HELP! my cat wont let me sleep!

katson7 · Apr 13, 2004

I need some advice to help with me with my baby boy, Whiskey. He is a 5 year ols male cat and I have had him since he was a very young kitten. We are very close and have a great relationship! He loves to sit on me, knead my hair and drool all over me lol
The only problems we are having is when night time comes and it's time for sleep! He lets me sleep for the first two or so hours and then the trouble starts..... Firstly he starts walking up and down over and on my head, then he 'head butts' me ( and let me tell you ...it hurts!) I often push him off but he is just straight back on! If i ignore him he either starts to annoy my other cats (I have 6 altogether) who sleep with me also.... biting or harassing them, so that they have a hissy fit. Or he jumps onto my night table and systematically swipes at items on there, such as my alarm clock, mobile phone etc....until there is a pile on the floor. This goes on until I get up and either feed him or sometimes he is just happy to get me up. I have tried ignoring him (which is too hard) I ahve looked him out of the bedroom but this poses another problem lol If the door is closed he will then 'head butt' the door and my little dog (who also sleeps with me) will get up and start to bark like crazy! So then we go back to square one!
I play with him each evening before bed and try to keep him awake to tire
him out. I have to admit that I haven't tried the spray bottle, this would have to be a last resort (which I am rapidly coming to!)
Does anyone out there have ANY advice??????
Please help!

spotz · Apr 13, 2004

What is his activity level during the day?

Spotz

twofatcats · Apr 13, 2004

Well, I have one which regularly chases his tail on top of my bed, runs around the bedroom chasing and pouncing on imaginary mice and jumping up in the air catching imaginary flies or hummingbirds all at 4:30 in the morning. (Yes, he did it again this morning.) Though it doesn't stop it completely, I've found that the frequency of these things happening are greatly reduced if I not only feed them just before bedtime, but if I leave dry food out over night, so they can eat at will. Both cats are overweight, so I have to divide up the food quantity to allow some to leave overnight. But I have an additional problem now in that one cat is on different food than the other due to possible allergy. And both cats seem to think "the grass is greener," and want to eat the other's food. So I've had less rest lately.

But try leaving part of their dry food out to eat overnight. It might just help your situation.

hissy · Apr 13, 2004

This is actually fairly normal as their prey instinct is in full drive at this hour. He also sounds like he might be bored. If there isn't a cat condo in the house he can climb, I would suggest purchasing a strong, sturdy one. You can also get a really big cardboard box (such as appliances come in) and cut off the flaps on one end, throw a few ping pong balls inside and make holes off the floor level big enough for him to jump through, and he can play in there with the ping pong balls sometimes for hours and wear himself out.

Feeding him a nice bowl of canned food that has been nuked in the microwave for a few seconds, right before you put your head on the pillow will help, so will interactive play with a catnip toy on a pole (an old fishing pole works well)

Earplugs are always a good investment too- also I would play classical music really low all night for him and burn a nightlight in the bedroom as well

katson7 · Apr 14, 2004

hi there!
Thanks you guys for replying to my lil problem.... There is some sound asvice there, although i havt to admit I have taken some of these measures already. I always feed my cats before I go to bed, and there is always plenty of dry food left out during the night incase they get a bit peckish lol
I also have a very bid cat stand in my lounge room which the cats only use to sleep on sometimes! Toys..? oh my god, its like a toy shop in here lol Whiskey loves boxes so we always have a few (large and small) layin around. After he has had enough of playing with them, he starts to rip pieces off lol
I have tried soft music, he just sits on the stereo and claws the speakers....and a night light?....well he likes to take swipes at that!!!! He is an amazing cat...I have had cats all my life and have 6 cats now.....but none of them was like Whiskey LOL
I have to admit, two nights ago, I tried the spray bottle! Well, he didnt like it of course, but he just licked himself off and jumped straight back onto to the bed and started again....this went on for over an hour, and he realised that it was me that was spraying him so each time he saw that I had the spray bottle in my hand he quickly jumped off the bed.....I was awake for 3 hours doing this lol He is one persistant boy!
But guess what?...last night he didnt come into my room at all!!!! Maybe it has done the trick although I really dont want to alienate him from my room! And I'm SO worried that he resents me for it now...he has a funny look in his eyes now.....I'm scared he will hate me for it and I will destroy our relationship......
What do you think?????

