I need help, My Dhis at his witts end!!!!!!!

karmasmom · Feb 16, 2007

I need some serios help. Karma likes to jump in the widow every morning starting at about 630 am. Every time I get up and pul her out, say no, give her a spanking and put her on the floor. Then about 20 minutes later she does it again. This goes on for hours. The same thing, over and over.
I am triing to be patient and so is my DH but the lack of sleep is starting to make both of us irrational. It is to the point that it seems like the best thing to do is take her to the shelter. We don't want to but it is becomming a BIG problem. This has been going on for months.
The other problem is we really are not suppose to have cats. So her being in the window is risky for us and her. If the landlord finds out we will have no choice but to get rid of her.
I know there are no fast fixes but she is on our last nerve. What can we do to stop this.
We have tried squirting her with water, using the vacuum, using canned air. We even have covered the widow sill with cardboard to keep her from getting in it. She still jumps up and pulls it down.
Im afraid it could get violent to her. The lack of sleep is pushing us to the end. Please help what do we do. We just don't have the patience for the slow method anymore.

goldenkitty45 · Feb 16, 2007

You mean the cat is sitting in the window from the INSIDE? Why not have blinds or curtains in the window and put some sticky tape (like 2-sided scotch tape) on the sill to discourage the cat.

But you are risking losing her anyway since the landlord doesn't know you have the cat.

karmasmom · Feb 16, 2007

Yes she is on the inside. Its more her hitting the blinds that is causing all the noise. The two sided tape is not an option. She would figure it out. Things like that don't work for her. We are going to try it. Our window is tinted so you can't see her but we are getting to the point in the year where we will have to have the window open and then the tint won't work.
My DH is really at the end. We tried keeping her out of the bedroom by shutting the door. She looses it, she throws herself against the door. So that does not work.
The tape idea may work but in the mean time she will still jump up into it.
Part of the problem is we have birds that taunt her from the outside. Is there something we can do to keep them from coming around? That may help. During the dead of winter when the birds were not there she was not doing it as much but now that spring is here they are around all the time.
PLease I am open to all ideas. We don't want to loose her.

fiftyfour · Feb 16, 2007

I had the same problem with Kitty. She loves the window and would jump up in the morning to look outside. The noise of the blinds would wake us up and get me sooo angry. It's enough that I have to wake up early for work, but Kitty would shorten my sleep time.

So what I did was I had a shelf that I moved in front of the window. It was short enough to still allow light in when necessary, but tall enough that she couldn't jump easily. She still tried to jump on top of the self though. So then I covered the top of the shelf with a bunch of things so there was no empty space. She finally stopped jumping there.

You can also try replacing the blinds with curtains. They wont make noise and you can just let her look outside.

As for the whole tinted windows situation, sorry, no idea about that one

beandip · Feb 16, 2007

Spanking doesn't work with cats.

I'm not sure what to advise. Other than being seen in the window, I don't quite understand why it's bad for her to get in the window. Is there a way to allow her to see out the window that won't make noise?

How old is she?

larke · Feb 16, 2007

Is there another window in another room she has decent access to? Because you could then close your door and the problem would be solved. She's acting on instinct after all, wanting to see the birds (it's a very strong instinct!) and it seems unfair for her not to be able to look outside in the a.m. after all. But then it seems incredibly unfair to have either taken your apt. knowing you had a cat, or bringing her in and chancing losing her, as well as now talking about a shelter because of what seems (I know you need your sleep) a small problem that could have many fixes. If you give her away because of this problem, please don't get another animal.

laureen227 · Feb 16, 2007

Originally Posted by beandip

Other than being seen in the window, I don't quite understand why it's bad for her to get in the window. Is there a way to allow her to see out the window that won't make noise?

maybe a really dark screen?

karmasmom · Feb 16, 2007

Thank you all for yur responces. Like I said I am very tires. So I may have rambled and seemed a bit harsh. I think we may have solved the problem. The cardboard that we put up deflected her. She tried once bounced off and looked at it like What the---. So she came out here and just went to a different windo that she never uses. Like I said Its not the window itself it was the noise of her jumping in.Unfortunately getting a differant curtain at this point is not an option. When we can we will.
Thank you all and I will keep you updated.

jenniferd · Feb 16, 2007

Cats just love windows. Mine destroyed all the blinds with his fat behind when he jumps on the window. I just blocked it with the pillow.

cheylink · Feb 16, 2007

Originally Posted by KarmasMom

Thank you all for yur responces. Like I said I am very tires. So I may have rambled and seemed a bit harsh. I think we may have solved the problem. The cardboard that we put up deflected her. She tried once bounced off and looked at it like What the---. So she came out here and just went to a different windo that she never uses. Like I said Its not the window itself it was the noise of her jumping in.Unfortunately getting a differant curtain at this point is not an option. When we can we will.
Thank you all and I will keep you updated.

