Anyone want a black kitty?

Ok, first I have to say that I would NEVER get rid of either of my cats... no matter how crazy they may drive me! But seriously... Wickett is so needy that it's seriously damaging to my sleep and it's getting slowly but progressively worse. My preferred feeding schedule for them would be to feed them dry in the morning (around 6-7am), then wet at dinner time, then a little more dry before bed. Mind you, when we're up they get TONS of attention. Well, 6-7 am wasn't early enough for either of them so they took turns getting me up at 4am. Fine, I'd feed them, then go back to bed. Then Wickett started getting me up earlier and earlier until he's now waking me at 1:30 or 2am each morning. Since I feed them at 10pm before bed I refuse to feed them again at 2am. Plus, even if I do he comes half an hour later. So, last night being the worst yet, went like this... 10:00 pm; bed time and cuddles for Wickett. 2:30 am; Wickett wakes me for the first time and I shut the bedroom door (this is typical). 3:00 am; Wickett comes to the door meowing and "knocking". I get up, feed them and tell Wickett that I'd really appreciate it if he didn't come wake me again. 3:30 am; Wickett is at the door knocking again. I open the door and go downstairs (he runs cuz he knows I'm annoyed and that makes me sad but it's 3 30 in the morning!). 3:36 am; Wickett is at the door AGAIN! This time Matt gets up and finally and 4:30 am I get back to sleep until my alarm goes off at 7. Now, I'm sore someone will say "well, why don't you just let him in then?" Well, it's not just that he wants to be near us but he wants us UP! He'll pace around the bed softly meowing until we chase him out. He won't even settle in for some lovin'... he just wants us awake.

So, does anyone have any ideas for saving my sleep and sanity!? I seriously can't take it. I was SO annoyed last night that it took me forever to get back to sleep and normally I'm half narcoleptic.

He's really got you trained, doesn't he! Every time he says jump, you ask how high, and as long as you continue to react, to acknowledge his noise, he'll keep right on going. You're going to have to pick a time (long wknd?) to retrain him (it'll take longer, but it may be a good start) by setting up a routine for you all, and then sticking to it. It could involve keeping him active before bed, and then either closing him out of the room for the night every single night, or whatever you choose, but you must be absolutely consistent, even if it's hard to put up with for as long as it takes (may not be that long once he gets the point), just like people do with crying babies. But I imagine it will be a struggle for a while, so good luck!

If they are not overweight, you might consider free feeding them. Get a LARGE bowl or feeder and fill it. At first they will probaly chow down but when they realize it isn't going anywhere they will back off.

It doesn't work with all cats, but if you keep them active enough and feed a good quality food, I think it would work out alright and might be worth a try.

Yeah, I have to play with PHX before bedtime... to get him tired. If I do not play with him enough, he keeps waking me up when I'm sleeping! I have found that as long as I have fresh water out, enough food,and I play with him and give him cuddles ALL BEFORE BED.... then he'll leave me alone! (Well, kind of)

Don't give up! It will be OK!

Jen you took the words right out of my mouth.
I give mine wet food twice a day and free feed dry.

Yes, I am VERY well trained! /

They are basically free fed dry. I don't put alot out because my apartment is prone to ants and I don't want it getting stale and yucky but there is almost always food in their dishes. I've also tries tiring him out before bed and that only puts my wake-up off by an hour at most.

The trick with being consistent is getting Matt to ignore him too. Would you suggest any deterrents like a squirt gun or loud noise when he begs for attention?

I know you weren't asking me, but my Vet told me once that spraying a cat with water is the worst way to get them to stop a bad behavior.

He said they will associate the water with you, not the bad behavior and also if the water would get in their ears, eyes, or nose it could cause a yeast infection...not something you want trust me...when I rescued Annabelle she had a yeast infection in her ears...Dear God what a mess that was to get rid off.
He told me a can with pennies in it works to stop bad behavior...I used that with Elliott when he was attacking Gracie and it broke him of the habit.

Good luck!

I was asking anyone! I knew there were mixed feeling on water and I don't think it'd work anyway because I used it when he was younger and I could soak him and he paid no attention to me or the water. I like the idea of a can of pennies and I know noises work on him. He especially hates bills! He's always getting onto a corner behind the couch where he's not supposed to so we flap the cable bill at him and it sends him running. That'll be realy fun since Matt can usually sleep through Wickett but I know the coins will wake him... now he can suffer with me! Mwahahah!

There you go, you can get the attention of both of them in one shot!

there is absolutely no reason to feed a cat "wet" food. don't do it. cats should have dry food and water available 24 hours a day. trust me, they do just fine without their "fancy feast"... :-)

Originally Posted by feral65

there is absolutely no reason to feed a cat "wet" food. don't do it. cats should have dry food and water available 24 hours a day. trust me, they do just fine without their "fancy feast"... :-)

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If you would read some of the threads in the health and nutrition forum you would see that this is simply not true.

Hey Meaghan I will trade you a black kitty for a grey kitty! Phantom likes to wake me up at night too!!

I don't think cats need wet food, dry food is better for their teeth.

