Cat waking me 10 times a night..... help

I am no cat expert and need some opinions because I'm soft as a women for letting this cat run me, but this cat has been waking me a minimum 5 times a night up to 11 times for the last 3 months plus so I am a tired guy.

I had to move because the landlord lost the condo I was renting for 6 years so  I'm in my 10,000 sq ft warehouse and built a 5 room living quarter inside, is what it is.

The cat scratches at the bed room door to go out and in or in and out all through the night so like a fool to stop the non stop scratching I let her in & out, the door leads to the ware house area.

So I figured I would set up 1 of the small rooms for her with the only window to the outside in the place with cat tower, scratch pad, litter box, food, water, carpeted padded window area, heater,bla bla bla and she wont use it.  Shes so used to the bedroom being her hide out (last 3 months)  She has been sleeping in there all day while I work and then when I'm ready to call it a day shes ready to cruse and wants to slowly kill me with not letting me sleep, yes I know I'm soft that's for Dr phil.

I put her in the new room this morning and she would not stop scratching at the door 10 to 15 minutes of scratching so I let her out (thats my problem right) she now is sitting near the bed room door waiting, crying, sometimes scratching at the door to go in so she can get some sleep.

So how would the cat experts handle this.

 Would you allow the cat into the bedroom during the day (not a big deal) and lock her in the new room at night? If I don't close her in the new room she will be at the bedroom door scratching to come in my bedroom.

The cat loves cruising the warehouse getting mice & other creachers and that's all new to her being an indoor kitty since I rescued her. I would like her to have that freedom at night but  she wants to come in the bed room waking me up.

The reason I don't put a cat door allowing her own access into the bedroom is she brings mice up into the room to show me and chow down, I don't want critters and a bloody mess on the new carpet.

I don't have any helpful advice, but I hope someone does for you! Sounds like you need a good nights sleep right about now.

Cats, like humans, are creatures of habit. You need to have a consistent routine. Since you can't keep the door open at night and you probably can't install a cat door, you should probably just keep her out there all the time. Yes, she will scratch for a while, but you'll have to deal with it a while longer until she realizes she absolutely cannot go in your room and will stop trying eventually. You could try spraying the floor around the doorway with scented spray that keeps cats away from a surface. It keeps my cats from scratching the couch for a few weeks. Keeping her in the larger area with interesting things to do is a better idea than being in your room. Just make sure she has a warm place to sleep, like a small kitty house with lots of padding and insulation. Feed her out there as well. If you want to keep her from scratching maybe you could get something to put in front of the door, like a foldup table propped up in front of it or something. I don't have many ideas as far as that goes, but good luck.

Thanks for the reply.

I have bought a thermo Kitty hideout heated cat bed from Cozy Winters so she will have a warm place to sleep and rest during the cold nights and days and a 74" cat tree condo for $165 to play on. Those will go into the room with her litter box and food so she will have every thing in that room I also carpeted the window area for a hang out.

I am also adding a gate in the hall way to the bedroom door to stop her access to the door.

You could also invest in a Ssscat and place it in front of your door. I assure you, she will learn very quickly to stay away from it.

Its a non toxic spray can with a sensor. She goes in front of it, it senses her and sprays a quick blast. (You can see MANY videos on YouTube of the Ssscat in action). I believe it is around 30 dollars...so fairly inexpensive and you get something like 200 sprays per can.

As previously said, cats are very routine animals...and also VERY persistent but with some time and patience, you can change her routine. Good luck!

Hi there,

I feel your pain, I went through the same with my Persian boy, Gumby.

I had set routines for him & there had been no changes at all. As soon as we went to bed he would start to literally scream and wanted to go out. Then he would want to come in again - like that all night. As our bedroom is at the front door, this was driving us insane. I tried everything, Feliway (the thing you plug in the wall), change of diet, more attention/less attention and nothing worked.

One night I put both cats in the spare room. Next morning when I went to let them out, he had pulled up the carpet and ripped the walls. 

I had to take them to the vet for the needles and I mentioned this behaviour. Everything the Vet suggested, I had already tried. He then told me about Clomicalm (I think thats the spelling). It is like a relaxing tablet for the cat and "re-programs" their brain. As they are animals of habit, if they get an idea, they will stick with it. Just like dogs that excessively bark etc.

At first I thought "NO WAY am I giving this to my little boy, what if his personality changes, what if he gets sick....", but after several months of no decent sleep I was desperate.

He got ½ tablet a day for 6 weeks and it stopped. He is still the same cat, just not screaming at night.

- This could be an option for you zoeykitty?

Thanks I'm going to look into it, is it prescription?

So after you gave Clomical would he sleep while you slept? Also did you let him in your room or keep him in the spare without an issue? 

