our cat has a new trick--but is this dangerous?

[ginnyinWI]

Little Kitty has always been a real cuddle-bug. She often sleeps on our bed at night. Two nights now, with the weather getting cooler, she's crawled under the covers and down to about our waist level between us to sleep. She's under the covers, and if one of us turns over and pulls them up higher, she's even further under. She also has a chronic stuffy nose condition so her breathing is a little impaired anyway. Is she in any danger of suffocating under there? She's a full-grown cat, six years old.

The only way I can see to prevent Little from doing this is to ban her from the bedroom altogether.

[Orsino]

1. I had a mother and daughter pair of kitties...

...who would go "spelunking" as often as we let them. They spent entire afternoons under the covers with no apparent ill effects.

I would say that there's little danger, as long as she's spry and able to alert you to trouble.

[ginnyinWI]

2. that's been my general attitude,

until my husband brought up his concerns. One time she actually woke me up with her squirming to come up for some air--so I think she'll be alright, too. I just wondered if anyone had any trouble with their cats doing this--and thought the pets forum would be an ideal place to get more shared experiences. Ha--I wonder how many "cat-owning years" we'd have if we added it all up together?

[ceile]

3. One of our cats does it every night.

She's never been "stuck" or anything like that. Now me on the other hand.....I had one cat on my left sleeping on top of the sheet, but under the comforter. On my right was another cat on top of the comforter. I couldn't move my legs because they were both at knee level, and of course I didn't want to disturb them.....took me a while to get out bed that morning.

[ginnyinWI]

4. thanks--good to know.

And I hear you on being pinned down by a kitty--this one will sleep directly on your chest if you let her. As I type this, she's on my lap, purring with her head on the back of my hand! I think she thinks it is her mission in life to grow onto me permanently.

[japple]

5. Sounds like you have a velcro kitty! n/t

[tosh]

6. She is a beauty!!

I have a special fondness for brown tabbies.:-)

[ginnyinWI]

7. then you shall have another pic--

that other one doesn't show her many stripes very well. She's a very stripy kitty! And her fur feels like silk.

[emilyg]

8. So pretty.

[tosh]

9. Awww! Thanks!

What a sweet face! I love the amber beneath her eyes.:loveya:

[Warpy]

10. No, my cats in New England all did that

but they'd wriggle in between the sheet and quilt so they wouldn't get squashed when we turned over.

She won't suffocate and if she starts getting a little short of breath under there, she'll just ease up toward the top and poke her nose out for a little fresh air.

Keeping her out of the bedroom would be cruel and probably wouldn't work out too well. Cats have their ways of telling us when they disapprove.

[ginnyinWI]

11. I know--if she wasn't scratching down the door,

she'd be sitting outside of it crying. She's the type to start crying if she suddenly thinks she's home all alone. Then I call her and she comes running, so relieved to find a person in the house!

Update: she hasn't been under the covers for several nights now, so maybe that was a passing phase. Sometimes she sleeps on the bed on top of the blankets, and sometimes she stays in the living room, too tired to be bothered to get up and follow us to the bedroom.

[Jersey Devil]

12. Our cat did that for years, plus another trick to go with it

He would always wait until we at least appeared to be asleep, then go to the top of the bed and burrow down under the blankets to foot level.

The second trick he learned, however, wasn't that much fun. If we slept late (say, on a Saturday) and he was hungry, he'd bite you on the big toe to let you know it was time for breakfast.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. The sun conure does that... but we do not let her go to sleep

we could crush her.

But spelunking... absolutely.