I may regret my decision...but

Since Puff came to our family I've made it our nightly arrangement that Puff sleeps in my bedroom. I figured if he was getting into something he shouldn't and I was right there I'd hear him.. Which I'm totally correct! I do.. That's the problem. I hear every little thing he does. And he does a lot at night! Every little thing on the floor small enough to bat around he does. He gets up on Kota's cage where he can get into the boxes on it (x-mas decorations). He knocked over a box of decorations a couple days ago and I'm pretty sure he broke some of my antique bulbs. Bottom line is: He's very bored. I can't fit his cat tree in the bedroom since there isn't much room and it's unfair to try to stop him from playing.. I mean he's just trying to do what he loves to do and I shouldn't be yelling at him at 2am to stop playing..

So.. I'm going to let him have free roaming in the house at night. I've tried to look at things that he may get into that I don't want him to.. Can anyone give me some ideas on what might pose a hazard? I know electrical cords but I really can't move them.

Try some bitter apple on the electrical cords. I've also heard of using Tabasco so that might work in a pinch. Other than that, make sure no rubber bands or anything small is on the floor, except for toys of course! Throw some aluminum foil balls on the floor...my cats go crazy over them! I've stopped buying regular cat toys because they prefer them. Good luck!

You should spend all day on one of your days off interacting with him. Keep him awake all day long without any naps. If you see him sleeping, go and wake him up and play with him.

By the time night comes he will be tired and settle down to sleep.

That's what I do with all of my pets so that they get onto the same sleep time as I am.

Things I have done to make my place more pet friendly is to put cords behind furniture where possible. My entertainment unit is as close to the wall as I can put it, with all cord for it behind the unit. Other furniture covers other cords. At the puter, I have put a filing cabinet there to make t hat space as small as possible, with cords prtoected as best as possible. You could try covering up the cords with tape if necessary. Anything else, I have put away as best as possible. You could try getting on your hands and knees and looking atthings from their perspective, and anything that is questionable, then move it too another spot. I have tried to put things out of the way for the cats, but they get into areas that I cannot do much about, like the christams tree, . Just my opinion, hope it helps.

Heh, this is why Mi-ke doesn't sleep with me--she's too busy. Or at least she was as a kitten.

I tried bitter apple, and it was sort of a pain, so I tried some spray stuff. It doesn't seem to affect her, but it sure seems to work on me. I've sprayed my computer cords, so whenever I need to change out a cord, I forget that that stuff's on there, and if I touch my fingers to my mouth in any way, I'm tasting that stuff for ages. It's nasty. On the upside, Mi-ke only bothers with the computer cords when I'm on the computer. But she chews cable cords, darn her.

Put down orange or lemon peel pieces around the cords (for a while anyway) - they also help keep spiders away :0).

You'll get used to Puff being in the room given time. When I first started letting Jaffa and Mosi in my bedroom at night I wondered how I'd ever get some sleep but now I'm used to it and they don't wake me up as easily. They are also used to their routine and usually settle down quite quickly. Jaffa settles down straight away on my bed or in his bed at the bottom of my bed (I never thought he'd do that as when he'd been in the bedroom for the odd night before he'd seemed very restless) and Mosi gets hyper for a while before settling on my bed or in the living room. Of course Mosi wakes me ridiculously early but that's just Mosi.

Originally Posted by calico2222

Try some bitter apple on the electrical cords. I've also heard of using Tabasco so that might work in a pinch. Other than that, make sure no rubber bands or anything small is on the floor, except for toys of course! Throw some aluminum foil balls on the floor...my cats go crazy over them! I've stopped buying regular cat toys because they prefer them. Good luck!

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Please don't use aluminum foil balls to keep your cats occupied. Aluminum is toxic to cats. Instead, give them something flat to bat around. On a hardwood or tile floor, its hockey time! I give my boys the top off a milk bottle. Not only does it go flying, but it also smells a bit like milk (make sure you rinse it off first since it is definitely going to get lost.)

Originally Posted by Sweets

Please don't use aluminum foil balls to keep your cats occupied. Aluminum is toxic to cats. Instead, give them something flat to bat around. On a hardwood or tile floor, its hockey time! I give my boys the top off a milk bottle. Not only does it go flying, but it also smells a bit like milk (make sure you rinse it off first since it is definitely going to get lost.)

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Ferris eats foil and it makes him sick, so I can't put ANY foil out anywhere.

Paper balls are fun, the cardboard toilet paper tubes are fun, if you kitty likes the foil balls, try the mylar crinkle balls. I give those to Ferris instead of the aluminum foil, and he LOVES them!

Fuzzy mice are a big hit around my house, too. Just snip off most of the tails before you give them to him.

Originally Posted by urbantigers

You'll get used to Puff being in the room given time. When I first started letting Jaffa and Mosi in my bedroom at night I wondered how I'd ever get some sleep but now I'm used to it and they don't wake me up as easily. They are also used to their routine and usually settle down quite quickly. Jaffa settles down straight away on my bed or in his bed at the bottom of my bed (I never thought he'd do that as when he'd been in the bedroom for the odd night before he'd seemed very restless) and Mosi gets hyper for a while before settling on my bed or in the living room. Of course Mosi wakes me ridiculously early but that's just Mosi.

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Actually we adopted Puff back in Nov. So I think if I was going to get use to it I would have already. I've always slept very lightly. Especially after having my daughter.

Tire him out.... Zoey sleeps about half a night when I play with her several times in the 3-4 hours prior to bedtime/.///

Remember by nature cats are nocturnal so some never let you rest

Originally Posted by SalemWitchChild

Actually we adopted Puff back in Nov. So I think if I was going to get use to it I would have already. I've always slept very lightly. Especially after having my daughter.

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It took me several months to get used to having Jaffa and Mosi in the bedroom I got Mosi last April and because he was little he was very hyper at night which kept Jaffa awake as well as me. It wasn't really until the autumn when things started to settle down and I was able to go to sleep even if they were wandering around.

I would what the others suggested. My sister trained her cat to be come to bed with her and sleep most of the night. She plays with him every night and wears him out and he knows when it's bed time it's bed time.