Cat 'runs' On Windows?

[quatrogatos]

Hi all,
This is my first time here, I tried skimming the forum but didn't see any topics that relate to my problem.
I have a 3 year old adult indoor female who LOVES to run her paws on windows and mirrors. I have to hide my full length mirror at night otherwise she will sit there and run her paws on the surface over and over again, for several minutes! Then she takes a break and goes back to 'running'.
A few weeks ago, it was really hot in our bedroom so we opened the glass. We didn't realize the screen was open and our precious girl got outside. I realized 10 minutes later and was able to retrieve her and get her inside safely. However, she got a taste of the outdoors and she wants more! Now every night she runs her paws on the glass, over and over again. It's getting to the point where my significant other and I are losing sleep over it. We live in an apartment building on a fairly busy road so I don't want to just let her go out every time she runs on the glass. The first time was a mistake!

Does anyone know how I can stop her from running on the glass, so we can get some sleep at night?? Thank you very much!

 

[susanm9006]

When she runs on the glass at night, tell her no, pick her up and set her a few feet from the window. If she does it again, tell her no and shut her out of the bedroom for the night. If you are consistent she should catch on she isn’t allowed to paw the window, at least in your bedroom at night.

 

[betsygee]

susanm9006 's idea to retrain her is a good one. If it doesn't work, you could try aluminum foil. I read that most cats don't like the feel or sound of it so I taped some on the bottom of a door once to keep a cat from scratching on it. It worked and after a few days I was able to remove the foil.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Hi all,
This is my first time here, I tried skimming the forum but didn't see any topics that relate to my problem.
I have a 3 year old adult indoor female who LOVES to run her paws on windows and mirrors. I have to hide my full length mirror at night otherwise she will sit there and run her paws on the surface over and over again, for several minutes! Then she takes a break and goes back to 'running'.
A few weeks ago, it was really hot in our bedroom so we opened the glass. We didn't realize the screen was open and our precious girl got outside. I realized 10 minutes later and was able to retrieve her and get her inside safely. However, she got a taste of the outdoors and she wants more! Now every night she runs her paws on the glass, over and over again. It's getting to the point where my significant other and I are losing sleep over it. We live in an apartment building on a fairly busy road so I don't want to just let her go out every time she runs on the glass. The first time was a mistake!

Does anyone know how I can stop her from running on the glass, so we can get some sleep at night?? Thank you very much!

Q quatrogatos - is your cat the only cat in your household?

I think you may have reached part of the answer already, something to help your problem. That's in how you describe that you have to "have to hide my full length mirror at night otherwise she will sit there and run her paws on the surface over and over again" in order to dissuade her from pawing at the mirror. You could cover the mirror at night with a heavy blanket or something like that (I'm not sure what kind of mirror it is, or how it is placed, so take my advice as suggestions).

If your window glass is presenting any sort of reflection, this reflection might be why she is pawing at the glass too. Maybe you could try finding a way to cover the reachable panes of glass so that her view of outside is more obstructed at night than how it might be if you just have curtains (again, I don't know what kind of window coverings you have at the moment).

This reminds me of when my cat was a bit younger and I posted about the Mirror Kitty (she is our only cat -- no other cats in the household)-- I had to do a search here, as there are a couple of threads combining my username and the word, mirror-
Naughty Teenager


Our cat grew out of this, but it's somewhat similar (a little) to what you are going through, and I guess I always considered it a sign of wanting to interact or play.

Do you leave any toys out for your kitty at night that she can play with on her own? It could be that she is just active and bored during the nighttime! You could exhaust her with interactive play just before bedtime -- but also leave some of her favorite "running" toys out for her at night, like rolling jingle balls or little mice.