Co-sleeping cats and other pet parenting adventures

One side effect of Army life is that pretty much everyone we know our age has kids. You want to know something funny that happens when you put a bunch of people with kids together at parties? They talk about their kids. Most times, I zone out or wonder away, but I realize that their kids have a surprising amount in common with my cats.

1. Middle of the night wake up calls. Bagel Bites has a charming habit of singing the songs of his people at 1 am. Then again at 4 am. And then again from when he decides he wants breakfast. And then from breakfast until lunch. And again from lunch until dinner. And a reminder that we need to leave their nightly snack before we go upstairs. And a “Why did you leave me?” serenade when he finishes eating and realizes that we went upstairs.
2. Cleaning up bodily functions. Fun fact: cats have fur and get hairballs. Fun fact: cats tend to deposit these hairballs on surfaces like carpet that are really fun to clean up. And we get the honor of removing their waste from a box because we trained them to use said box.
3. Co-sleeping. Cats are just so cuddly and snuggly with their little faces and their biscuit-making paws. But have you ever slept in the same bed as a cat? How does an animal that weighs 12 pounds take up a genuine third of the real estate on a queen-size bed? How has an animal that is 12 pounds successfully pushed a 6 foot tall man off of a bed?
4. Wanton destruction of property. I’ll see your kid breaking a dish and raise you my cats clawing apart an armchair, a love seat, and two couches.

What is your favorite pet parenthood story?