I never get a full night of sleep!!

oliveismykitty

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
2
Purraise
0
Location
New York
Hello all,
wondering if you had any ideas.
Every...single...night my cat wakes me up between 2 and 4am. Every...single...night I have to put her in the bathroom because I have a one-bedroom apartment. I feel like I am living with an infant. I always play with her an hour or two before bedtime. But she wakes me up regardless and is relentless! She scratches my bedspread and claws the side of my mattress, or me for that matter, until I get up. What can I do??
Thanks for any help you can give me!
 

erinca7821

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Jun 21, 2007
Messages
275
Purraise
2
Location
New Jersey
Do you have a door??? Maybe lock her out of the bedroom at night... just make sure she doesn't scratch at the door, mine destroyed a bathroom door when I was away... I think he missed going in there a few times a day.

If that's not possible, as hard as it is, try ignoring her?... She's getting the attention she wants when you get up with her scratching at you.

How old is she?
 

kluchetta

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
11,023
Purraise
30
Location
Golden, Colorado
That's a good question - how old is she?

Does she want to play, cuddle, or eat when she's waking you up? (or none of the above)
 

barbb

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 16, 2001
Messages
1,300
Purraise
40
Location
Chicago burbs
Awww that sounds horrible!

Anyhow, by getting up and playing with her when she paws at you, you are rewarding and reinforcing the behavior that you want to stop.

I had a cat that had a habit of jumping on our dresser at 4AM and knocking books and other things off it with her paw.

I consulted a behavior therapist who said to get something really loud like a hair drier or bullhorn; and make the noise when the cat was doing that behavior. The most important thing though, was that the cat needed to think the noise came out of the blue. The therapist advised that we hide the hair drier or noisemaker under our pillow and be very discreet about the cat not seeing it.

I hope this helps you. You might also be able to use a spray bottle or water pistol if loud noises do not startle your kitty, but again, the cat cannot know it comes from you. Also if your cat jumps on the bed in the same place every night, you could put a hissing spray there after you turn in for the night. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...02&N=2002+2017

Good luck, I know how hard it is to be woken up like that
.
 

gomer

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Jul 17, 2007
Messages
138
Purraise
1
Location
Wallaceburg Ontario Canada
Ugh, good luck! I can't stand having the cats in with me at night anymore (or the dogs for that matter). I like to have half the queen bed aaaaaall to myself.
Or more if I can push Jeremy over far enough.



I had a cat that used to sleep on my head as a baby, after he got older he would knead my head, and dig with his claws. It got quite painful, even if they were clipped, so we started locking him out of the bedroom. It didn't last long. He would sit at the door and cry. I held out for two days, then he started going 'maaaamaaaaaa!!!! Maaaamaaaaa!!!!' that sealed it. He came back in and I just tried to wrap and blanket around my head.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

oliveismykitty

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
2
Purraise
0
Location
New York
She is about 2 years old. I do have a door and she scratches it. And once I put her in the bathroom locked, she scratches after a few hours. But I'll try some of your suggestions. Thanks!
 

huyi

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Jun 29, 2006
Messages
205
Purraise
11
Location
London
Originally Posted by Gomer

I had a cat that used to sleep on my head as a baby, after he got older he would knead my head, and dig with his claws. It got quite painful, even if they were clipped, so we started locking him out of the bedroom. It didn't last long. He would sit at the door and cry. I held out for two days, then he started going 'maaaamaaaaaa!!!! Maaaamaaaaa!!!!' that sealed it. He came back in and I just tried to wrap and blanket around my head.
lol that was so funny that made me cry tears of laughter XD my cat does annoying things too, she gets on the bed and she starts kneading on me when i am trying to sleep and if her claws are not cut it hurts, i try telling her to stop but she keeps doing it so i move her away but she just comes back and does it again.

also when i am sitting down on my bed and gaming on my console she will walk right in front of my view, miaow and sit right there and i can't see a thing
it's annoying when i am watching a movie and she does this aswell.

my cat does the same thing each morning she would claw at the bottom side of the bed, i'm talking about the wood part, it's now riped and pieces of the wood has fallen off, funny thing is she has a scratch post in the same room ¬_¬

my cat also wails and wails until i feed her, she knows when it's feeding time, every morning at 8am (she eats at 9am) same time every day she wails until i get up scratching the sides of the bed and sitting on me, she will not stop this until i feed her, and if i ignore her she will come up close to my ear and miaow louder lol

i've started to put nightshade in the other room before i go to bed and close the door, but that doesn't stop her because she will claw at the door and miaow until i open it, then it's a cat and mouse chase trying to tell her to stop and i end up getting out of bed anyway because she doesn't stop


so by the time it's in the middle of the day i'm so tired and end up sleeping then.
 

luvmy2cats

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 22, 2007
Messages
4,616
Purraise
11
Location
Goshen, IN
My cat usually wakes me up too because he wants attention. He's getting better at learning that if he lies down and is quiet then I will pet him. Other times he will just want out of the bedroom to see what's going on in the rest of the house.
 

mrjonah

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
May 20, 2007
Messages
281
Purraise
11
Location
Vancouver Island, Canada
SO frustrating. With Jonah, we had the pooping-and-scratching-endlessly-around-in-the-litter-box-at-5-am problem.
I'd agree the squirt bottle might help - although some cats don't mind it. Since you can't lock her out, it's going to be something that's done while she is allowed into your room.
Hope you figure out something that works...
 

katz4life

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 24, 2007
Messages
3,667
Purraise
2
That is one thing we taught our cats immediately is that they cannot come in our bedroom when we are sleeping and that they cannot be noisy outside the door. Occasionally our cat Sushie will meow at the door and put her paws under the door...but we just do a sound that she doesn't like and she stops.

We understand that she misses us and may want attention but there is plenty of time for that when we are awake. We don't bug them while they are sleeping, so they shouldn't bug us while we are sleeping. Took them a little while to realize but they are good about it now
 

stampit3d

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 5, 2005
Messages
2,864
Purraise
1
Location
Michigan USA
Originally Posted by oliveismykitty

She is about 2 years old. I do have a door and she scratches it. And once I put her in the bathroom locked, she scratches after a few hours. But I'll try some of your suggestions. Thanks!
Could you tack some scrap carpeting or a piece of plywood on the inside of the door so that she does`nt damage it if she does scratch? (Carpeting would be quieter)
Linda
 

sassygirl_2007

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 23, 2007
Messages
46
Purraise
1
Location
Wisconsin
How long have you had her for?

the reason i ask is because if you have not had her for a very long time, she just may not be used to your schedule yet. I know when i first got my Sassy at 8 weeks old, she woke me up every night for the first two weeks. It was very irritating. But now i have had her for 2 months and she knows my schedule now and doesnt wake me up at all now.

So if you havent had her for very long, just give it sometime and let her get used to you and eventually it will stop.....

good luck
 
Top