a tube-shaped body pillow with a purple cover. I loved my body pillow. It was great for throwing a leg over when I slept at night to keep my spine on an even keel (I’m an incurable side sleeper), and was always there when I was depressed and needed to have a good cry, ready and willing to receive my tears and snot.
No more. I no longer have a body pillow.
Yes it’s still in the apartment. On my bed, actually.
Under a cat.
Several days ago, Conan the Wonderkitty got it into his fuzzy little mind to take a fancy to my body pillow. He jumped up on my bed and, instead of curling up near the foot of the bed as had been his custom, decided to curl up on my body pillow. The next night, as I was lying on my back (I try to get in some “back time” because I’ve heard it is better for the spine than sleeping on your side), Conan hopped up on the bed and, instead of curling up on my feet, as had been his custom when my bed was occupied by myself, he curled up on my body pillow.
Now, I come home from school, and Conan is on the body pillow. I want to go to sleep at night, Conan must sleep on the body pillow.
I have resigned myself to the fact that the body pillow is no longer mine.
I love having a body pillow. I am, like you, an incurable side sleeper. Luckily, cats make me sneeze, so I don’t have one of those posessive critters to worry about. My bofy pillow is mine! ALL MINE!
ahem.
I don’t suppose Conana would be satisfied with a different pillow? In a bodylength pillow case? Hmmm?
Yes, the animals like to sleep on pillows. I was never a side sleeper but pregnancy has forced it upon me, and I sleep with a pillow under my stomach, one between my knees for reasons you stated, and one behind my back for more support and to help keep me from rolling flat on my back as I am not supposed to do. My dog thinks these new pillow additions are for her, and shoving her off them will only delay her until I am asleep. She then will sneak back up so I awake to find her usually laying on the pillow at my back, often with her head sharing my own pillow or draped across me. A little unsettling to open my eyes and find her face right there. Not to mention she sleeps with her legs straight out, shoving me and my husband to the far edges of the bed. Pushing her back down to her spot at the foot of the bed causes much muttering and sighing from her.
I got a body pillow to use when I was pregnant and liked it a lot. The first night we brought the baby home, he managed to pee on it. I don’t know what he was trying to tell me, other than, “No more sleep for you!” which is pretty much a given with new babies.
My wife needs to use a body pillow. Without one, I spend all night getting kicked in the knee by Queen Legspasm (and I imagine it’s no picnic for her, either). However, they only last one or two months before they start to get flat in the middle, and really aren’t effective any longer.
That’s when the cats get their big score.
When the pillow goes flat, we replace it and the old one gets tossed in a corner of the living room to become part of the Cat Bed Collection. They love them. Especially if it gets tossed in a spot where Mr. Sunbeam visits.
Once a collection of four or five builds up, we toss all but one of them and start anew. Of course, starting over creates it’s own problem. You see, while a single body pillow has plenty of physical room for all four of our guys, they don’t have near enough room in cat terms. It’s one cat per pillow, and when there’s only one pillow there, it’s time to watch a brawling game of “King Of The Pillow” break out.
I feel lucky; my cat, ‘Her Majesty’, does not sleep on any pillows. She did once when she was a kitten, but now her favorite place is at the end of the bed on top of the comforter, between my ankles. Which, of course, means I cannot move my feet at all during the night without disturbing ‘Her Majesty’ without a withering look (I can sort of see her in the dark, and I certainly KNOW that she is giving me ‘the look’).
I’d just push the cat off…do you let your cat take over the chairs in the house permanently as well? The cat will get over it and find a new place to sleep, as long as you don’t let it get used to its new behavior.
My cat used to sit in my chair whenever I got up, but I always shooed her out. After a while, she finally got the hint.
But he’s so cute and fuzzy and adorable, all curled up and sleeping like that.
Schrodinger the InvisiCat is actually the big chair-hog in the family. The overstuffed chair in the living room is big enough to comfortably accomodate both a medium-sized human and a very large cat. If he chooses to perch himself on the only unocupied chair at the dining room table, he gets sat on.
I’m 20 years old and I have had the same body pillow since I was… I think four or five years old. It still has the same fabric case, which is actually really thin now from being used for so long. I even nicknamed it as a kid and I still use the name to this day. I don’t call it cushion or anything. And yes, I still sleep with it, every night!
Unfortunately, I don’t remember when the fabric started to thin. It shouldn’t be a problem though since almost 20 years is a really long time to keep such a cushion and the thread count on the fabric case wasn’t that high in the first place. If your cushion has, say, a percale casing, it shouldn’t be a problem.
That cushion on mine has so much sentimental value that I can’t imagine not sleeping with it. If the outer fabric on it were to develop holes from wear, I’ll sadly remove it and tuck it away in a safe place somewhere. I don’t have the heart to ever throw it out.
Be careful of what you ask for… and especially what you click on! :eek:
Note to mods: No, that’s not a workunsafe link, but there is a link to a google image search that is of… um… questionable worksafeness. Let the clicker beware!
OK, so last night, about the time I was ready to go to sleep, Conan was nowhere in sight. Aha, I thought. This is my chance to reclaim my body pillow.
Just as I dozed off, Conan comes in, starts pawing me with his little paws, and meowing that pitiful meow that he saves for occasions when there is something he feels he desparately needs and wants me to feel guilty for not giving it to him. I petted him a bit, then ignored him. He went away. Repeatedly throughout the night, he returned, with the little paws and pitiful meow, keeping me from my good night’s sleep. Finally, I realized what he wanted. I uncovered the body pillow and moved so that there was room for him. He lay on it for a few minutes, decided he wasn’t happy, and left again. Came back a bit later, paws, meow…
Finally, I pushed the body pillow away to the edge of the bed against the wall. Conan came back, and then, with minimal pestering, lay down on the body pillow and curled up to sleep contentedly. By this time, it was time to get up and I had gotten almost zero sleep.
When I got home from school, he was sleeping on the body pillow.
But he’ll try, I’m sure.
I don’t have the heart to ever throw it out.