7 months of no sleep, please help Marcel to stay indoors!

Hi

My husband and I haven't been able to sleep through the night for the past 7 months because of our kitty Marcel.

We have two cats, George, 6yrs, indoor outdoor cat and Marcel, 1yr, indoor cat. George has a catflap in a room connected to the hall, all the other doors including our bedroom lead off of this hall. Marcel scratches at this door incessantly every single night. When he's tired of the door he'll switch to the tv screen (which is off) in our room or the window pane. We've stapled leather and fleece to the door with a scratching mat on it but he still goes for the wood, if not that door than another door. Our apartment is so small, all doors leading off that hallway, there is no escape from the noise. My husband works shifts and I can see that he might end up wanting Marcel to go outside too but Marcel is completly black and there's a busy road closeby.

I am going to try some of that bitter spray on all the doors and frames but maybe he will just switch to the tv and window which I can't spray. We leave the bathroom window open with fly netting in so he can look out and feel the breeze. He has a cat tree in the kitchen by the window. I had to get up about 9 times last night between 12am-8am. We have tried squirting with water, bashing wooden spoons together everything. I think it's normal that he scratches when George comes in, I have to get up to let him in then anyway but it's just constant.

At our petstore they sell a tube of calming paste, maybe I should give him that before we go to bed? It's normally meant for vet trips, getting a new pet etc...

We've tried ignoring it but the noise is undescribable and it doesn't help.

Please has anyone been able to stop something like this? After 7 months it seems to be getting worse. He is neutered also.

Please help Marcel to continue to be an indoor cat!

Get a sisal covered scratching board or post tall enough for his stretching, and attach it to a wall (corner) somewhere. Rub catnip on it to get him used to the idea.

After you get the stratching post, get your husband some ear plugs. They take some getting used to, but they do work. My husband snores and it's the only way I can sleep.

Ha ha ear plugs, that's a good idea!!

We've got one of those sisal mats attached to the door and he will sometimes scratch it, but more often than not next to it or the other door, he scratches a lot on his cat tree as well. I'm really sure it's for attention though. When he's scratching on the tv he's really turnng around looking at us to see if we're watching. When I get up he's quite for about half an hour then he starts again.

I've got the Feliway plug in which I brought when we introduced him to our other cat but I hadn't thought about re-using it for this, should I put it really close to the door that he's scratching or did you mean to use the Feliway spray?

I'm going to leave some ear plugs under hubby's pillow tonight

So here's an update.

I plugged the Feliway difuser back in and put an extention cable right at the door so it's as close as I could get it. It's been on for a few days but I can't say I notice any good/bad effects.

I took Marcel into the garden on his gentle leader and tried to tire him out then I fed him just before we went to bed. But it was still the same old scratching all through the night! My husband is not having a good time with the ear plugs either, says the're uncomfortable.

Then I got two sprays a cat stop and cat attract catnip spray. I sprayed the stop around the door frame but it doesn't seem to bother him to much But both cats went crazy over the cat nip spray, they've had catnip tpys before but weren't that interested but now even 6yr old George was going wild! So the scratching hasn't changed much but it's funny watching them get high

I don't want to over do it with the spray, can they get immune to it? How often can I use it? I've been doing there blanket on the couch, cat tree, toys and our bed...

Thanks all!

I think the problem is that you're treating the two cats differently. Of course one cat is going to want to go out if you let the other go out. You should either let both go out, or neither.

I don't think the color of the cat has any effect on whether he will get hit by a car. When cats do get struck by a car, the driver usually doesn't see the cat in time to stop. It has nothing to do with the color of the cat.

So if you think your neighborhood isn't safe for an outdoor cat, then it isn't safe for George either. If you think it is okay, then it's safe enough for Marcel to go out.

I think both humans and cats will be happier once you get rid of the complicated system of having one be indoor/outdoor and the other indoor.

Also, it would be a good idea to take away anything, like the cat tree, that puts him right in sight of all the interesting stuff outside. I purposely put something on high places that I don't want my cats on, things like small boxes with open flaps and edges that would keep a cat from thinking it's an easy place to land on when he jumps. Don't give him places to look outside and then complain if he asks to go out (whether he scratches, meows, or anything else to get your attention).