As far as the cats are concerned, I’m not allowed to be on the bed alone.

This is an example of what happens if I try to take an afternoon nap, and repeats when I finally call it a day and head to bed in the evening (photo taken with my iPhone).

Although the bed might appear crowded, Ms. Kili is always part of the chaos, but wasn’t there yet for this photo.

Here’s the usual order. Ms. Annie is often the first to get to the bed, followed closely by Duke. Romeo takes a few more seconds.

And the competition begins. Annie and Duke are pretty polite and low key, basically just trying to get into position and then hold their spot. But Romeo is more direct. He tries to pose as friendly, pushing in and head-butting the others, often a social behavior. But Romeo will push it, eventually adding a little nip, or a touch of a paw, to send Duke and Annie on their way so that he can claim exclusive rights to the center of the bed.

About this time, Kili is usually going around to the other side of the bed, and will eventually climb up to claim a spot through right of seniority. Typically, Romeo doesn’t mess with her.

And the ones that lost out generally sneak back a little later and claim positions down at the foot of the bed.

Toby is the only one of the cats that doesn’t get into the competition.

Oh, did I mention that it’s not a king size bed, not a queen, but a full. Yes, “full” describes it quite well!

And so it goes.

–> See all of today’s Friday Felines.