Sleepy time

"Sadik! Quiet. Sh-h-h-h-h-h! We are trying to sleep.” It was 3AM and Sadik was meowing very loudly. And in my ear. Unfortunately Sadik liked to sleep by day and play at night. The problem was that I “played” by day and slept at night. It was a serious problem and no one was very happy in our household.

I started thinking to myself: “My, oh my, how Sadik and I are so very different.” As a general rule, most cats do like to sleep in the daytime and stay awake at night. I think that's because they have special eyes that let them see better in the dark than my eyes. Their whiskers also help them to navigate at night. That helps the cats to be wonderful nighttime hunters. God gave the cat the ability to find food that way.

That's not all that's different about us. Have you ever noticed how a cat sleeps? They sleep almost awake. That is to say, that even sleeping a cat is alert to what is going on around him. If you move a little or try to touch a sleeping cat, he will immediately open his eyes. He knows what's going on around him while alseep. That is one way a cat can protect himself from danger. He gets his rest, but at the same time he can run from an enemy.

There are lots of other differences between Sadik and me as well. He sleeps all curled up with his nose touching his tail. I could never sleep forming the letter “O” with my body because my back bones wouldn't let me do that. I am not as flexible as a cat is.

Neither can I jump like a cat. Sadik can jump from the ground straight up to the kitchen sink, or even the refrigerator if he want to. It's really incredible to see how high a cat can jump. For that matter it's pretty neat to see how a cat can squeeze into tight spaces, as well. Sadik can wiggle underneath the couch, even as big as he is. I can barely fit under the bed! Nor can I fly. Well, Sadik can't really fly, but it looks like it when he comes running, jumping from the sofa to the table to the chair, as if he were flying. All of these characteristics are important so that he can climb trees, run quickly, hide away if necessary, hunt for food, etc.

Something everyone notices about Sadik is his beautiful long fur. It is so soft that it is like silk. It's hard to resist hugging him and petting him. Although I have never given him a bath, he stays clean and smells good. That's because he bathes himself with his tongue. He has so much fur that it takes him a long time. Have you ever been licked by a cat? Their tongue feels like sandpaper. God made it that way so the cat can clean his own fur.

Besides being beautiful , Sadik's fur is useful. It's really really cold where we live in Canada. Although he is not especially fond of cold weather, every once in a while he likes to go outside for a couple of minutes. His fur protects him while he is outside. It's his own personal fur coat. Sadik even has special fur between his claws, on his paws that help him walk on the snow and ice.

God made Sadik in a very special way. If he made a cat with such care, imagine how he made you and me! Isn't it just fantastic the think about how God made us in such a special way? Just thinking about all I can do makes me want to say thank you to God.

By the way, we finally came up with a solution for our little problem of not being able to sleep at night because Sadik made so much noise. We were able to make a space for him to sleep in the basement of the house where he would have food and water, his bathroom and plenty of space to run and play at night. We even put in a bed for him where he could rest when he got tired of playing. During the day, he and I play together a lot. He chases after his play mouse and the ping-pong balls, we run up and down the steps and he sleeps in my lap or right beside the computer. At night, when I am in bed asleep, he eats and plays and makes all the noise he wants, without keeping me awake. Isn't that great that God gave me a brain to work out that solution?