. Annoyed by the constant movement, he huffed and staked his territory by parking his ample derrière upon the offending ankle. Surely trapping both thrashing feet beneath the covers would guarantee his victory and he could catch up on his much-needed beauty rest.

Alas! But the Restless Legs prevailed and slipped out from under him, creating another ripple of waves to wade across. He abandoned ship and retuned to his throne while giving his combatant a long hard stare. Perhaps the sheer power of his will would be enough to sway her.

The Restless Legs reclaimed their side of the bed, much to his disgust. To show his contempt, King Cairn rapidly kicked out his back foot three times before turning around and presenting his best face to his combatant. The battle of the bed is over. For now. But the Cairn Contempt is nearly tangible... For four minutes. Who knows what plans brew behind those twitching brows and those rhythmic snores? Perhaps that kicking foot is an indication that a mule kick is in the future. He has awakened the Restless Sleeper with a few of those before, and a few other ploys including snuggles and stink bombs. For now, all is peaceful and sweet in King Cairn's kingdom, with contented grunts and stretches in between dreams and yawns.

Hehe. Just when I think I'm ready to put my foot down and say enough is enough, Nikki melts my heart all over again. On nights when I actually need uninterrupted sleep, I'll put him on the floor, but on nights when I don't have anything planned in the morning, it's fun to see what my boy will say or do next, and it's really fun imagining what's going on behind those soulful sparkling eyes of his.

Merry cairn dreams to all of you, my friends, and to all, a good night!

Edited August 11, 2014 by Lupinegirl

[tlwtheq]

Well, neither of us has Restless Leg Syndrome, but there is a constant battle for real estate

with our terrorier trio on the Queen size bed.    Your story captures that beautifully!

[Sam I Am]

I can so relate. Jock had his own pillow right beside me. No ifs or butts....that was his place. We always had a routine. He would circle around on his pillow, plonk down, I would then reach over and rub his ear, he would sigh, if I rubbed his ear a few seconds beyond the allowed time limit (I swear he had a watch hidden in that fur) a low rumbling growl would tell me to go,to sleep already.

How on earth people can deny those pleading eyes is beyond me of course of course King Cairn has to sleep with the lowly upright. I am sure in his eyes he is allowing you a space on his bed.

[hheldorfer]

Loved your story.

 

We don't currently have a Battle of the Bed raging at our house but we will in a few months when it gets cooler.

[LindaMC]

Maisie has recently been allowed sleeping privileges on our queen size bed, due to our room being a lot cooler at night, and she has been the perfect little lady.  She sleeps down the bottom on the bed and doesn't move at all during the night unless Tess comes in the room and then lets out a loud roar to let Tess know that she disproves of her intruding on her territory  Such a little tyrant.  When Tess was little and didn't shed much, she use to have bed privileges, which began when she was spayed and had a hard time getting comfortable anywhere else but there.  Now she is much too big and sheds way too much for bed privileges

 

As soon as I say goodnight and go to the bedroom, Maisie follows me in there, puts her two front paws on the side of the bed and woofs for me to pick her up and when I do, I get the moans and groans of disapproval.  Then she plops down near me but when I go to scratch her ears or give her a little cuddle, she quickly groans and moves to the end of the bed.  She clearly doesn't like to be touched unless it's on her terms, which is usually in the early morning when I feel her tongue in my ear...

 

Come fall, Maisie will be sleeping back in her crate, I hope!

Edited August 11, 2014 by LindaMC

[Dempsy's Mom]

Cute stories.  No fighting over bed properties here.  Elsie is still sharing with kitty - Elsie might have a few stories about kitty being a bed hog - but Demps doesn't have any interest in sleeping with us, unless it's storming.  If it's storming he comes over to my side and wakes me up so I can give him a lift into the middle of the bed and there he stays till morning.  Snug as a bug between us.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Dempsy's Mom

[mom42terrificgirls]

I have RLS, and Callie gets so peeved when I start to move around. She jumps off and goes away to pout for about five minutes; then comes back. Then it starts all over again. We do this most of the night but she ALWAYS comes back. lol

[Autumn & Lola]

Lupinegirl  - Nikki has you completely bamboozled. LOL!  Great story!

[Kathryn]

 

Posted this cartoon on facebook, because it is so true in this household -- and found out that many others experience the same thing!

 

Actually, Oban sleeps UNDERNEATH the queen bed until almost dawn, when he asks to come up in the bed with us.  It is quite cute.  He loves his caves...

[Lynn in TN]

Kelly doesn't always want to sleep with us, but when she does Eric gets 1 foot of bed with the rest of his body hanging over the side. I get 1 foot of bed with the rest of me hanging off the other side. Miss Princess Kelly gets all the rest of the queen bed.

She can move all she wants to, but if we move she growls with disgust that we are disturbing her beauty rest. haha The last time she slept in our bed I got even, every time she moved I growled with disgust, she didn't like it much. hehe

[tlwtheq]

 

 

Posted this cartoon on facebook, because it is so true in this household -- and found out that many others experience the same thing!

 

Uhhhh, Yep.  Don't get up from bed or couch if you don't want to lose your place. 

[Malcolm's Dad]

Elsie and Kitty are good buddies. Look at those two sharing the bed. King Cairn still has some issues to work out with the peasants. If those restless legs can't be tamed they will have to sleep in the crate.

 

 Its recommended for back problems to sleep with the pillows under your knees to keep the legs elevated and no pillow under the head to keep the back flat. This stretches the lower back muscles and takes pressure off the spine. It helps me. I wonder if this would do any good for Restless Leg Syndrome? Or would it make it worse? Just a thought.
 

[arseovrteakettl]

Fuzz usually decides when I am to stop reading and pay full attention to him, and announces it by marching boldly up my body and settling right down in front of my face. He will not countenance me reading and petting him at the same time, either.

[Lupinegirl]

Thank you for the advice, Malcolm's Dad, but I'm primarily a side sleeper. I keep a small pillow between my knees and pillows around my back, chest, and shoulder. I've tried sleeping on my back and have done so successfully twice but usually I end up rolling over and wiggling until I fall asleep. I think elevating my legs would make the tingling and aching worse since that might reduce some of the blood flow.

Nikki has given up on trying to sleep with me. He's been asking me to put him on the floor after a couple of hours on my bed. We'll see how long this lasts.

[Lupinegirl]

Update on this topic: since the weather has cooled off, Nikki has gone back to sleeping in his corner of my bed all night long. No more battles for leg room! Yay! And it is awfully nice to have a quiet, considerate leg warmer nearby. But he wanted to get up before I was ready to wake up this morning. Lol. Oh well. At least I started the day with a smile.