Nighttime Scratching

[Morgnjae]

Hi all!
I have a 2 year old named Juneau and a new kitten we think is about 8-10 weeks old, named Sitka. A coworker had a stray mama cat have her litter under her house, my kitten was left behind when the mama moved on. I got her about a month ago.
Juneau adjusted pretty well to the kitten, within a week she was grooming her and they were playing. Juneau had previously been exhibiting attention seeking behaviors, mainly inappropriate scratching, regardless of how long I played with her. This stopped as soon as they started playing with each other.
At first I was keeping the kitten in a play-pen at night, but now that she can climb on and off the bed I’ve given her free reign. This has caused Juneau to revert back to some of the behaviors that I was looking to get a kitten for in the first place. Specifically, scratching the walls after I’ve gone to sleep to wake me up for attention.
It’s a “nails on a chalkboard” type sound and I’m scared at some point she’s actually going to damage the wall. I’m assuming it’s because she’s now not getting enough attention from me, but she won’t accept any of the kind/loving attention I try to give her before bed. She’s never been one to cuddle for very long but we used to have long petting/ear scratching sessions- she barely lets me touch her for more than a few seconds now.
I make sure to feed her first, I try to talk sweet to her and show her attention, but I don’t want to ignore the kitten because she’s being a brat. I also don’t want to force the kitten out of the bed just because Juneau can’t share. I currently have both of them locked out of my room and Juneau is trying to scratch down the door... ignoring the behavior is not really an option and I’m looking for anything other than keeping them both out at night. I work 8+ hours a day, I want them to be able to see/feel me. I’ve tried squirt bottles. I’ve covered parts of the wall with blankets (she just moves to another part). I’ve gotten up and brought her back to bed -which works for about an hour or so. I’m just out of ideas. Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. What does Juneau do if you let her in the bedroom at night? Will she not sleep at all?

TCS has an article called How To Stop My Cat From Waking Me Up At Night (step-by-step Plan) that might be helpful.

 

[Morgnjae]

I usually leave my door open, so she goes and comes as she pleases. Before the kitten, she would lay with me for a little while then get up and go do her thing. Then inevitably she would start scratching the wall, maybe right after I fell asleep or sometimes hours later.

 

[rubysmama]

I can't think of anything to suggest. Hopefully some other members will reply with ideas.

TCS does have a couple articles, which might be helpful.

Solving Cat Behavior Problems: The Key Ingredient
The Dos And Don'ts Of Cat Behavior Modification

 

[Morgnjae]

Thanks for the article suggestions!

 

[susanm9006]

Cats are adept at figuring out what works. So if scratching gets attention, he is going to keep on doing it. And if screaming, scratching and throwing itself at a closed bedroom door results in the door being opened, the cat isn’t going to quiet down. So, it is a choice that you ultimately have to make whether to keep being disturbed or to shut the cats out and wait the days or weeks it might take to get to give up instead of making noise at the door. If you give in even once, it will reinforce that pitching a fit might work and you are back to day one.

You can try a warning before shutting the cats out, like “quiet!” Or “stop that” that you repeat every time the cat scratches in your room. If it doesn’t quiet him then shut both out for the night. If you repeat this night after night, they may learn what the warning word means and actually stop but again this takes many repetitions and loss of sleep to train them.