Cats keep on "knocking" on the door...

We don't actually have door on our bedroom, but rather one of those sliding accordian dividers. One of my cats knows how to get in around the door, but the other one knocks...CONSTANTLY. He starts at about midnight and does it about every minute or so. We give them fresh food and water before bed every night, and make sure the litter box is clean.

I've tried everything... petting him before bed, playing before bed, even left the door open one night so he could come and go as he pleased. He would sit by the bed and cry and cry until one of us got up and put him in the bathroom!

Obviously we think he wants breakfast, which he gets at around 6am, not midnight. This guy can EAT - he loves food! But at the same time, we don't want him to get used to getting breakfast at 1:00 in the morning either.

We've tried putting up barriers, spritzing with water, everything. I really am not supposed to have either cat in the bedroom as I'm allergic to them and asthmatic as well, so the bedroom is a kind of "sanctuary" since I won't get rid of my cats.

Please any advice or tips are welcome! What can I do to keep him from knocking at all hours of the night!

Originally Posted by Sparkie

What can I do to keep him from knocking at all hours of the night!

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Ignore him. It is difficult but it works. This is a case of battle of wills.

His primary goal is to get attention ! The more you respond to his antics, the more he succeeds .......... When you close the sliding doors, is it permanent seperation between rooms? I had the same situation years ago and made a kitty door panel in one of the doors, permanent access, no excuse.
Often kitties who seek extra attention also use the feeding behavior as an excuse. Maia is a dead ringer for this behavior, she will obsessively beg for food and/or repeat the "I am hungry" behavior simply for attention!

The best thing you can do is just ignore him. Belle went through a stage when she would put her paw under the bedroom door and shake the door at 2am untill I got up and opened it and then I would let her out and 10min later she would be back shaking the door to get back in. I finally just ignored it. She figured out soon enough that it was not working and in like a week she never did it again. It's hard to ignore I know, but worked out better in the end.

Oops, I forgot to mention...we tried ignoring him too! But the knocking is so loud, it literally sounds like someone is rattling your door trying to get in, and it wakes you up out of a dead sleep...and it's impossible to fall back to sleep once you're awake and he starts doing that.

He is a pretty persistant little guy...and we can't keep going without sleep

Just a quick update... my dad suggested a "baby gate" in front of the accordian door so that Pandora (the clever girl that she is) couldn't open it, and Thor couldn't keep knocking.

It worked for about a day. Now he knows how to put his paw into the gate and slam it against the door facing. Arrrrghh! He worked that gate for over an hour this morning.

I think his will is stronger than mine!

You need to create easier access for him, and be consistent with your response. It is up to you to create a set schedule, pattern of feeding, sleeping, but you have to stick to it! Do whatever is necessary to ignore him, pillows over your head (my favorite) or if necessary feed him a snack if that stops him.