How to get cat to sleep with me

Since I got Nala, I have wanted her to sleep in bed with me. Usually I sleep with my door closed (I'm not sure why, but i just have since I was little). So in the past, she couldnt come in. No mind you there are 4 bedrooms in our house and all doors are usually closed (like I said, just habit). So the last 2 nights, I stayed up a little later and grabed her for her usually spot on top of our cat walk and took her to bed and got her to sleep with me! (I had to keep the door open so she could leave the bed as she needed too; she did leave and then she came back after she was done and brought her favorite ball back with her so I think thats a good sign) But, she won't come in on her own accord because she is usually hyper around when I go to bed and then I think she calms down after I've gone. So how can I get her to keep coming with me? Do I keep grabbing her later and see if she makes it a habit on her own? Or do you think she will just come to bed with me when she wants if I leave my door open? Any advice on how you got your cats to sleep by you?

They will come in and sleep with you when they are ready. You can't really "make" a cat do anything I have one cat (domestic) who loves to sleep with me and will follow me to bed. More so when it is cooler out. When it is hot in the house (no AC) she tends to sleep by herself. I at times, work night shift, so I will sleep during the day. That is when I will find my bobcats in bed with me. They won't come to bed if I call them and there is no way to make a bobcat do anything they don't want to do. But they usually do end up getting on the bed with me and then I can not move, because I will have some rather large cats taking up the whole bed

Originally Posted by buffalo-mitch

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Any advice on how you got your cats to sleep by you?

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Two things, Buffalo-Mitch. First, play with your kitty in the evening - wear him out - and then feed him his last meal of the day just before you climb into bed. Get a couple of your kitty's favorite treats and take them to bed with you and once you're all settled in, pick a call (any call, but make it the same one every night - I use the extremely unique, "here, kitty, kitty, kitty" *grin*) and call her to you. As soon as she arrives, hand-feed her the treats on your bed one by one.

This worked to get my initial four kitties to come to bed with me. The rest of them just picked up the habit from the first group.

Good luck!

AC

Originally Posted by AmberThe Bobcat

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They won't come to bed if I call them and there is no way to make a bobcat do anything they don't want to do. ...

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LOL!

Well we really don't feed her meals, we just let her graze on her dry food all day. But I will try the treats and playing with her. Now to train her with a call, how long did that take you and how many treats to you give them each time?

Originally Posted by buffalo-mitch

Well we really don't feed her meals, we just let her graze on her dry food all day. But I will try the treats and playing with her. Now to train her with a call, how long did that take you and how many treats to you give them each time?

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About two days.

Seriously, I did it for a couple of days, skipped a couple of days, called them, didn't call them, etc. But I always brought the treat bag with me (kept it in the night stand during this period) and offered one or two treats (no more) to each cat that came to bed with me whether I called them or not, and I quietly scritched them around their ears and under their chins and just basically made it a good idea to stick around. It really didn't take long at all before they were all joining me. Hmm, maybe a month, tops.

I totally love the feel of a warm, furry body plunking itself against me at night. Have fun with your training!

AC

I agree with what everyone has said. When I adopted Ritz she was a newly socialized semi-feral/abandoned cat, approximately 4 to 6 months old. She led, I followed. I initially closed the bedroom door but opened it when she scratched it, signaling she wanted to come in. I patted the bed, said, "you can come up if you want", and left the decision up to her. She didn't immediately come up, but when she did I said good girl and nothing more, nothing less. It helps that I don't move much when I sleep--on a twin bed.
It also helps I keep the temperature fairly cool during the winter, so if Ritz is cold, she definitely is more prone to sleep with me. Best sleeping pill: Ritz sleeping in between my legs.
Years ago my father (who could get squirels to eat nuts out of his hand) taught me that if you let a cat go when he wants to go, he'll come back to you much more frequently. That has served me well with Ritz--my first pet ever at the ripe old age of 55 (who said you can't teach old dogs new tricks!).

I agree with John.. you can't really MAKE a cat do anything it doesn't want to do. But I think you can tempt them in and if they decide to stay then you got lucky I'd like to know how to get my bed back from my heard... lol

OK, so I got her to come up with me the last 2 nights but I ended up staying up later than I wanted too to see what she would do. What I noticed is that she didnt mind staying, but didnt want to get to bed at first. She continually scoped out my very small room and went under my bed for a little bit before deciding that my bed was the most confortable spot. She just stays near my feet but also enjoys sleeping in the crux of my legs. So for now, I will just get her to my room and if she leaves then she leaves but I will leave my door open in case she comes back

Yes, cats are very independent animals, and believe it or not if you want them to do something enough, that may be enough reason for them to not do it. Think of a little child and you tell him he is not allowed to go into certain parts of the house, now ask yourself where does this child now what to go? Another thing to remember is cats are nocturnal animals, they tend to be kind of active at night. Now me I am a very light sleeper so as much as i want to I don't sleep with my cats because in the past they kept waking me up. I did notice that in the morning, one of the cats is literally waiting outside my door and he comes right in and lays on the bed. Usually if I wake in the morning and use the bathroom I will let him in, then get back in bed for some quality time. The other cat sleeps with my roommate, who works overnight so his sleeping is during the day. No worries about the cat waking him up, it pretty much takes firing off a shotgun to wake him up. I would recommend leaving your door open and just let him come when he is ready.

