OMG... The DH and I had a good laugh over this. The first thing he said after he read it was, "And you think you want another dog....."

I know what you mean about that quiet time alone in the mornings. It's different, isn't it, than quiet time in the afternoon or evening. My day starts off wrong when he's the first one up.

What a morning surprise! Once in a while I get one of those presents too.
There is nothing better than quiet time in the morning. Also one of those reasons why I prefer my morning ramble, nobody wants to talk to you while you walk, too early for most folks.

Cat gack is the main reason i dont get out of bed until daylight. They love to lay land mines around the bedroom at night. Nothing worse than hearing gack gack gack in the dark.

Pam,that's hilarious and anyone who has ever had a cat knows exactly what you're talking about. Well,if you ever decide you want to get up in the dark,get a dog. They'll clear the area for you.

LOLOLOL. And I read this thread immediately after getting up from a heavy Sunday Brunch.

My DH is the one who has the quiet time in the early morning. After getting up very early all of his working years, he couldn't/didn't want to change it. Believe me, I don't want to get out of bed at 3:45 a.m.!! But, then he retires early--8:00 p.m., and that's when I get my quiet time. After all the years of watching some TV show that I didn't want to see--or it worked that way for him, too, if I chose what to watch, we both now watch what we want. I'm finding that more and more frequently, I turn the TV off and read--or turn on the computer.

P.S. Not knowing what makes cats "gak" except hairballs, here's a hint I read in Heloise the other day: smear some vaseline on the cat's paws. In the process of licking it off, some of the vaseline gets ingested, helping to "coat his innards" and making the passing of hairballs go the other way. I have no idea if this works! Just thought I'd share the information!

My day started a little better.
No cat to "gak" but the little Princess has to get up when I do. It isn't 6 am I can tell you that much.

There is no quiet time here. Just leave me the #*11 alone time! No I don't say it, but I sure do think it sometimes.
I guess thinking swear words is probably just as bad as saying them. :0)

I went to a new church with my best friend today.
She had been wanting to go and so have I so today was the day. It was very inspirational. Lots and lots of young
folks there. Not so much traditional but nice just the same.
I'll take Neil the next time, I think he would enjoy it.

I've been cleaning out a chest of drawers in the bedroom while he watches football. It is a COLD, Dreary, cloudy
day. A hibernating day for sure.

I used to get up in the mornings before we moved and sit in
my big comfy chair in the living room and read. It was
wonderful. The quiet time before the house comes to life is
the best time of all.

I well remember when I had a cat hearing the gak gak and rushing to carry the gakking cat to the basement door and pushing her down..lol Sometimes I made it, sometimes not.

Used to make me mad when she would eat grass outside and come in and barf on the rug! Grrrrr!

I don't know Marda, but it sounds just about the way my mornings go every day of the week. As DH constantly points out to me, we used to have the perfect dog & now we've got a factory reject. However, he loves us so much, that we forgive him just about everything, especially when he curls up next to us on the couch to cuddle a bit.

Marda, I had to laugh. Nothing like a dear creature calling for your attention when you rather just want to enjoy coffee and newspaper.
When I get up it is still dark and I don't like bright lights first thing, so I have a pen-light to guide me, it will illuminate "kitty surprises", at least most of the time. I try not to walk barefoot.
I did learn that, hearing the gak-noise, it is best to leave them be, trying to pick them up and take them outside just leaves a trail and I rather just clean one spot - bless Nature's Miracle!

animals are so much fun. cats in general are a riot. nothing like waking up to that 'certain smell' in the morning and i'm not talking about the coffee brewing...come winter my cats always decide to only eat the smelliest foods they can find and they make a point to never, ever go out side in the cold to use the 'john' . they also make sure that they have at least one food group available that is going to make them gak in the darkest hours of the night. it has a two fold purpose: it wakes me up and keeps me awake wondering where it is and if i will step in it come morning. it is a cats duty to see that the gak is always in a place where you can easily step in it but barely see it.
am i the only one whose cats pee on them when i pick them up? how wonderful that is!
g

You tricked me with your title :/

Maggie doesn't do that and Keegan, I could get him into the bathtub in the end; he just didn't move very much then. I did try to get him outside sometimes, but he hated being out and I realized one day, why not the shower? I can clean that out pretty easily. Worked well, but I am sure sorry he needed it so often. Wish I'd known about his illness, rather than thinking he was just being a cat. But Mags is opposite of him in every way, so I never have to clean it up or step in it. Someone must be compensating me for so much mess before. :)

I am down to four cats now, one of them inherited from my mother's household. The baby of them is over ten years old, if that tells you anything. All but the youngest are gakkers. Only one of them, my mother's cat is a hairball gakker. Two have medical reasons, one a cancer and a megacolon, and the other one, who is eighteen...... probably early stage renal failure. So the gaks just come with the territory and hair-ball formulated cat foods and medicines don't help.

I am not a big disposable item consumer, and try to keep my household as 'green' as possible. But, for the interim, as long as I have numerous geriatric pets (including a sixteen and a half year old dog) I should own stock in Bounty Towels and Lysol.

I hate it when it squishes through your toes.

OH YUK!!! may well be a fitting response to the above posts! LOL

My two cats, believe it or not have NEVER "gacked" in the house. And when either of them has to go, and can't get to the litter box because the door is shut..they go in the shower. Good cats!