Looking For Answers To This Sleeping Problem!

[les26]

Okay, since you all are so very helpful and this IS cat related here it is...I have always snored but for the last year it has become even louder, I am not overweight, don't drink or take meds or any of the things that can cause it, I believe it is allergy related due to the high rainfall amounts since a year ago now, talked to my doctor who said I don't have sleep apnea and the only thing would be surgery but we both agree that is a "no". Deb also snores but not like me, so if we are both upstairs in our Cape Cod house in the same bed it is mostly her who suffers and has to come downstairs although I tell her "I am the problem, I should move" but she doesn't want to do that, so awhile ago I bought a good cot just to see if we could sleep on it downstairs and it wasn't bad, naturally not as good as the bed but doable, so a few months ago we bought 2 new sofa beds and a sleeper chair which are pretty comfortable, not too bad, and we have been taking turns sleeping one upstairs and one downstairs, and you wouldn't believe how many people have told us that they do the same thing! But the problem is the cats, we have 9, so there is always 1 or more that just has to sleep with you and they take up room and you are twisted and wake up many times a night, or they are making noises or fighting or hissing or whatever so whomever sleeps downstairs gets the short end of the stick, the one upstairs sleeps like a baby! But our problem is we don't have a spare room that we could put these in or a bed to make a bedroom, it is a small Cape Cod and the only "spare" room is where they have their litter boxes, to move them out into the living room to make a bedroom, no, no good....Deb keeps saying we should build on and also put another bathroom in but we really can't do that either the way that the house is laid out. Sometimes I play with them with string toys and laser light to try to tire them out, sometimes it works sometimes not, but I know when I sleep downstairs they aren't as rowdy or as Deb says "you probably sleep and snore through it so you don't hear them" lol which might be true, but I have noticed for years now they seem to get more rowdy when she is around, I don't know why? I could be home with them and they are fine, as soon as she comes home it's like a switch is flipped and they act up! But anyway, if anyone has lived through this issue or has any other ideas please let me know, I did say again that if I had a bed in the living room not a sofa bed but a real bed I would sleep better and they would have more room if they slept with me, usually my boy Sylvester does and sometimes Stanley but last night she said she had 4 with her and that's nuts!!! And she is against having a real bed in the living room so that shoots that lol!

Any ideas would be welcomed, thanks again as usual!!!!

 

[nurseangel]

Do you have room for a daybed in the living room? Some of them are quite fancy and living room appropriate. I think they fit a twin mattress...

A divan or chaise is also nice, though there wouldn't be as much room.

Oh goodness. I am not even sure I am answering the question appropriately. I became enthralled at the mention of nine cats. Or maybe the correct word would be jealous. DH keeps me kind of limited to four.

As far as the other issue, two of my cats behave differently depending on whether they are dealing with me or DH. I don't know why, but I understand where you're coming from.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

... we have 9, so there is always 1 or more that just has to sleep with you and they take up room and you are twisted and wake up many times a night, or they are making noises or fighting or hissing or whatever so whomever sleeps downstairs gets the short end of the stick, the one upstairs sleeps like a baby! ... Sometimes I play with them with string toys and laser light to try to tire them out, sometimes it works sometimes not, but I know when I sleep downstairs they aren't as rowdy or as Deb says "you probably sleep and snore through it so you don't hear them" lol which might be true, but I have noticed for years now they seem to get more rowdy when she is around, I don't know why? I could be home with them and they are fine, as soon as she comes home it's like a switch is flipped and they act up! ...

Hi les26 ! Do you guys evenly split the task of serving them meals? (If your wife does the bulk of that, maybe they act up because she's the main food-giver.)

Also along those lines, what if you could try changing up the meal-times just a bit, so that when the person sleeping downstairs goes to bed, meals could be served up right before bedtime? If they are fed and happy just before the (hopefully) imposed quiet time, it might work.

 

[Jem]

OK, So here are a few things I thought of...
Try putting cat trees near where your "bed" is in the living room, they may like that better. And I would have play time followed by a meal right before lights out in the living room.
I'm going to be doing this myself next time I need a new couch and I think it will look pretty cool. I'm going to build an L shaped or U shaped platform and use twin mattresses for the seating part and big over sized pillows for back rests. It will be more of a lounge type seating area (I like to be comfy), but it would be a great sleeping area too. And what's really cool, is you can change up the decor and wash your "new couches" by changing up/washing the covers (thick sheets) when ever you want! I'm going to try my hand at making my own fitted sheets for the mattresses with good durable yet washable fabric. This will also provide lots of extra room for your kitties too.
Here are a few examples of what I mean.

