The culpritI have very cute cats. No, really… everyone says they have cute cats but mine are affectionate, playful, sleek. Except for my one; Manson. He’s developed this Extra Special Annoying habit over the last few months, which is to get my attention while I’m sleeping thusly:

  1. Yowl at medium volume.
  2. Rattle the doorknob of my walk-in closet which is 5 feet from my head.
  3. Repeat ad nauseum.

I’m not quite sure how he figured it out, but if his aim is to get my attention, it’s quite effective. Various responses on my part include:

  • Rolling over and groaning.
  • Rolling over and yelling, which stops him for just long enough for me to almost get back to sleep before he starts again.
  • Throwing the other pillow in his general direction.
  • Getting really desparate and going downstairs to find the damn spray bottle which I then douse him with. In my half-groggy state I usually spray the wrong cat anyway, as they all tend to gather around to watch the other one get a whuppin’.
  • (Most effective) Hanging my messenger bag so that the padded strap is across the knob, and then leaning my guitar case across the knob/strap combo to thwart his rattling efforts.