THEY get up, go to work, eat lunch, take a tea break, head home … that’s what my human family does all day, week after week. They come home and watch TV, hang around with me, cook, eat, feed me, watch more TV and go to bed. Humans are so busy organising and scheduling so that everything gets done on time.

Who hasn’t been woken up at four in the night by a hungry kitty who doesn’t care about the alarm clock? Well, cats like to get up early, especially when the alarm bell rings in their tummies. I like breakfast really early in the morning and hate it when my human shuts her door so I can’t go and jump on her to wake her up.

Question is, should we kitties have a schedule? What schedule would make a cat the happiest? Before you work on your cat’s schedule, you must know and understand the way cats like to eat, sleep, play and live. We love sleeping and sleep more than people, but wake more often. We like to sleep for about 13 to 19 hours a day. How much and when we will sleep depends on the level of activity we have had in the day. Since I am a cat who lives at home I sleep more. Many a time, I sleep more out of boredom.

We love to play. We are the happiest when there is some activity going on that we can take part in, and run, jump and be excited. This can be either with toys, a human or a cat companion. We love laser pointes, little toy mice and feathery toys. We love interesting windows to sit and watch birds, passers-by and other cats. Open a door and we love to run out because we like to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the outdoors. Some of us also enjoy music.

We like free access to fresh clean water at all times. Make sure your cat’s bowl is fresh as water must be changed daily and the bowl must be washed.

Generally, we like to eat several times a day. We are nibblers and love to be served several small meals.

We love a good, safe and clean litter box. If you have two cats, you should have three litter boxes. Use a litter that your cat likes and clean the box often.

The basics sorted out, we love to be fussed over and to spend quality time with our humans. This time makes us feel important and loved, just as you would feel with a loved one. This can be just sitting or watching TV, many of us love being brushed and stroked while watching TV.

My ideal kitty schedule

7 to 9am — Wakey wakey and have a quick snack of canned or home cooked food. Open the screened window or door, and allow me out to get some fresh morning air and outdoor sounds. Clean my bowl and fill up with fresh clean water.

Spend about 10 minutes with me and give me undivided attention. Tell me how beautiful I am, say nice things about my eyes, my fur, my tail and my personality. Tell me how much you love me. This will also give you a chance to see if anything is wrong with me. Visit to the litter box. Clean out the litter box when I am done.

9 to 11am — Nap time! Or time to follow you around as you get ready for work. If you are home, I’ll hang out with you but if you are leaving, it is definitely naptime.

11am to 1pm — Napping, playing a bit with my toys, exploring around or just staring out the window.

1 to 5pm — Nap time. Litter box visit. Trip to the water bowl. Sniff at my dish. Time to snooze.

5 to 8.00pm — Welcoming people returning home after work. Drink, dinner and playtime. Again, change the water and offer dinner. A longer playtime is needed now. Running here and there, getting into people’s way, irritating someone trying to do something. I need to play and burn off all that energy. I want to be able to earn a saucer of milk. Litter box visit again.

8.00 to 11pm — Quiet family time. I need some brushing and grooming. After which I will jump on the couch and watch some TV with my family. Maybe pretend I’m awake but just snooze a bit. A little walk outside in the balcony or the lawn.

A sniff here and there and some inspection around the place just to make people curious about what am I up to! Back indoors, begging for some milk. Enjoying that thoroughly, grooming a little and finally it is bedtime!