I would also look into your (physical) health a bit more. How is your posture? Do you have chronic neck and shoulder tension/pain? Sometimes, when the muscles in the front of the neck get too tight it can actually cause snoring. So I would go find a reputable massage/physical therapist to asses your posture and and treat any neck and shoulder tension. And FYI, that is what I do for a living (physical/massage therapy), and I have successfully helped people stop snoring. Who knows, you may both be able to sleep in your bed together again.

 

[les26]

Thank you for the replies! Yes Jem you and I had talked about this before, my posture I'm sure is bad and that very well could be the issue, I will have to check out a good therapist, it is worth a shot and couldn't hurt, and if that would fix it that would be great!!! Do you have any stretches or exercises that I could do in the meantime?

And PushPurrCat Paws and Nurseangel thanks too, yes Deb feeds them more than I do, she gets up earlier than I do around 5-5:30 so she feeds them then and then we feed them around 5:00 in the evening so I am not sure we would be able to make them hold out until later at night, and I wouldn't want to feed them 3 times a day they'd be whales lol!!

Thanks for the replies, keep 'em coming please!!

 

[Jem]

This was one of the best pictures I could find for neck stretches.
I would add that on top of just holding your chair, make sure you are first sitting straight and tall and engage your shoulder to lower the shoulder slightly to enhance the stretch. Holding the chair can help to stabilize the shoulder and stop it from going up with the stretch, but if you have long arms like me. it doesn't do squat.
Also, for the "posterior cervicals", the stretch in the picture is very similar to the sub-occipital stretch that would be better for you. The difference is your are "tilting the scull" rather than bringing the head down. So yes, you do as the picture says but also add a bit of a "chin tuck" so you are feeling the stretch at the base of the scull more than the back of the neck.
Hold your stretches for 30 seconds, and repeat 3-5 times each, 2 times a day, and add a couple more in if you've been on the computer too long, or doing anything that your head is forward and down for an extended period.

As for an exercise you can start doing, I don't have a diagram, so I'll try my best to describe it. Picture doing "snow angels" when you were a kid.
So stand w/ your back against a wall (be sure it is empty, it needs to be a clean flat surface that can accommodate out stretched arms)

Place your feet shoulder width apart about 1-2 inches away from the wall.

Make sure your knees are NOT locked back.

Now make sure your bum is touching the wall, you want your lower back to curve a bit, but don't let yourself "jelly bean" (belly stick out), keep your core engaged so this does not happen.

Now flatten your mid/upper back, including the backs of your shoulders flat against the wall. To get this started I find it's easiest to place your arms like and old fashion barbie doll and place your arm backs and elbows against the wall as your arms are by your side. Then engage the muscles between your shoulder blades and across the backs of the shoulders so you have COMPLETE contact with the wall.

Now make sure the back of your head is touching the wall, with your chin level.

.....doing this puts you in an anatomically correct position of proper posture. So we are just getting started...Don't worry the rest is easy.

Now that you are up against the wall properly, rotate your barbie arms out at the shoulders so that the back of the arm and forearm including the wrist and backs of hand and fingers are in full contact with the wall. At this point you can also extend your elbows (straighten your elbows). You can keep them slightly bent if it more comfortable.

So now you are up against the wall with your arms down, palms facing out.

Slowly start to raise your arms (like your doing snow angels), while keeping everything in complete contact with the wall. Then come back down, again, keeping in full contact with the wall.
If you feel yourself wanting to pull away, stop, take a deep breath go back down and try again. The more you practice the better it will get.

You are contracting your muscles to keep all the key points I mentioned against the wall, so when your arms are in the lower position, you should feel your "flanks" contracting. As you move your arms up, then you will feel more your middle back and the muscles between your shoulder blades contracting, and even further up, that will change to the muscles that run along the back/sides of your neck to the shoulder (traps area).
All of the muscles you use to keep you up against the wall, are ones that become weak with bad posture, so this is an excellent gentle exercise that engages all those muscles. All the while stretching and opening up the chest and front of the neck. And as hard as this exercise can be at first, it is gentle on the body, as you are simply engaging muscles and encouraging proper range of motion. Now, that being said, if this exercise hurts you stop doing it, but you will/should feel some good stretching and it will feel very odd, depending on how bad your posture is to begin with.
I would recommend doing 6-10 sets (ups and downs) 2 times a day, but you can add a couple of sets here and there if you've been sitting too long and feel yourself really slouching.

