Hi all. I've been reading thecatsite for quite some time to get tips and everyone here is so helpful I figured this would be a good place to seek some advice. My boyfriend and I adopted a three-year-old cat we named Roger earlier this year. We love him dearly and he's a wonderful addition to the family. We don't know much about his past, but we do suspect that he was weaned a little bit early because he frequently suckles on fabrics. We've asked our vet about it and are comfortable that this is a behavioral issue and not a medical one. We don't mind it most of the time and I ended up making him a cushy pillow out of one of his favorite fabrics. We are usually able to redirect the suckling to the pillow instead of our clothes and he can still get that comfort he's seeking. For the most part it works well, except...
Roger has a tendency to wake up between 4 and 5 in the morning every morning. At this point, he usually lays down on top of either me or my boyfriend and suckles our clothes or blankets. We play with him at night about an hour before bedtime and give him a snack after we're done playing. Before we did that he would wake up at 2 or 3 so the playtime definitely helps. We've also tried ignoring him, but while we could probably do that with meowing or purring or other behavior, it's kinda hard to ignore a cat that is systematically covering you in kitty spit. It's just a little icky.
At this point, we've taken to kicking him out of the bedroom when he starts in. The poor little guy then meows intermittently outside the door until we wake up at about 6:30 or 7:00 am. He gets fed at 7:15 and is very food driven. We're just not really sure what we can do to curb this behavior so I figured it would be worth reaching out to this group for ideas. Thanks!
Roger has a tendency to wake up between 4 and 5 in the morning every morning. At this point, he usually lays down on top of either me or my boyfriend and suckles our clothes or blankets. We play with him at night about an hour before bedtime and give him a snack after we're done playing. Before we did that he would wake up at 2 or 3 so the playtime definitely helps. We've also tried ignoring him, but while we could probably do that with meowing or purring or other behavior, it's kinda hard to ignore a cat that is systematically covering you in kitty spit. It's just a little icky.
At this point, we've taken to kicking him out of the bedroom when he starts in. The poor little guy then meows intermittently outside the door until we wake up at about 6:30 or 7:00 am. He gets fed at 7:15 and is very food driven. We're just not really sure what we can do to curb this behavior so I figured it would be worth reaching out to this group for ideas. Thanks!
