I cannot get my cat from meowing to get out at night. I have to shut bedroom door to keep her from clawing at the front door. I should have never let her out in the beginning.Any suggestions on how to take care of her in the house.
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
Love this site
- Thread starter maze
- Start Date
Hi Maze, and welcome to TCS Forums!
Is your kitty spayed? If not, then she may be crying to go out at night in order to find a mate. My suggestion is to have her spayed as soon as the vet looks at the pre-op lab work and gives her a clean bill of health.
A water spray bottle is a good technique to stop bad behavior, but you have to first determine whether or not the behavior IS actually "bad" ... for instance, if she is not spayed, and is clawing at the front door to go out, then it cannot be considered as "bad" behavior on the cat's part simply because she is only doing what comes naturally to her - responding to her body's need to find a mate. She knows she isn't going to find one inside your house, so she claws to get out.
However, if she IS spayed, then you will need to determine if she has appropriate litter box facilities to use, make sure she has plenty of clean, fresh water and food, exercise and activities and a snuggly, warm place to rest. If all of those things are consistantly available to her, and she is STILL clawing at the door, then I would use the spray bottle and a loud NO when I observed the behavior.
An empty, washed soda can in which you place a few coins also makes a suitable deterrant if you are uncomfortable using the spray bottle. The loud noise will also cause the behavior to stop.
Best of luck, and please let us know how it goes,
Gaye
Is your kitty spayed? If not, then she may be crying to go out at night in order to find a mate. My suggestion is to have her spayed as soon as the vet looks at the pre-op lab work and gives her a clean bill of health.
A water spray bottle is a good technique to stop bad behavior, but you have to first determine whether or not the behavior IS actually "bad" ... for instance, if she is not spayed, and is clawing at the front door to go out, then it cannot be considered as "bad" behavior on the cat's part simply because she is only doing what comes naturally to her - responding to her body's need to find a mate. She knows she isn't going to find one inside your house, so she claws to get out.
However, if she IS spayed, then you will need to determine if she has appropriate litter box facilities to use, make sure she has plenty of clean, fresh water and food, exercise and activities and a snuggly, warm place to rest. If all of those things are consistantly available to her, and she is STILL clawing at the door, then I would use the spray bottle and a loud NO when I observed the behavior.
An empty, washed soda can in which you place a few coins also makes a suitable deterrant if you are uncomfortable using the spray bottle. The loud noise will also cause the behavior to stop.
Best of luck, and please let us know how it goes,
Gaye
As Gayef said, spaying is the thing to do (unless of course she's already spayed).
In my experience, it's not rare for cats that to be very active during the night, displaying attention seeking behaviors. Here's what I would suggest:
a. Conduct interactive play sessions with her at least twice a day, Use a fishing pole type of toy and pretend it's a little mouse. Let the "mouse" run around the room, hide etc. Make the game last at least 15 minutes. Don't just throw her some toys - play with her interactively.
b. One of the play sessions should be about 1 hour before your bedtime. Make this a fun routine for you and your cat.
c. After at least 15 minutes of intensive playtime, feed her with some favorite wholesome food - canned cat food is a great choice. She'll probably be hungry after the long "hunt"
.
d. Leave dry food for her through the night so you know she doesn't need any more feedings.
e. here comes the tough part - after going through steps a-d you need to totally ignore her attention seeking behavior. And I mean totally! even if it drives you nuts, it is absolutely vital that you pretend that you are still asleep. This holds true for any other members of your household. Don't get up, don't talk, don't even open your eyes if she's in the room with you! Just "play asleep"
. From my experience as a cat behavior consultant, she should get the message within a week tops. Often it will only take 1-2 nights. But you must adhere to every stage of the plan!!! That way you will be giving her what she needs but on terms that are comfortable for you as well.
Let us know if this works for you!
In my experience, it's not rare for cats that to be very active during the night, displaying attention seeking behaviors. Here's what I would suggest:
a. Conduct interactive play sessions with her at least twice a day, Use a fishing pole type of toy and pretend it's a little mouse. Let the "mouse" run around the room, hide etc. Make the game last at least 15 minutes. Don't just throw her some toys - play with her interactively.
b. One of the play sessions should be about 1 hour before your bedtime. Make this a fun routine for you and your cat.
c. After at least 15 minutes of intensive playtime, feed her with some favorite wholesome food - canned cat food is a great choice. She'll probably be hungry after the long "hunt"
d. Leave dry food for her through the night so you know she doesn't need any more feedings.
e. here comes the tough part - after going through steps a-d you need to totally ignore her attention seeking behavior. And I mean totally! even if it drives you nuts, it is absolutely vital that you pretend that you are still asleep. This holds true for any other members of your household. Don't get up, don't talk, don't even open your eyes if she's in the room with you! Just "play asleep"
Let us know if this works for you!
Gee, thanks Anne, I was reading this post with interest because we adopted a one year old Russian recently who is used to going outside at night. Anyway, now that she's really settled she's dropped the act and isn't afraid to let us know what she really wants! At night we have always firmly believed that cats should be locked indoors for both their and the local wildlife's protection. Phoebe has started demanding that her cat door be opened at night time and gets upset when we don't let her out. She's already spayed so I can only put it down to the fact that her previous owners let her out 24hrs a day and she thinks that we should continue this privilage. I am definately going to try those suggestions you made - they sound like they'll work!
Thanks again!
Lisa
Thanks again!
Lisa