Please ask me to clarify anything in my description if it doesn't make sense.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

(

Jem - I'm bookmarking your post #6, neck stretches!)

 

[Mia6]

Maybe a really good pillow would help as well. I bought a Bamboo pillow and my sleep has improved and I have less neck pain. I snore but not a lot and it's allergy related. My friend is a massage therapist and after one I feel and sleep better for a while.

 

[les26]

This was one of the best pictures I could find for neck stretches.
I would add that on top of just holding your chair, make sure you are first sitting straight and tall and engage your shoulder to lower the shoulder slightly to enhance the stretch. Holding the chair can help to stabilize the shoulder and stop it from going up with the stretch, but if you have long arms like me. it doesn't do squat.
Also, for the "posterior cervicals", the stretch in the picture is very similar to the sub-occipital stretch that would be better for you. The difference is your are "tilting the scull" rather than bringing the head down. So yes, you do as the picture says but also add a bit of a "chin tuck" so you are feeling the stretch at the base of the scull more than the back of the neck.
Hold your stretches for 30 seconds, and repeat 3-5 times each, 2 times a day, and add a couple more in if you've been on the computer too long, or doing anything that your head is forward and down for an extended period.

As for an exercise you can start doing, I don't have a diagram, so I'll try my best to describe it. Picture doing "snow angels" when you were a kid.
So stand w/ your back against a wall (be sure it is empty, it needs to be a clean flat surface that can accommodate out stretched arms)

Place your feet shoulder width apart about 1-2 inches away from the wall.

Make sure your knees are NOT locked back.

Now make sure your bum is touching the wall, you want your lower back to curve a bit, but don't let yourself "jelly bean" (belly stick out), keep your core engaged so this does not happen.

Now flatten your mid/upper back, including the backs of your shoulders flat against the wall. To get this started I find it's easiest to place your arms like and old fashion barbie doll and place your arm backs and elbows against the wall as your arms are by your side. Then engage the muscles between your shoulder blades and across the backs of the shoulders so you have COMPLETE contact with the wall.

Now make sure the back of your head is touching the wall, with your chin level.

.....doing this puts you in an anatomically correct position of proper posture. So we are just getting started...Don't worry the rest is easy.

Now that you are up against the wall properly, rotate your barbie arms out at the shoulders so that the back of the arm and forearm including the wrist and backs of hand and fingers are in full contact with the wall. At this point you can also extend your elbows (straighten your elbows). You can keep them slightly bent if it more comfortable.

So now you are up against the wall with your arms down, palms facing out.

Slowly start to raise your arms (like your doing snow angels), while keeping everything in complete contact with the wall. Then come back down, again, keeping in full contact with the wall.
If you feel yourself wanting to pull away, stop, take a deep breath go back down and try again. The more you practice the better it will get.

You are contracting your muscles to keep all the key points I mentioned against the wall, so when your arms are in the lower position, you should feel your "flanks" contracting. As you move your arms up, then you will feel more your middle back and the muscles between your shoulder blades contracting, and even further up, that will change to the muscles that run along the back/sides of your neck to the shoulder (traps area).
All of the muscles you use to keep you up against the wall, are ones that become weak with bad posture, so this is an excellent gentle exercise that engages all those muscles. All the while stretching and opening up the chest and front of the neck. And as hard as this exercise can be at first, it is gentle on the body, as you are simply engaging muscles and encouraging proper range of motion. Now, that being said, if this exercise hurts you stop doing it, but you will/should feel some good stretching and it will feel very odd, depending on how bad your posture is to begin with.
I would recommend doing 6-10 sets (ups and downs) 2 times a day, but you can add a couple of sets here and there if you've been sitting too long and feel yourself really slouching.

Please ask me to clarify anything in my description if it doesn't make sense.

THANK YOU for taking the time to send all this, I really appreciate it and will try them! Thanks so much!!!