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Save me from my kitty
I love my animals, like mucho mucho, but I have a cat that's driving me nuts and I'm hoping someone has some suggestions to help save my sanity. Male kitty is 6 years old, and he's the biggest snuggler. This is my fault, due to having coddled him when he was a kitten (he had a sudden date w/ death and a miraculous recovery, but that's another story).
Anywhoo, kitty is pushy when it comes to cuddling, and somehow this has extended to bed time. As soon as I get in bed he's there, and the ritual begin. Walk across me 100 times, kneed the bed like crazy, rub his face on exposed body parts (elbows, hands, chin)....did I mentioned he drools? Eventually he get tired of and throws himself down against me and kneeds my back, belly, whatever until he drifts off. This phase is short lived and as soon as I roll over, or DH comes to bed, or he gets bored, the whole thing starts again. Fast forward to 4am when he's woken me up for the 1000th time and I'm at my wits end.
I know what you're thinking - put him out and shut the door! Problem with that is kitty #2, who can shake a door so badly it's like an axe murderer is coming in to slaughter us. Not even kidding, we dealt with it for months thinking she'd give up, but she kept right on. We even stuffed towels under the door and she still managed it.
So, how do I train a cat appropriate sleep arraignments? I have very little time left to get decent sleep before I've got a little one to keep me up all night and I'd like to get to enjoy it a little!
BFP 11.8.12 * EDD 7.17.13 * MC 12.20.12
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over!
Re: Save me from my kitty
Hmmm. Thankfully, locking my kitties out of the room has proven successful in getting a solid night's sleep, but they don't yowl all night or try to knock the door down!
Do you have a separate space for them? Like a room with their toys/litterbox/water? Could you start closing them in there at night? Our back bedroom/guest room serves this purpose for us, although we really rarely need to actually close the cats in; it's usually just baby gated.
B/w 1/8: betas 17,345, progesterone 25.6
I second the locking them elsewhere at night....at one point one of our cats decided he needed to be fed at 3am and would howl and howl until my DH got up and fed him. Until he got over that phase we had to lock them in half of the apt away from where we slept.
Another suggestion that we tried for a while was sticking our vacuum cleaner right outside our door. Everything they woke us up we jiggled the chord, which caused the vacuum cleaner to move, which caused the cats to run away. Although this would only work if your cats are as afraid of vacuum cleaners as ours are....
Lastly another thought would be to spray your door with cat repellent...I've never used the stuff so I'm assuming it doesn't smell too bad (since it's made to be used inside) but maybe that would deter them from attacking your door.
Good luck!
Thanks for the suggestions! Their litter box is in the laundry, but I can't shut them in there since I cut a cat entrance in the door. I'd have to move the box and food each night to shut them in. Not super ideal, but I might give it a go for some good sleep! Unfortunately the spare bedrooms aren't far from ours, so we'll see how it goes for dampening earthquake inducing door shaking, lol.
The vacuum doesn't scare them unless it's on, but I'll see if I can think of something else to use as a deterrent.
BFP 11.8.12 * EDD 7.17.13 * MC 12.20.12
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over!
How long has this been going on? Does your other kitty like to sleep on the bed?
One of my cats is normally standoffish but since I have gotten pregnant again, she is annoying the crap out of me at bed time. She is already on medication for anxiety, but I have found it helpful to spray our bed with Feliway while getting ready for bed. She settles much faster.
5 cats. 1 baby.
I third or fourth the putting the cats in their own separate room at night. Put all their things in there, and they'll get used to it in no time. Our cat loves his 'bed time'. He even gets cranky if we don't pick him up and 'put him to bed' in his room.
I think Petstages even makes some quiet "night time" cat toys, you could look into for their room.
Years sadly, gradually getting worse and really bad the last maybe 6 months. The other kitty sleeps on the bed sometimes, mostly down by our feet. She comes and goes as she pleases.
BFP 11.8.12 * EDD 7.17.13 * MC 12.20.12
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over!
Thanks, I look into those.
BFP 11.8.12 * EDD 7.17.13 * MC 12.20.12
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over!
This may seem a little mean but it may save your sleep.
If I lock my cats out of the bedroom at night they will shred the carpet in the hallway outside the door as if they are trying to dig under the door to get in. I found something that works for me to prevent this but while trying to figure it out, I found something that may work for you. They have these electric mats that if an animal steps on it they will get a shock in their paw. They come in several sizes. If you put it outside you bedroom door they won't be able to stand right there and thus won't be able to scrath or bang on the door. Then they can have the run of the rest of the space in your house, just not that spot.
Another option is taking a plastic carpet runner and fliping it upside down so the little spikes are sticking upward. Place that right outside your bedroom door. They will most likely not want to stand on that either and thus won't be able to reach your door.
The thing is, my cat was being naughty, but yours just wants loving. Is it possible that you're not giving him enough loving during the day, and so he figures that night time is his best bet?
I wish it were that easy! This cat demands cuddles 'round the clock. He spends lots of time with us on the sofa being spoiled in the evenings.
BFP 11.8.12 * EDD 7.17.13 * MC 12.20.12
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over!