linkay42 · Apr 15, 2004

Originally Posted by katson7

hi there!
Thanks you guys for replying to my lil problem.... There is some sound asvice there, although i havt to admit I have taken some of these measures already. I always feed my cats before I go to bed, and there is always plenty of dry food left out during the night incase they get a bit peckish lol
I also have a very bid cat stand in my lounge room which the cats only use to sleep on sometimes! Toys..? oh my god, its like a toy shop in here lol Whiskey loves boxes so we always have a few (large and small) layin around. After he has had enough of playing with them, he starts to rip pieces off lol
I have tried soft music, he just sits on the stereo and claws the speakers....and a night light?....well he likes to take swipes at that!!!! He is an amazing cat...I have had cats all my life and have 6 cats now.....but none of them was like Whiskey LOL
I have to admit, two nights ago, I tried the spray bottle! Well, he didnt like it of course, but he just licked himself off and jumped straight back onto to the bed and started again....this went on for over an hour, and he realised that it was me that was spraying him so each time he saw that I had the spray bottle in my hand he quickly jumped off the bed.....I was awake for 3 hours doing this lol He is one persistant boy!
But guess what?...last night he didnt come into my room at all!!!! Maybe it has done the trick although I really dont want to alienate him from my room! And I'm SO worried that he resents me for it now...he has a funny look in his eyes now.....I'm scared he will hate me for it and I will destroy our relationship......
What do you think?????

I put my 1 year old boy in our other bedroom that is a den with water dry food and litter pan as had the same kind of problems and I spent half the night jumping up to see what he was into..He has nice bed with heating pad..We put him in there when we are ready for bed..Linda

twofatcats · Apr 16, 2004

Will he hate you for it? It is always hard to predict, because it depends upon the cat and your total relationship. I remember my first cat hated being put in the garage. But one night I decided I just HAD to get some sleep, so I put his bed, litter box, food and water in the garage with him. His usual behavior first thing in the morning was to beg to be petted, then head for the food dish. After his night in the garage, he marched right to the door and asked to go out. I let him, and he "ran away from home." Well, he stayed away about ten hours, which was far longer than he had gone up to that point. But he did come home that night. (Hunting must not have been good that day.) And he was soon back to his loving self again.

With my current two, though, I can do just about anything which they hate, and within a couple of minutes they have "forgiven" me. I've used the spray bottle on occasion. I've had to take one to the vet three times within two days, give medications a couple of times a day, etc. and he fights me about them. But within minutes he will be begging for petting again. So my thinking is that if you concentrate on developing a good relationship with him the rest of the time, you can probably ban Whisky from your room if that's what is necessary, and he'll probably soon get over it.

katson7 · Apr 19, 2004

Well, I think you may be right.....so far our relationship during the day has not suffered. Whiskey is still his loving, charming self, coming to me for pats and love. Our night time relationship has altered lol He knows that I have the spray bottle on hand and will bolt from my bed if he sees me with it ( I only spray him if he starts 'trouble', NOT if he just wants to sleep) In the past few nights he has still come onto my bed to wake me up, but it has been only once or twice during the night, not every hour as before, so I think he is slowly getting the idea lol I dont like spraying him but have found no other alternative for a semi-decent nights sleep....
Thank you all for your replies....much appreciated!
I will let you know how things progress.....

tnr1 · Apr 19, 2004

katson...you know what I recently discovered...late night moist food feeding. Works like a charm for me. I feed each of my cats about half a can of moist food before bed..they are just zonked out all night. Glad the spray bottle is working for you.

Katie

luvmyfurbabys · Apr 20, 2004

I have had this issue to with Bellah , she wants to love the heck out of me when Im trying to sleep . she is 11 lbs and she climbs up on my side or my chest while Im sleeping she starts kneeding me and cleaning me , I have started to shoo her off , now shes taking the hint and sleeping at my feet.

HELP! my cat wont let me sleep!

katson7

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spotz

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twofatcats

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hissy

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linkay42

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twofatcats

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tnr1

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