Are my animals too attached?

I have recently noticed that our animals are pretty attached to me. Since noticing this I am starting to wonder if this a maybe a problem. My reason for thinking is is quite simple. I always have at least one animal with me at all times. I wake up in the morning and there are at least three of the four dogs on the bed. Mostly because the fourth one is still a puppy and hasn’t mastered the skill of jumping on the bed yet. Then some morning Basil has managed to wiggle his way into the bed behind my back. Sometimes even Shadow pops in and I wake up with her lying on top of me. Then when I finally get myself untangled from all the animals and I make my way to the kitchen it sounds like war as all the dogs jump off the bed one by one. (We have wood floors) By the time I get to the kitchen I have got all 4 cats waiting for me on the counter. The start of quietly asking for some food and if ignored for too long, they make a bit more noise. And more often than not they follow me by means of the counter. After giving them a bite to eat I finally manage to put the kettle on. I then move towards the bathroom but before I can go about my business I have to wait for the dogs to file neatly into the bathroom first. If by any chance one hasn’t noticed I am gone yet that one will be waiting for me when I open the door. If by then they haven’t knocked or scratched on the door.

I then meander over to the study and Nosh runs off to her pillow like it’s her beloved and she hasn’t seen it for a year. I swear I can see the excitement on her face! She then plonks herself there for most of the time. Well the time that I am in the study or at the very least in the kitchen where she can still see me. The other dogs pretty much lie somewhere on the floor in the study. At some point at least two of the cats would’ve made their way into the study and is more than likely sleeping on my computer or somewhere on my desk. Brat sometimes even sneaks onto “Dad’s” chair for a comfy sleep. Tempo sometimes sleeps just outside the study door. Although I think this is mostly for the little bit of sun that now comes in there. If I have been too quiet for a while Roxy will come under the desk and push me with her nose a few times. As if to check that I am still here/alive.

If at any time I get up to go past the kitchen they all get up and follow me. The part that concerns me a little though is that they seem to go crazy if they can’t follow me to where I am going. If I go outside to check the post they cry and jump and scratch at the gate until I get back. The greeting I then get is similar to the one I get if I am gone for a weekend. Is this normal?

If I go out it’s even worse. As soon as they hear me getting the keys they all run to the garage door. Yes this includes the cats too. Granted the dogs love driving in the car but they also know that they don’t always go with. The minute I close the garage door behind me they start crying. Sometimes even barking. I can only assume that they do stop eventually but it is awful. I really love my animals and so does Willie. It feels awful leaving them like that. They just have this way of looking at you. Anyway, they can obviously hear the gate open and as soon as I pull the car in they start barking and crying again. As soon as I open the tap to run bathwater most of the cats storm to the bathroom. For some odd reason at least two of the cats love running water. Basil and Josephine will sit on the washing machine and watch the water run and most likely lie there the whole time that I am in the bath. That is besides the four dogs lying on the floor. Nosh even sometimes barks to get picked up and put in the bath. Is it just me or is this also odd?

Brat now also likes to irritate ‘Dad’ while he is working. His favourite game is catching the moving parts on the screen. Heaven forbid you’re actually playing game. The worst thing happened this morning though and is probably the part that concerns me the most. In my sleepy state this morning I made my first bathroom visit. Leaving the door open a little as I couldn’t wait for all the dogs. (can you believe I actually wait for them). So I am pretty much still asleep and Brat jumps on my lap. How wierd is that. Now I love my animals but having a cat on my lap during my first bathroom break is just a little too much for my sleeping brain to take in. I get a huge fright, Brat gets a huge fright and I end up getting scratched. So now I have these cute little scratch marks on my thigh that stings like hell. Nice….

So I am starting to think my animals are a little too attached. Yes I added to it by moving up in bed when one of them isn’t comfortable. By waiting for them to all file into the bathroom before I close the door. By putting a pillow in the study and lounge for them to sleep on so that they don’t have to sleep on the floor. By leaving the heater on in the lounge so that they don’t have to fight for space in front of the heater in the room. What can I say, we love our animals. My aunt often used to jokingly say that when she dies one day she hopes she comes back as one of our animals.

As I am writing this Brat has decided to come and make himself comfortable in the smallest space I have on my desk. Also the closest to my keyboard so it makes it much easier for him to catch my fingers while I type. I could chase him off. Or I could just laugh at him and let him be……..