Click here to view today’s sleep log

As I said in my previous post, today I put my pet rat down. Last night was my last night of looking after ratty, and I thought my back couldn't take sleeping with my legs bent on the sofa so instead I decided to sleep on the floor in the study. To be honest sleeping on the floor is pretty uncomfortable but I think it was better than sleeping on the sofa would have been.

I went to bed just after midnight, and put ratty on one of my t-shirts next to me. Unlike sleeping on the sofa, in this room there were lots of places that she could go as she was free to crawl around on the whole of the floor. For the first half of the night she didn't wander far, although I do remember waking up several times and putting her back next to me. At 5:00am I woke up and couldn't find her anywhere, so I got up and put the light on, and eventually found her under my computer desk, laying up against my chest of drawers.

I grabbed ratty and put her down beside me, and she went straight up the sleeve of the hoody that I was wearing. I went back to sleep with her in my sleeve, but I woke up and pulled her out about half an hour later as I needed to move my arm and I was scared I might squash her. Eventually I woke up again and got up at 7:00am.

This morning I spent my last couple of hours with ratty and then took her to the vet to be euthanised. It was a horrible thing to have to do but I couldn't bear to watch her suffer any more.

The last three days had been exhausting for me, as I hadn't had a proper nights sleep in ages, but I think my sleeping pattern really helped! I have had poor quality sleep and have been sleeping less than 7 hours each night, but having a nap in the afternoon really helped me to get through it.

After I got back from the vets we reheated last night's pizza for lunch and relaxed for a while, and then at 5:00pm I decided to go for a nap. I set my alarm for 7:00pm and went to sleep, but when I woke up I felt a bit groggy and looked at the time and it was 7:30. This means I must have snoozed the alarm for 30 minutes. This is the first time I have done this for one of my naps, and I think the fact that I didn't even remember doing it means I must have been exhausted. Still, having such a long nap has enabled me to easily stay up until 1:00am (it is 10 to 1 now) without feeling too tired, so I guess my sleeping pattern will be back on track tomorrow.

Click here to view today’s sleep log

Last night I slept on the sofa with ratty again. It wasn't a good nights sleep, but it was better than the previous night. I managed to sleep for nearly 7 hours but probably woke up about 5 times. One time I woke up because ratty had crawled off the edge of the sofa so I scooped her up and put her back on my blanket.

From about 10:30am today ratty started having convulsions, where her whole boddy would tense up. This has been happening periodically throughout the day, with periods of calm in between.

Today I worked from home again, and ratty spent a good chunk of the day sleeping. I had to dial into a conference call around midday and she slept through the whole thing which made my life easier.

After the conference call I went downstairs for a nap and slept for about an hour and a quarter. When I woke up ratty was having some more convulsions so I laid next to her until they finished.

The rest of the day has been reasonably uneventful. Ratty is slowly deteriorating and I am thinking I will have to have her euthanised tomorrow. To be honest I have found today easier, as she seems to be less aware of what's going on and I have gotten used to her being ill.

I am tired now and really missing my bed!

Click here to view today’s sleep log

Last night my pet rat was very sick, so I stayed with her all night. I went downstairs to the living room at about 2:00am and sat in an arm chair with her on my lap. I tried to sleep in the chair but it wasn't really possible, and I think I only really got about 20 minutes sleep.

I woke up because ratty was panicking. She had been laying pretty lifeless for a long time and all of the sudden she was frantically bouncing around and struggling. I woke up and calmed her down, and eventually she settled again but by that point I was awake and couldn't get back to sleep.

I took her upstairs and put her on a mat in the bathroom while I cleaned my teeth, and then took her back downstairs and laid on the couch with her for the rest of the night. By this time it was gone past 3:00am and I propped her between my arm and the back of the sofa whilst I slept.

Sleeping on a sofa is not that easy for me, and I woke up at least once each hour and needed to turn over, and carefully rearrange the blanket and ratty. Yu Lee came down at 5:30 and I told her that I needed another hour, and I finally got up just after 7:00am.

Today I worked from home so that I could stay with ratty. Every time I put her back in her cage (so that she could drink some water) she would turn around and pull herself towards the door with her arms as her back legs don't work at all now. She obviously doesn't want to go back in the cage so I'm going to keep her out until she dies.

She spent most of the day in a blanket on my lap.

She may look sweet but she is actually very sick

At midday I was feeling quite sleepy so I took her back down stairs and went to sleep on the sofa. This time I put her between my arm and my side, and when I woke up she had crawled up close to me and had her head resting on my shoulder. I had a pretty good nap and felt refreshed afterwards.

This evening we watched a movie, and ratty laid in my lap. I put her on a blanket on the sofa next to me, but she crawled out and laid in my lap like usual, so she obviously just wants to sit with me.

Now it is 10:00pm and I am getting quite tired. I think I will sleep downstairs again with ratty as I really don't want to put her back into her cage.

If she survives tomorrow I will have to think about getting her put to sleep.

Click here to view today’s sleep log

This morning when I woke up I felt very slightly hung over, but the feeling passed when I had my breakfast. I was slightly tired all day due to the missed nap yesterday.

When I got in from work I relaxed for about half an hour and then went for my nap. It took me a while to fall asleep, and I woke up after an hour. I laid in bed and went back to sleep and woke up again after another hour (2 hours in total) and felt quite refreshed.

This evening has been sad for me because my pat rat is dying. As I am typing this she is laying on my lap, struggling to breathe. It is getting late but I don't want to leave her to die on her own.

Rattie is on her last legs

Click here to view today’s sleep log

Last night I went to bed at about 11:45pm. I didn't feel that tired, but I didn't want to be tired today because I was meeting one of my Spanish friends at 8:30pm for a language exchange. It took me a while to fall asleep, and I definitely remember looking at the clock and seeing that it was gone midnight. My neighbours started playing some annoying music, so I put my ear plugs in, and pretty soon after that I fell asleep.

Today I felt pretty good all day (it was the best day yet according to my spreadsheet) and I wasn't tired at all when I went for my nap after work. I laid in bed for just over half an hour but didn't sleep, and in the end I got up and had a cup of tea.

As I found it hard to sleep last night, and today during my nap, I think I have pretty much paid off all of my sleep debt.

This evening I met up with one of my Spanish friends and had a few beers. Now it is 11:20pm and I feel quite tired, but I think this is mainly because I missed my nap today. I am definitely going to be in bed before midnight.