How can I stop my cat from jumping on us all night in bed???

bronte73

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Honestly, he is driving me bonkers!!! I love my cat but I am not going to stay up half the night because he wants to play.
It's right when we go to bed and then again about 5:30/6 a.m. I am not a morning person, either.


last night I shut him up in the laundry room, but I hate to do that if there is something else I can do. Thanks!
 

zissou'smom

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Hi Bronte!
Trade ya! (You can see my other post about Zissou never sleeping on the bed anymore).

Anyway, when I used to have this problem, the only thing that works is ignoring the cat. Honestly. It takes a while, and it takes patience. But when it's a nightly routine to wake you up, you have to be unwakeable. If he wakes you up, pretend you are still asleep until he leaves you alone. This may take awhile to accomplish, but eventually it will work permanently. Once he has stopped for awhile, then if he relapses, you can shut him out of the room and ignore his crying at the door again.

Anytime you wake up or even give a sign of waking up, you are giving him what he wants, which is for you to wake up and pay attention.
 
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bronte73

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A few times, I've woken up going OWWWWW!!!!
My husband is less than impressed too and he does it to the kids.
 

damaz3s

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Try playing with the cat through out the day (when it's not time for bed). Tire the cat out before night time then maybe when he jumps in the bed with you, it'll be b/c he wants to sleep not b/c he wants to play
 

zissou'smom

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Ah, so is it the bed mice (your feet hands moving under the covers) that get him? If so... I know if you put on a think enough comforter that it doesn't look like bed mice it helps, or a thin enough sheet (probably a better option for summer) that it is obviously a body part and not a toy.

If you play the game with him, like scratching your hand around under the covers on purpose so he'll play, you'll have to stop that.

I guess there's no way to prevent reacting when you've woken up suddenly to a sharp pain, but most kittens grow out of that pretty fast and don't do it when you're really asleep for long.
 
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bronte73

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i am betting he was a real challenge when he was bitty kitty! He is certainly very active and super curious.
He just can't seem to help himself sometimes. I see him stare at my foot, then groom his tail, then stare some more.
 

natalie_ca

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Take a weekend and make sure you keep kitty awake during the day. If you see kitty sleeping, go and wake it up and play with it, cuddle it, chase it around. If your kitty has a hiding place where he likes to sleep, go and wake him up there too and play with him.

By the time night comes he will be falling asleep sitting up but he will also be tired enough to sleep.
 
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bronte73

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at about 11:30 p.m. and I DO play with him before I go to bed and at about
6 a.m. I just don't want to get up that early. I guess we will try the whole, ignore him thing. Other than that, he is a wonderful kitty!!!! I can't say enough how great he is.
 

meow meow

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We got our 16 week kitten on Sunday and left the bedroom door open for the first time the other night. Big mistake -- he was all over us all night long.

We just shut the door again at night. He has free run of the rest of the house. I don't think it has occured to him to scratch on the door yet.

My sleep is too important to me to play games with the cat during the night. He also has our attention all day long so I don't feel guilty.
 
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