unaccustomed space
Rascal has been choosing to sleep on Leah's side of the bed lately, adversely affecting the quality of her sleep. And I know what that's like. So when we were out shopping yesterday, we dropped by the pet store and ended up leaving with a new bed. "You can return it," the check-out clerk promised us enthusiastically. "Even if he pees on it." That may have been a real risk a year or two ago, but no longer: whatever our problems with Rascal, he has excellent bladder control and isn't inclined to try and mark things indoors. We did, however, fear that he'd turn up his nose at the bed, or, even worse, run from it in fear (it does have a dangerous giant-bag look to it).
Happily, he took to it wonderfully; in fact he hopped right on it at bedtime and slept there contentedly the entire night. It was as if he were thinking, "Finally, a bed of my own! Now I don't have to put up with being constantly shoved all over the place!" I kind of missed having him up with us for a few seconds; I could hear him biting his tail, and I couldn't kick him like I usually do to make him stop. (OK, prod him with my foot. We're not abusers here.) For a few seconds, until I fell asleep. Leah says she can't ever remember sleeping that well, ever.
He looks like he likes it, eh?