Our pets let us live here.

We have three pets. Two cats and a dog. My cat Sketch very much enjoys being outside and is a much more agreeable cat for it. He tends to prefer the evening hours, which is fine with us because he isn't running all over the house and playing with the dog while we're trying to sleep. Oh and you can't have a glass of water on the nightstand, the cat will stand on you to drink from it. I imagine it's like having young kids. You have to remove all temptation.

However, our dog and the cat are pals. Earlier in the spring when we'd sleep with the windows open - Sketch would be outside in the morning and call for us to let him in. Typically not a big deal, it was about the time when we'd be getting up anyway. Now, the dog thinks it's fun to wake me up to let her go outside to find Sketch. Lately she's been horrible. At first I thought that she really had to go to the bathroom. Nope. She's messing around.

She's pretty good at knowing when the cat needs to come in. I think that they have some extra sensory dialogue going on.

There's a whole process to taking care of everyone in the wee hours: make sure that you fill the cat dish with food because Sketch will be hungry. So the ideal routine to minimize time awake: Let the dog out, cat in. Go fill the cat dish while the dog may or may not be emptying her reserves. Let the dog in, go back to bed. But an hour later I'm usually wakened by a peeved cat because the dog ate his food (we do feed the dog too, she just seems to prefer the cat food- same brand even).

Yesterday the cat was out during the day hours. So Ruby woke me up at like 2 a.m. because the cat wanted to go out. I said you're both going out and I'm staying in here. See you in the morning.

Ruby is much more agreeable in the winter. She only goes out at night when she *has* to. Pansy dog.

Despite my complaining, I still enjoy their company. They can't talk to us, but they're very good at communicating anyway. And just by observing their actions a person can figure out what it is that they're trying to do. Ruby is very good at going outside, putting her nose to the ground and tracking Sketch.

I don't know if Sketch likes it because I would imagine having a big yellow dog trail you may impact your ability to catch mice.

And Pixel, well, she seems content to rule the house. She listens to the voices in her head and spends her day chasing flies or moths or her shadow up and down the hall upstairs.