 I have the new room all set up and I've spent over 250 on stuff and the dam cat doesn't want to be in there or use the stuff, shes even eating less because the food is in the room she doesn't like.  I don't have the gate up to keep her from my bedroom door but even if it were I think she would meow until the sun came up.

I am letting her in the bedroom during the day when I work and she sleeps in the pitch dark until I go to bed, shes cool while I hang out but when the lights go out she starts up.

I don't wish this on anyone but it's good to know I'm not the only one being driven nuts by a insomnicat 

Oh man, I have a habit cat and for some reason, in the last week he has decided that 5:30 am is my new wake-up time. He cries in my face, nibbles on my fingers and can somehow, inexplicably fine my bladder and knead it to death until I can't handle it anymore and get out of the bed. It's bad when you need to get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night but won't because if you do, he thinks that's the new wake-up time and becomes relentless. 

So I totally get where you are coming from. I guess I'm not understanding something....why can't you leave the door open?  Is it that she then might bring the mice in?  Do you think she would settle better if you just allowed her access to the room?

I had a long term foster cat that used to stand on my chest in the middle of the night and stare me down until I woke up and gave him sugar. What I finally figured out was that as long as I woke up and gave into his demands, he continued to do it. As hard as it was, I finally started to ignore him completely when he did this, and within a couple of weeks he stopped. We were good for about a year (it was a very long term foster).

When I finally found this boy a new home, his owner called me a couple of months later and told me that he was doing the same routine with her. She would wake up and give into him and she wanted to be able to sleep thru the night again. I told her to ignore him. She protested but I stood firm with my advice. Once she started to do this, he stopped it in about a week.

Cats are masters at training us. If you give into their demands, they will continue their demands. If you have an enriched area in your bedroom at night, then is there really a need to give into her demands?

RAFM that's exactly right if I leave the door cracked she would bring a mouse in if she caught one. I also get up 1 or 2 times a night to go to the bathroom so that doesn't help me she bolts out when I do.

Momofmany I currently have litter box and food in the new room she hates, so I guess I could put the litter box and food in the bedroom at night. If I did that then she really wouldn't need to go out right.

Ritz use to meow at 9 pm, midnight, 2 a.m and then 4 a.m.  So I'd get up and play with her or feed her.  People told me I was crazy to spoil her like that, and I was always sleepy.  So I told myself once I got into bed, I wasn't getting up, no matter what.  I prayed a lot and tuned Ritz out when she meowed.  It was hard, and she was no doubt confused, but after around four nights, she learned that when I go to bed, I don't get up no matter how loud/long she meows. 

She still meows and walks on me at 4 a.m., but since that's the time I'm use to getting up for work and because I think she walks on water, I get up.

NOW, I need to ignore her meows which mean "FEED ME".......

LuvMyParker said:

You could also invest in a Ssscat and place it in front of your door. I assure you, she will learn very quickly to stay away from it.

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That's what I use. Works like a charm. I sometimes need to close my cats out of my bedroom so I can sleep. It not keeps them from scratching at the door but they stand well back away from the door so that if they meow it is muffled. Mine rarely bother to meow any more though. They know when the Ssscat is at the door they ain't gettin' in.

I have been thinking I could put another litter box & food in the room at night then she won't need to go out, won't need to but probably will want to. I could ignore the attempts of wanting to go out, that will result in still not sleeping, but I would not be getting up to let her out. That kinda seems like I'm giving in if I do that. But if I ignore the attempts to go out then I'm not giving in just will be getting woken up.

I will say that she does not like the downstairs new room much at all, more like she hates it because she is eating only 1/4 of her normal amount when I put the food down she may have a nibble but bolts soon after. I was feeding at least 1 can a day twice a day and would never have left over food, now it's always about 3/4 left over , she also isn't pooping as much but less food less poop right.

Do you think I'm giving in if I put the food back upstairs on the walkway where she is comfortable eating? I have a feeling if I did that she be back to eating regular.

I returned the heated kitty hideout because it didn't get to the temp they said and would only warm up after she was lying on it, she wouldn't use it, cat no use bed no heat.

mschauer is the Ssscat thing loud, just wondering if it would be waking me up? I guess it would only be a short time right once she realizes it's there she wont come near to trigger it.

zoeykitty said:

mschauer is the Ssscat thing loud, just wondering if it would be waking me up? I guess it would only be a short time right once she realizes it's there she wont come near to trigger it.

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It might wake you if you are a light sleeper, but yeah, with mine triggering it once was all it took for them to learn to stay away from it. Every once in a while they "test" it to see if it still hisses at them and then they stay away from it again for a while (weeks).