The Battle for the Upper Deck Bed

Squeegee getting herself propped up for the ladder climb.

My rescue cat, Squeegee, is always in a tug-of-war with my daughter for ownership of the upper deck of our double deck bed. Of course, it's the daughter's bed, but Squeegee will disagree. Among all the felines in the Cat Lair, Squeegee has the distinction of being the only cat who could use the ladder to get to Ate's bed. Not even the Queen Bee herself -- Kooky -- could replicate such a feat. In fact, if Kooky wanted upper deck time, she'd first stay on the lower deck (my bed) set her forepaws on the ladder, and look alternately at me and at the upper deck as if to say, "Get me up there, slave!"

Let sleeping cats lie -- on the upper deck.

Not Squeegee. She has conquered the double deck ladder with no human intervention. It's amazing how she would clamber up the ladder almost the same way a human child would.

What is it with the upper deck that Squeegee likes so much?

* First, after we rescued her and I rid her of fleas and dirt, Squeegee's first bed was Ate's bed. Mom was still alive that time and she was sharing the lower deck with me. That time, we were still trying to hide Squeegee from her because we didn't want her to know that we just added another rescue to our cat population.

* When I'm going about doing household chores, the upper deck is where she could literally see eye-to-eye with me whenever I passed the bed. And get my attention, she would.

* There are more pillows on Ate's bed. More pillows mean more of the soft, so...

* The bed is Squeegee's sanctuary from bullying by the other cats. Only she and Prancer can climb the bed (Prancer has less graceful means of climbing, though), and the good thing is that Prancer treats Squeegee with more love than he does his other littermates. (See video below for proof.) Thus, these two are, more or less, bedmates. (With much opposition from my daughter whose bed they're taking over.)

This being the case, Squeegee's human Ate could only do so much. She'd raise her voice at Squeegee and tell the little tortie to stop going up the bed and to leave it when she's already there. Squeegee would only look at her with tongue lolling from out of her mouth. ("You gotz a problem, Ate?") After which, she'd flop on her back and reach out to ask for cuddles. Then her Ate knows she has been defeated by kyoot overload. She just rolls to one side of the bed to accommodate the insistent little bugger.

The summer months are seeing less of Squeegee on the upper deck due to the heat in our room. However, she would still venture to the upper deck in the evenings, especially when we're around, just to solicit cuddles from us.

And thus, the battle for final ownership of the upper deck bed rages on with two cats using weapons of kyoot over the Ate's whining. May the best species win!

(#)