Y'all are so nice to me, and you have been so nice to me for so long. I am deeply grateful. I really appreciated hearing that you have had similar experiences with loved pets and loved people. I would really love to hear more. Please write to me at jimchaney@cableone.net One of my wonderful nieces had the same suggestion of getting a new kitty, and when I arrived back at the house a few days ago, my niece, who has a doorkey, told me to close the front door quickly. I asked why, and she pointed to a doorway, where I saw this little black streak running through the den and then the connecting living room. My niece had called the "pound" in five counties to find a cat that looked like Abigail. She went 50 miles to get my kitty, who is black with white on her throat and part of her belly. I named her Esmerelda and call her "Izzy." Izzy is a nine week old darling ball of black fluff who sleeps on my chest when I am in bed, except when I turn over onto my tummy and then she sleeps on my butt. And purrs. Funny sensation, the sense of whirring in your butt. The last two days I've been studying for an exam-12 hours a day, and Iz sleeps on my tummy except when that cute black furry face looks over the top of my book at me or gnaws on the edge of the book. Iz is what the term "beautiful cat" is all about. I've been at the computer for about an hour and in that time she has managed to turn over the trash can, run through the house many times, has snuggled up to my feet, looked up many time with an "Isn't it time to play?" look, and is driving her 7 year old thirteen pound stepbrother Tupelo to distraction. Tupelo jumps up on the desk to get away from her and then sits on the scanner. He's now licking his left front paw while he stands up. Tupelo is very patient and usually gives me 5 minutes before he throws the papers off the scanner so he can lie down. Cats are hilarious. Please let me hear from you. Jim

hey babs.. MERRY CHRISTMAS ... is there any reason to think.. that perhaps some level of over-fert may have led to its lack of sleep.. sorta like the old days when i was a teen .. when i would drink a big pepsi in late evening ... and then lay there twitching in bed for hours.. wondering why i couldnt fall asleep?? can you ID any reason why this one did NOT want to go dormant??? there might be a species reason.. in its dna.. but there should really be a 'cultivar' reason ... though i am too lazy to look up the cross on this one ... HAPPY NEW YEAR TOO!!!! ken

My sleep has VERY much improved since my last response on Feb 3. I still wake up but now only once on most nights, and I go right back to sleep. Usually the reason I wake up now is a full bladder, but now I'm so sleepy when I wake up that I just roll over instead of get up to go to the bathroom (the problem with that is that I will just continue waking up as my bladder gets fuller and fuller, but the good thing is that it means I'm sleeping sounder and not waking up for no reason all night). I believe the improvement is due to the sensible lifestyle changes I made: regular, daily exercise; eating healthy balanced diet and less sugar; and calcium / vitamin supplements. Prior to that, I had already increased my water intake (to about 64 ounces a day) and stopped eating within 3 hours of bedtime. Even if you don't believe (or do believe) everything Dr. Lee says, one thing he states that is right on is that if we aren't eating right, exercising, etc. then no cream or pill is going to fix us. And any good doctor should tell us that right up front even if he/she is a strong supporter of a particular medication or cream. It took a few months to notice the changes. And my sleep is still not the good heavy, all-night sleep I used to enjoy until I hit my 40's, but it's normal to sleep lighter as we get older. Try making simple lifestyle changes (if you haven't already), one at a time. Just make one change for a full month before trying another one.

I can totally sympathize and I used to fret over how much sleep I was getting (or not getting) all the time. I was always waking up in the pre-dawn hours and it really bothered me I couldn't sleep through the night. But then last year, I decided to give it up and let my body settle into whatever sleep pattern I felt comfortable with. So I'm a total night-owl now and I rarely go to bed until well after midnight, usually between 1-2AM. That 'eight hours of sleep' thing is drilled into our heads all our lives, but everybody knows you don't need as much sleep as we age. I'm quite comfortable with 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night and can function just fine all day without feeling sleepy. The extra hours late at night are my quiet time and I spend it reading, working on craft projects, watching chick flicks, etc. It takes a while to adjust to a different schedule of sleep, but not fighting it made all the difference and I'm not staring at a dark ceiling at 3:00am anymore!