Dental disease a major cause of lots of other diseases in cats.

my kitties can be as pesky as they want. but there is no way they are getting breakfast (canned food) before 6am. that's just a fact. on a more serious note, i feed them between 6am and 6:30am. they tend to start getting restless about 5:30am. that's doable. i stay in bed til 6am though.

free feeding dry really helps. when we went all canned for a few months, i made myself miserable. they were waking me up REALLY early. i leave out a small measured amount of kibble between wet food meals.

we've used squirt bottles without our cats being completely traumatized beyond repair. with nabu squirt bottles don't work. he will hunker down, glare, and get soaked. as if to say "you can't stop me". so needless to say we stopped bothering when it comes to nabu. with stimpy all i have to do is shake the bottle and he stops what he's doing. stimpy really hates to get wet. with raven, well, we rarely need to with raven. he's pretty good.

I wonder if you might have some luck by putting trays of water outside the door?? It's a trick they suggest for keeping cats off of sinks, and I'm thinking that it might help you here. My thought is thus:

You basically need to break him of a habit that he's gotten into (knocking on the door at night). If you put a solid barrier of water trays across the doorway, (let's say 12 inch wide trays), he wouldn't be able to get to the door to knock, without standing in water... that might just throw him off his pattern enough to break it - and it's a cheap, easy thing to try...

Originally Posted by feral65

there is absolutely no reason to feed a cat "wet" food. don't do it. cats should have dry food and water available 24 hours a day. trust me, they do just fine without their "fancy feast"... :-)

Click to expand...

Originally Posted by AlleyGirl

If you would read some of the threads in the health and nutrition forum you would see that this is simply not true.

Click to expand...

I agree that it's not true. Cats NEED wet food as a source of moisture in their diets. In the wild cats eeat mostly fresh meat which is NOTHING like dry kibble! Besides, he's not waking me up for wet food and I wonder if he's waking me up for food at all.

Originally Posted by Phenomsmom

Hey Meaghan I will trade you a black kitty for a grey kitty! Phantom likes to wake me up at night too!!

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Tempting, but if I'm trading I want a late sleeper!

Originally Posted by lukeblaise

I don't think cats need wet food, dry food is better for their teeth.

Dental disease a major cause of lots of other diseases in cats.

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Do you have anything to back this? I'm not trying to be difficult but almost everything I've read says that dry kibble does NOTHING to improve dental condition... thats what tooth brushing is for.

Originally Posted by littleraven7726

free feeding dry really helps. when we went all canned for a few months, i made myself miserable.

they were waking me up REALLY early. i leave out a small measured amount of kibble between wet food meals.

we've used squirt bottles without our cats being completely traumatized beyond repair. with nabu squirt bottles don't work. he will hunker down, glare, and get soaked. as if to say "you can't stop me". so needless to say we stopped bothering when it comes to nabu.

with stimpy all i have to do is shake the bottle and he stops what he's doing. stimpy really hates to get wet. with raven, well, we rarely need to with raven. he's pretty good.

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I do the same thing with their dry and they get their wet when we all have dinner around 6pm.

Wickett (last time I used a squirt bottle) was like Nabu... he'd put up with it just to prove a point.

I think after we get back from our honeymoon I'll try the coin shaker. I'll be home for 4 days before going back to work and with the time off I can nap in the afternoons while trying to re-train Wickett during the night. Won't Matt love me then! LOL

All I can say about the wet food issue is what my Vet told me.
He said that it's a very good idea to feed cats some wet food each day because most cats don't drink enough water and the moisture in the wet food helps to keep them hydrated.

Originally Posted by derelict

I wonder if you might have some luck by putting trays of water outside the door?? It's a trick they suggest for keeping cats off of sinks, and I'm thinking that it might help you here. My thought is thus:

You basically need to break him of a habit that he's gotten into (knocking on the door at night). If you put a solid barrier of water trays across the doorway, (let's say 12 inch wide trays), he wouldn't be able to get to the door to knock, without standing in water... that might just throw him off his pattern enough to break it - and it's a cheap, easy thing to try...

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That's not a bad idea... I tried something similar w/ laundry baskets but it only worked till he realized he could just lay in the basket! LOL I'll try that if the coins don't work. My only fears with that are that he'll play in the water (he like to play in his fountain) and that Matt or I will forget it's there and step in it.

Originally Posted by twstychik

I think after we get back from our honeymoon I'll try the coin shaker. I'll be home for 4 days before going back to work and with the time off I can nap in the afternoons while trying to re-train Wickett during the night. Won't Matt love me then! LOL

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i hope they work better for you than at our house. last time i did coin shakers. they worked once, then after that the cats looked at me like i had completely lost my mind. that's an interesting feeling.

i've had the most luck with this: i do a wet food meal at breakfast. one when i get home from work (between 3:30-4pm). then again at around 7, but that one is more of a snack. 2 of my cats eat more wet than dry, and they get cranky and pesky during the night if we deviate from this method. stimpy eats more like 50/50. so maybe a before bed snack would keep your guy happy?

We picked up furniture protective double sided stickies.(Sticky Paws) We put them on the door where the cats pawed. It doesn't look attractive but they learned to stop knocking on the door. The best thing that worked for us is to just ignore the banging. The sticky stuff worked pretty good.

I hope you find a solution b/c I know how disruptive it can be.