Kitten Not Sleeping in her Own Bed

First off let me say how much I love my new kitty!! Her name is Lily and she is 11 weeks old - my boyfriend and I have been blessed with her since last Sat. My dilemma is this - I have allergies and been maintaining pretty well thus far - but I would like to keep Lily out of our bedroom only while we sleep to try and cut down on breathing in her fur and dander all night. The problem is that Lily doesn't like to be away from us - last night she even opened our door and let herself in!! I then feel guilty kicking her out so I let her stay even though I suffer a bit. She doesn't seem to even acknowledge the cat bed we bought for her. Any suggestions on getting Lily to like her cat bed? Any other tips in general would also be apreciate it - I am quite green to cat raising!!

Take a big towel or sweatshirt, and sleep on top of it for a couple of nights, and then put it in her cat bed. It should encourage her to sleep in her bed. I have a cat-hair allergy, too, but haven't managed to keep the cat(s) out of the bedroom. Our cat JC behaved much the way your Lily did, and we caved in. Previous cats generally slept with our dogs, but we're "dogless" right now. What I did was put acrylic blankets (he loves them) at the foot of the bed, and every time he tried to sleep on my head or pillow, I put him on or under the blanket on my side or my husband's. It took a week or two, but he knows he's not supposed to sleep on or near my head. He still likes to sleep on top of me, but he avoids my head. I throw everything in the washer and dryer once a week.
Since cats sleep a lot, you'll probably find that Lily will develop several "favorite" spots. Offer her her own places wherever possible. Jamie Cat has two window perches (padded boards screwed onto windowsills) over radiators, a ceiling-high cat tree, two cat beds, and a pile of acrylic blankets and feather pillows on the bed in the spare room. Cats like their beds to be elevated, so instead of putting her bed on the floor, put it on a chair, table or cabinet. And BTW, welcome to TCS!

Good suggestions!! Thank you from me and Lily

I would also investigate allergy meds for you at least until Lily is a bit older. 11 weeks is a bit young for a kitten to sleep by her lonesome.

Too bad for allergies.
I dont know what I would do if Miikka didnt sleep on my bed with me every night... Well actually, I hear that I sleep on HER bed every night, because she gets a bigger place than me!

Does bathing kittens help keep dander down, therefore easing allergy symptoms? (Someone told me this would help, but I don't know if she was right or not. )

Originally Posted by mrsd

Does bathing kittens help keep dander down, therefore easing allergy symptoms? (Someone told me this would help, but I don't know if she was right or not.

)

Click to expand...

Here's a current thread with just that question, and several suggestions:
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36983