It was nearly  7 a.m. and Mr Midnight lay curled up  on the comfortable chair in the living room.  He was suddenly aware of  warm pressure being exerted to his back.

  ……what is he doing to me now?   I appreciate his fondness, and it´s all very nice him stroking me like that,  but doesn´t he realise that I still need some more sleep?

We cats lead quite a tiring life. I need more sleep!

Good morning Mr Midnight.  Did you sleep well?

I had a rotton night. I kept tossing and turning and just couldn´t get off to sleep. There are obviously  too many things floating around my head.

———————————————————-

Mr Midnight pretended not to hear and kept his eyes closed – cat napping if you like.  He thought……….

  Just because you didn´t sleep so well doesn´t mean that you should also  keep me awake!

. . . . . . . .but it looks like you´ve slept well.

———————————————————-

Mr Midnight carried on thinking . . . .

  there´s little chance of that!

Oh no, now he´s woken Sir Winston with his mutterings.  Now I´ll never get any piece and quiet. Sir Winston purs like one of those machines which daddy drives to work with!

What a great way to start  the day.

Morning Mr Midnight. Morning Daddy.  Can you stroke me a little bit before breakfast please?

Sure thing Sir Winston. How did you sleep?  Mr Midnight seems to be ignoring me.

I went out like a light,  as you humans say.  After having enjoyed yesterday´s rare sunshine experience and having ran around the garden all day chasing Mr Midnight and Mr Squirrel, it was  wonderful  when I  eventually climbed into my basket last night. All four of my paws had simply stopped working. They needed recharging.

I think I know the feeling.  Sleep is something wonderful isn´t it.

———————————————————————

Mr Midnight was now wide awake and joined in the conversation.

———————————————————————

It would be if one could get to sleep!  How am I suppossed to get to sleep with all this racket going on?

I believe that Mr Midnight is in a bit of a bad mood. We better be careful today. You know what he´s like when he hasn´t had enough shut-eye.

Humans are exactly the same Sir Winston.  If they don´t get enough sleep they have difficulties getting through the day. Tensions are high and tolerance levels low.  In fact, most of the time, humans don´t seem to  realise the importance of sleep.

That´s quite true Mr Midnight.  Cats are very much aware of  how much sleep they need but humans would obviously,  sooner want to  jeopardise their health by over-concentrating on all other areas of activity,  than to understand the complications of not sleeping enough.

That sounds very silly. I thought humans were intelligent creatures.

Nobody (or being) is perfect Mr Midnight. We´re still working on it.

But cats instinctively know how much sleep they require. In your funny human way of measuring time, cats require 13 to 18 hours of sleep a day,  depending upon a cats age and personality.

The amount of hours a human beings needs to sleep is  individual with sleep needs varying  across populations.

Your researchers have worked out that there are two factors involved as regards  sleeping  hours. The basal sleep need – the amount of sleep our bodies need on a regular basis for optimal performance – and sleep debt, the accumulated sleep that is lost to poor sleep habits, sickness, awakenings due to environmental factors or other causes.

Studies suggest that a healthy human requires seven to eight hours of sleep a night but that things get complicated with the interaction between basal sleep and sleep debt.

Don´t start waffling on Sir Winston. Let´s try and keep things straight forward please.

OK, sorry!     Basically, a human may meet his basal sleep need on any single night (or repeatedly) but may still have an unresolved  sleep debt which makes humans feel even more sleepy or less alert than they should be.

Sleep research  has shown that if humans sleep  too little, they  not only inhibit productivity and the ability to remember and consolidate information, but their lack of sleep  also leads to serious health consequences and jeopardises  safety and the safety of individuals.

. . . and possibly the safety of cats!

It´s no wonder that “modern” humans are always complaining about “Burn out”, stress and being overwhelmed about  life´s strains.   They hardly ever let their bodies recuperate.

Some of us do have our methods  with which to try and sleep more easily. For example, rituals such as opening the window for 5 to 10 minutes before sleeping, going for a short walk around the block or drinking warm milk before retiring.

I like milk, but not too warm.

  Some of us take warm baths, listen to light music,  adjust the  bedroom temperature so as not to be too warm  and read with a soft light.

…….and most of you fall to sleep in front of that annoying box with flimmering pictures.

Yes, there is too much emphasis upon television. Cats don´t like television sets. I´m glad that daddy´s television is hardly ever switched on.

I must agree with you on that one Sir Winston.  Sometimes I think to myself what people would would do in the evenings if they didn´t have a computer or a television set – sleep a lot better most likely!

Sleep is so important and yet many of us deny ourselves the possibility to recharge our bodies.

  Humans have probably forgotten how to sleep properly.

Look!   I´ll show you all how its done.

Here´s a picture of Sir Winston sleeping.

He looks nice and relaxed  doesn´t he.

He knows how to look after himself properly.

Now it´s your turn.