katallison | (no subject)

I've been waking up most mornings lately tired and achey all over, and while this may be attributable to Time's Fell Hand doing a number on my body, it may be that I just need a new mattress. Because the current one is, like, 15 years old, and getting saggy (just like me).

I have not bought a new one, however, because it strikes me that for my entire adult life I've been sleeping on a box-springs-and-mattress-on-the-floor setup of the kind seen in tenement-house crash-pads-cum-shooting-galleries, as featured in NYPD Blue and other fine urban documentaries. And with my 50th birthday impending, it might be time to splurge on an actual bed, of the kind that sits up off the floor and everything, and conveys an air of adulthood, rather than of heroin addict/college student.

However, it also strikes me that I can't really buy a new bed as long as the ancient tottery cat is still in the picture, because as it is she can just barely clamber up onto the box-springs-mattress-on-the-floor, and anything with greater height to it would defeat her utterly, and god forbid I should do anything that would remove from my life the nightly experience of 2:30-a.m. Siamese yowlings right in my ear, along with a waft of rotten-cat-food breath.

(And no, I am not going to even think about building a little cat-handicapped-ramp. I draw the line somewhere.)

So I'll just continue to be creaky and achey for a while. (As I think about it, this pointless little anecdote feels somehow emblematic of my whole life these days.)

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I sleep on mattress-and-box-springs on the floor and quite like it, actually. I like being low to the ground.

You might try a high-quality futon. Less springy than box springs, admittedly, but good for the back. And still low enough for a creaky feline to join you. :-)

I second the suggestion of a good futon and frame. That's what we have in the spare room; it was my bed for years. The better futons are heavy -- solid cotton batting -- but wonderfully comfy. And you can get frames to get them up off the floor but not far, maybe a foot or so.

I am embarassed to admit that I have a cat-handicapped-set of steps to my bed and to the daybed for my arthritic possibly illgitimate Abyssinian. Pile of five yearbooks, small stool, then larger footstool, with only about 4" between each of the step levels. So the arthritic but elegant Wimsey prances elegantly up while Willy, the 24lb diabetic cat flings himself like a furry cannonball from the floor up.

And I have a like situation with the daybed in the Office.

Oh the joys of being pussy-whipped.

Sally

Forgot to mention... a stack of books with a towel over them makes a dandy cat-ramp. Or a couple of chairs and boxes, which is what we had for Grasshopper.

Have you tried giving her Cosequin? My vet recommended it as good for G's joints, and it really made a huge difference. (And I take something similar -- it's glucosamine and condraitin -- that helps my joints.)

I love that icon with a burning passion. :)

I hope you don't mind my asking, but you put up with waking up tired and achey because you draw the line at building a little cat-handicapped-ramp? Huh?

You could buy a new mattress now, and buy the actual bedstead later...

the whole "ancient kitty getting on the bed" difficulty - my 19 year old puss died recently, but for the last year or so of her life, I had a sort of ramp for her, made up of my sewing box and a chair, from which she up could step onto my pedestal waterbed. It can be a realy problem.

You might want to check out this website: drsfostersmith.com
They have tons of folding indoor ramps as well as every other possible cat (and dog) supply/need under the sun.

Kat, you should have a real bed, a magnificent one, a bed of your dreams, with a canopy if you want, and a good mattress and box spring combo that you've chosen carefully, after many test-naps. Fifty is an important birthday. You should get there in style. I say, re-draw your line and make your new bed kitty-accessible. Remember, your cat will also feel important and special when she's yowling at you from atop a fabulous queensize bed. You know cats. She'll think you got the bed for her.

And no, I am not going to even think about building a little cat-handicapped-ramp.

Oh. I'm charmed by the idea! *g* My mattress is old and saggy, too, even on a bed, and right now, the whole thought of going and finding a new one is beyond me. Frankly, all the beds in our house need new mattresses. Meh.

New mattress. New box spring. Bed frame. Trust me: it is *so* worth it.

I look askance at futons, myself, finding them too hard. I do like a good firm mattress, though. For sleeping! Sleeping! (:

Be good to yourself. Give yourself a birthday present. And hey, if Miss Kitty Psychotico wants to get up there, you can *put* her up there.

New beds keen! And really, my fourteen year old puppy gets up on mine just fine with a chair pushed up to the foot of the bed. ::encourage, encourage::

Kirby ^^^ (see icon) has hip dysplasia in a rear hip and arthritis in his front knees. So this past winter we invested in a set of doggy stairs to facilitate his overlordship of the household further. He climbs merrily up and perches atop my mother's very tall bed on a daily basis.

I can recommend a new mattress from the perspective of a young and achy person. When I bought mine a few years ago, back pain was much improved. Luck whatever you decide.

I have also been considering a new bed. My dream bed is a great big four-poster with red velvet curtains and a Persian rug draped over the top. That way, if I ever meet that wonderful man who likes me in spite of my personality, I can always use the bed to frighten him.

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I understand...

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