my cat Mikey didnt sleep with me when i first brought him into the house, he would still sleep in his bed i made for him when he was living in my shed.. Basically i ended up "training" Mikey to live on my sleep schedule. I would wake up for work in the morning, and Mikey would still be passed out in his bed, and i would wake him up.. Naturally he didnt like it at first, but i just kept doing it. If i caught him sleeping in the afternoon when i got home, i would wake him up again, and keep him up with playing. After about a week, he started going to bed when i did, and naturally woke up in the morning when i did. He just migrated to my bed, and now sleeps with me all the time. I sleep on my side, and he likes to curl up near my stomach, "spooning" if you will.. Although on hot summer nights, he will sleep in my computer chair, which is right next to my bed. Which i pull right up next to the bed so he can hop back and fourth. Now that Mikey is living on my sleep schedule, it doesnt matter what time i sleep, i could lay down for a afternoon nap, and Mikey will jump and and curl up with me and take a nap too..

Also you should open up the doors to your extra rooms that you keep closed (unless you have some reason you dont want the cat in them) Because cats hate closed doors, they like to roam, and can get fussy when they see a closed door, because they just have to know whats on the other side.. At least thats how my Mikey is.

Link  has always had options for bedrooms since me and my husband have had roomates since we have had him.  A nightly routine has helped. Treats when we want him to respond to us. Special food for him at 8:30p when we head to bed each night. For the most part that works. Unfortunately we have recently moved from WA to WY. Link now comes in for his evening treat then leaves again.  Part of this, I'm sure is the heat and new cats  and dogs. Part of this may be a new environment. In general, though, he wants to be around. I would recommend setting up a nightly ritual to encourage him/her. Cats want the love of their owner. Conditioning is a good first step in a lifetime ritual of trust.

Some nights Bella & Thunder will sleep on the end of the bed and when I wake up they are gone. But they don't sleep near my head or between me & my husband.

morningrl said:

I agree with John.. you can't really MAKE a cat do anything it doesn't want to do. But I think you can tempt them in and if they decide to stay then you got lucky

I'd like to know how to get my bed back from my heard... lol

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I think you need to get them their own bed. 

morningrl said:

I agree with John.. you can't really MAKE a cat do anything it doesn't want to do. But I think you can tempt them in and if they decide to stay then you got lucky

I'd like to know how to get my bed back from my heard... lol

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I would pay to sleep in that bed. lol.

With the warmer weather Ritz doesn't sleep with me on a consistent basis.

But recently she did jump up on my bed, she seemed to be in the mood, so I gave her a belly massage, which she loves.

So, now, it's almost a habit:  she jumps up on my bed for her belly rub and, if I time it right, if she's had a good play session and is tired, and if I do a really good job (according to Ritz), then she'll fall asleep beside me.  She's usually gone when I wake up a few hours later, doing what cats do naturally:  looking outside at only things she can see/hear (foxes, raccoons, deer....)

And come 3:30 a.m. when we both get up, she comes to me begging for a belly rub (and, yeah, food).

Good way to end/start the day.

dejolane said:

I think you need to get them their own bed. 

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That wouldn't work! They would just follow her back to her bed!  lol

I just let my cats pick where they want to sleep.  Some like to sleep with me, others don't.  Spencer and Katie start out with me and end up moving in the middle of the night. Abby will sometimes start with me, leave in the night and then return in the morning, other times she will just come curl up in the morning.

My RB kitty Chynna slept with me all night every night.

Lately Abby has been telling me off in the night if it gets too late.  Often she will run ahead of me to the bedroom and jump onto the bed in expectation of me climbing in.

I did find that when I had a waterbed, Abby enjoyed more time in my bed then she does now. Maybe it was the added warmth in the winter months.

Play with her before bed and tire the crap out of her. I throw a mousie toy or a crunchy paper ball around and she runs after it and exhausts herself. Then I plop her on my bed and she sleeps for the next 8 hours. Her food/water is in my room on top of my dresser (thats where she prefers to eat, she likes to be elevated apparently) so she'll get up maybe once, have a snack and bathroom break, and come back to bed. If I dont play with her and tire her out, she's awake and hyper and wont go to sleep when I do.

Even if there are no cats on my bed when I go to sleep, there are usually two or three on there when I wake up. And if there are some on there at night, the same ones may not be on there in the morning. I can't sleep very well without a cat or three sleeping with me. When I was in the hospital, I found that I couldn't stay asleep more than 45 min at a time.

Oh, yeah, when I go on vacation I miss her a lot.

So as a poor substitute, I bring several treasured "little Buddies" (stuffed animals) to cuddle with.  I use to sleep with stuffed animals all the time until I got my own little, ALIVE, animal