I was actually going to suggest placing something there that would not allow her to fit in the window

.................good luck!

karmasmom · Feb 17, 2007

I have gotton many good ideas from everyine here. We normally never spank her we were just at the end of our rope. We both feel horable about it.
My DH and Karma made up while I was at work. They took a long nap and played very hard. He also said he is going to try and get her more on our sleeping pattern, that may help too. He works at home so he can do it. HE also said he plans on reading more of the behavior threads here so he can learn how to cope. One other thing he said he was going to do was limo tint our windows so she will be able to sit in the patio window and not be seen.If she will do that then no problem. I will keep everyone up to date.
Thank you again and heres to a restful and happy future.

Oh and beandip, she is a little over 3. She was a stray before we got her a year ago.

epona · Feb 17, 2007

Awwww, indoor cats do love to look out of windows. I think tinting them is a great idea, so she can see out but can't be seen.

Also if she likes to watch the birds, there are a number of things you can provide indoors for her entertainment - an aquarium screen saver on the computer, a DVD of birds and small animals (you can get ones that are made especially to get the attention of and entertain cats and most love watching them!) or something like a 'toy' aquarium, the sort with the plastic fish that bob up and down in the water currents.

karmasmom · Feb 17, 2007

Originally Posted by Epona

a DVD of birds and small animals (you can get ones that are made especially to get the attention of and entertain cats and most love watching them!) or something like a 'toy' aquarium, the sort with the plastic fish that bob up and down in the water currents.

We were thinking about the DVD idea already. I get paid this week so we were going to look into it. Do they work. That was the one thing I was wondering, part of me does not want to spend the money if she wont watch. But then again she loves to watch tv. We also have been talking about getting a small aquarium. We have always had a bete in the house and its been about 3 years since the lat one. So we are feeling the need for a fish. Plus I think Kaarma would love it.

Also, Update from this am. She jumped in the window once around 730, bounced off the cardboard. Then she sat in the doorway yelled into the room and walked away. I don't knwow what she was saying but I don't think it was very nice. She seemed very embarased about not being able to make it into the window. We founder looking onto the patio, not as exciting for her because the birds hang out in the bush by our windo but still she went to a different place.

beandip · Feb 17, 2007

It sounds like you're making progress. How about a bird feeder on the patio? Just a cheap and/or homemade one would do, the birds aren't picky.

neely · Feb 17, 2007

Originally Posted by KarmasMom

I need some serios help. Karma likes to jump in the widow every morning starting at about 630 am.

I'd be thankful if our cat let us sleep until 6:30 a.m. She starts waking us up from the time we crawl in bed until the wee hours of the morning. And does the same thing as your kitty if we lock her out of our room, i.e. throws herself against the door. I've even watched her from inside the bathroom where her litter box is and she jumps up to the doorknob as if she's trying to turn it. This is the smartest cat we have ever had.

The aquarium is a good idea. My daughter brought home 2 goldfish from her biology class and Neely can't keep her eyes off the fish. She's been so busy staying up to watch them that it has helped us get some sleep at night.

Good luck, please try to work out the problems, I agree taking her to a shelter is definitely not a good alternative.

karmasmom · Feb 18, 2007

Originally Posted by Neely

I've even watched her from inside the bathroom where her litter box is and she jumps up to the doorknob as if she's trying to turn it. This is the smartest cat we have ever had.

Good luck, please try to work out the problems, I agree taking her to a shelter is definitely not a good alternative.

Talk about smart, the first day we brought Karma home we put her in the bathroom so she could adjust. She jumped up on the counter, turned the knob and let herself out

. That is the last time we tried to lock her up.

We both agree the shelter was not the best of ideas. Like I said we were exhasted. There is no way we could live without her. She saved our lives, to say the least.

Also Beandip, we have been talking about a bird feeder. I want to get a hummingbird feeder. There are a ton of hummingbirds where we live. Also I am starting a garden on teh patio and want to get a small birdbath. So that should give the little monkey(Karma) plenty to look at.

littleraven7726 · Feb 18, 2007

we lived in an apartment where we had to put privacy film on the windows for a few years. the cats couldn't look out unless we opened the window. (we had a mega huge stray cat problem, and raven would spray when he saw the cats. we were also on the first floor, and didn't like people looking in everytime we had our blinds up.) we made sure the cats had other things to watch. we had a 10-gal fish tank with neons and cory cats (still have it). and around that time i had adopted a gerbil and a mouse, who each lived in their own 10-gal tanks on a bookshelf. they were safe from the cats, but the cats could watch them. (i don't recommend rodents unless you like them--which i do

)

i would ONLY block the window if you have alternatives for her to watch. otherwise crack the blinds up about 4-5 inches. put curtain's over if you need to. but please don't hit the kitty because she's going in the window. she doesn't know what she's doing wrong.

privacy film is available at home improvement stores in the window section. we bought ours at home depot. it can be removed when you move out too.

jenniferd · Feb 18, 2007

I just blocked window with the pillow so the cat can't get on there to sit.
But all my blinds are ruined.
My cats are very well behaved but they are stubborn so if they want to do something it's not easy to get them stop, thankfully they rarely want to do something bad.

I need help, My Dhis at his witts end!!!!!!!

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Darksome Duo!

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May the purr be with you

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