Do you have a daily routine?

I don't really have a routine for my cats. I give them food all day, water all day, pets and hugs when they want it, some play, and a litter box cleaning.

I want to make a routine. Do you have one in your home?

No I don't. We free feed Moss. Hubbie has more of a routine than I do cos I work shifts ranging from 6 hours to 25 hours at a time. Moss isn't a house cat anymore so he comes and goes as he pleases so doesn't need fixed times for anything.

My routine is so predictable. My cats are on strictly canned food now, fed twice a day. When I get up (6am) and when I get home at night (usually 6pm).

As soon as the birds start singing, Snickers will nibble my nose or chin... trying to wake me, cuz he's hungry! Even on weekends; I haven't slept in past 7am on weekends in months, which is fine with me. I have so much to do every weekend anyways.

I stick to the cats' routines no matter what... if not, I feel like I'm skipping out on them! I hated leaving them for 2 days when I went camping recently, and have to leave them again to work a trade show!!! My mom says my cats seem so lost and depressed without me! But I think it's cuz they get thrown from their routine, cuz mom won't drop by 2x a day to feed my kits.

Yes, I have a routine with my cats. From what I understand, cats do better when there's a routine so they know what to expect, etc.

Pepper and Tango tend to wake me up BEFORE my alarm goes off around 6 or 6:30 so often, I'd resort to cuddling them (which they're NOT IN THE MOOD for) OR pushing them off the bed then snoozing for a few seconds before they're back bugging me. Tango would either nuzzle my face with his whiskers or pull my hair through his paws (SERIOUSLY!) and Pepper would keep walking up and down on my body, dig at the sheets with her claws until I get up. It often takes me half an hour of this before I'd give up and get up.

First thing I do after grumbling at the cats about waking up earlier than necessary is either go to bathroom if I cannot hold it long enough OR go to the kitchen to take out the bowl of dry catfood for cats to eat.

After checking water, cleaning litterboxes and giving cats cuddles, I tend to take a bath (for my bad knee). If I don't take a bath, Pepper and some other cats gets upset. For some reason, they LIKE to drink water from the bathtub WHILE I'm in the tub. Can you imagine 4-5 cats perched on the edge of the bathtub drinking water while you're in the bathtub!?!? Have had some adventures with them falling in. Several times after I have filled the bathtub with water, I'd be doing something else and Pepper would be following me around going crazy with her MEOWING MEOWING MEOWING until I get into the bathtub then she'd start drinking. I don't know why they won't drink from it without me in it.

ANYWAY, I tend to leave for work around 7:30 to 8 am (always holler "bye" to my furbabies) then after I come back from work, I always make sure to greet each cat by talking and cuddling.

Around 5-6 I put the bowl with dry catfood back into the cupboard so they don't eat anymore.

Around 7 pm, I put out 5 dishes with wet catfood. I often have to do homework (am a Graduate student ) or do work from work during the evenings but I try to play for at least half an hour or MORE with all the cats and clean litterboxes again before I go to bed.

Sounds exciting huh? LOL. Weekends are more iffy with routines since I go out with friends sometimes, do LOTS of reading for my course, doing assignements/research or run errands all day, etc.

I love hearing these.
Pamela- Yours is great!

Originally Posted by Ilovecats

I love hearing these.

Pamela-

Yours is great!

Click to expand...

Glad to hear that u think my routine is great... I was not sure if I gave too much details about my routine? I tend to talk talk talk and give too much details sometimes..

My furbabies is my favorite subject so I have to watch myself and not talk too much about them.

Pamela- No way! You didn't ramble near enough. Its my favorite too!

Originally Posted by Pamela

First thing I do after grumbling

at the cats about waking up earlier than necessary is either go to bathroom

if I cannot hold it long enough OR go to the kitchen to take out the bowl of dry catfood for cats to eat.

Click to expand...

Wow!!! I have this very same dilema. Pee or feed the cats first thing in the morning!! If I take care of my needs first, my cats seem to have a look of "Feed me now!! Couldn't that wait!!" on their faces.

I also try to keep a schedule for them.

Nope, no routine at my house.

I have a routine with Pepper. I get up at 6:30 a.m., well I actually hit snooze twice so I technically get up at 6:48 a.m. But from the moment the alarm goes off, Pepper comes out of her house (her carrier, which she absolutely LOVES

) and sits on the floor staring up at me. She knows now that I press snooze twice, so she sits beside the waiting patiently waiting for me to get up.

I then give her some can food, fresh water, and dry cat food if her bowl is empty (the dry food is for her to nibble on during the day cuz my bf and I work all day long). She eats while I'm in the washroom. We meet up in the bedroom and she sits on the window sill, alternating between watching me dress and looking out the window (all the while I'm talking away to her). When I get ready to leave, I call her (if she's not near me) to give her a quick cuddle, tell her I love her and give her some healthy treats.

When I come home she comes running from where ever she's at in the apartment ( I LOVE the fact she does that, makes me feel so nice

). She then proceeds to meow, quite loudly too

, at me until I change her water and give her some more can food.

Note: My bf gives her treats before he leaves in the morning for work (5:00 a.m.) and when he gets home from work (4:30 p.m.). So needless to say she is one spoiled kitty!

I'm usually home either morning or night, but not usually both in the same day. When I'm home in the morning I will get up and feed, water, and scoop, then I will give him pets for a while and then eventually go to work. He eats dry food so I just give him a lot and it lasts until I'm home again, he's a grazer not a gorger so it works well. If I'm home at night I will check his food/water and box, if something needs dones I'll do it. Then we play a lot, night it both of our play times so we chase each other around the house and play hide and seek. I can't wait until I have a permanent living situation so I can be with him every day and night, but for now he's with my parents and they are wonderful to him so I don't think he's missing out on anything.

My cats definitely have a routine for me. On weekdays, I get up and work out in the morning, and they know it's not time to eat until I get home, about 6:30. I scoop their box and feed them at precisely 7:30 pm in the evening, though they start whining about 2 hours earlier. I like them having set dinnertimes. We moved from the east coast a year ago and that REALLY screwed them up. They would start crying for food at 7:30 EASTERN time, which is 4:30 Pacific!! It's taken them a bit, but now they're California cats.

I love these routines!

Up at 6.30.a.m. to have headbutts and purrs from Sophie and headbutts on my legs from Rosie

Head off to the bathroom with both kitts in tow, with Sophie in the bath waiting for me to turn the cold tap on and Rosie giving herself a wash.

Downstairs to make breakfast, and give the kitts some wet food for theirs, then they normally play chase with each other.

Leave them a tiny amount of kibbles(their on a diet!) in their room and i leave for work.

Back from work to give them some more wet food for tea, then they have a good run around before bedtime, then it's lights out before 11.p.m where both of them jump up on the bed with Rosie on my feet and Sophie laying against my tummy

Not really. I put more food into the bowl twice a day, in the morning and at night, but otherwise they free feed. I also give them fresh water and scoop the litter box twice a day, also in the morning and at night. That's all, I think.

I have a very specific routine in the morning. I get up anytime between 5 and 6am and the very first thing I do is feed the cats their moist food. Only when that's done do I make my coffee and get on the PC. The cats also split another moist food in mid-afternoon, and free feed on dry food the rest of the time. The only other ritual we have is they greet me at the door when I come in at the end of the day. Only three at a time though, never all four, and it's always a different cat who's the holdout each day. I can almost imagine them planning which one is going to make me look for them today!