Pepper is being a pain!

I have never had a cat that decided to wake me up at the same time every morning--the same painful way every morning! Pepper has decided that the best way for me to wake up and pay attention to him is putting his claws in my back or scalp! Now, granted, this tactic definately works for him , but is there anyway to make him stop? I have tried pulling the blankets up higher (he just pulls them back down, even when I tuck them around my shoulders), I have wrapped an extra pillow around my head, I push off of the bed, I am at my wit's end with him! He is a big boy and big boys have very big claws! Any suggestions?

*Edited to Add* I have read the "Night Crazies" article and it is not the same as what Pepper is doing. He wakes me up at 10 AM every morning after sleeping throughout the night. After he wakes me up and I get out of bed (usually to clean up the blood that is now all over my head or back), he goes right back to sleep-- usually at the top of the stairs. I work evenings so this is kind of detrimental to my mental health because I am always tired. Pepper even plays after I go to bed and doesn't go to sleep 'til late.

I had this (and sometimes still do) with Miss Moofi, she 1st started by biting toes, whilst cute, it hurt and annoyed me as I wanted to be sleeping The way I stopped that was to have a thicker cover by my feet, I just threw a small blanket folded in two over the duvet by my feet. When she bit me I couldnt feel it, her teeth didnt go through all the layers Sorted
But she started other 'attention seeking behaviour' cos thats all it is really.

Her way of get attention now, in a morning, is by knocking something from the top of our drawers, we usually place a peg, or a pen something like that so she can knock it off. I hear it fall, I get up, give her biscuits and go back to bed.

So you need to ween your kitty from this behaviour, maybe more or thicker blankets would help you. Keep us posted !

You can also try puffing a very sharp but short puff of air directly in his face and HISSING at him loudly - emphasize the "ssss". This is a language he understands. It may take a few days - but he should learn that this is NOT ok.

I had the same problem with Flowerbelle. It wasn't bloody, and her issue is that she's deaf, so she wakes me by sticking her paw in my face - because waving her paw around is how she gets attention. I don't know if she could hear the hiss, but she definitely feels the short sharp puff of air in her face - which I would repeat quickly 3 times before hissing at her. She stopped waking me up after about a week.

Hope this helps!

Laurie

Do you usually get up after he claws you and feed him? If you do that it might be teaching him that attacking you in your sleep is how to get breakfast.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Do you usually get up after he claws you and feed him? If you do that it might be teaching him that attacking you in your sleep is how to get breakfast.

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I usually try to ignore hime for as long as I can. The problem seems to be, I am not the only one in the house. My ex and I are stuck with each other until May and sometimes he gets up earlier than me. I don't know if he is waking Pepper up and then Pepper thinks I should go show her some love or if Pepper is just being a pain just to be a pain. Of course. sometimes I get up earlier than the ex--I don't think that Pepper goes in and bothers him (I don't blame Pepper!). Of course, this all started before the ex was an ex and he didn't always get up as early.