Insomnia for Dummies

Mostly, I end up walking around very quietly around the house while reading a book. Sometimes I just stare out my window and sing different lyrics in my head until I run out of songs. And when those two methods don't put me to sleep I lay down and think of the most boring thing I can at the moment. Eventually I get to sleep. But I only need around four hours of sleep to function during the day, so insomnia doesn't bother me that much.

douglas, cats + insomnia = PURE HELL. Welcome to the infernal realms. ^^
Seriously. I'm allergic to cats, and every time I sleep at any house that contains a cat, even if it's locked in its own separate room, it WILL find me. And it WILL loll all over my pillow, mess with my hair, try to groom my ears, and just generally rob me of sleep while giving me flu-like symptoms that last for days.

So yeah. Cats can be hard on people trying to sleep. Actually, almost any pet can be hard on an insomniac. I recently adopted a friend's pair of pet mice. In lieu of someplace better to put their cage, I settled them in my room. And I lost so much sleep I'm sure I was legally insane by the time I evicted them at 4:30 AM a week later. I wanted to buy a pet snake just so I could feed them to it.

Dogs are a good pet for insomnia. You need to walk them, so you get some exercise in the day, and they sleep around 12 - 14 hours a day, mostly through the night hours. They also wake you in the morniong for a walk (or at least to be let out to pee...)

Just listening to my golden retriever's regular breathing when he's out cold makes mee feel tired...

*yawn*

Stay away from the nervous, twitchy little dogs, though. They'l jump in the bed with you at night and never get comfortable... and they kick in their dreams!