Strange Night time behavoir

[kunalen]

Hi,
My cat Nacho comes on to the bed at night to wake me.He wants me out of bed to sit with him.If I try returning to bed he tries to bite my feet to keep me from going back to bed.It takes a while before he settles down.Any ideas on how to deal with it.

 

[kkh]

Hi, Ku Ku often does a similar things to me while I am sleeping. She likes to jump on, attacks my feet to wake me up. A couple of times I kind of peek her doing it while I was in half-sleep. It's cute the way she stares at my feet, aims at where she jumps on, then ATTACK!

But if this happens when I don't want to be waken, that's quite annoying for sure.

Did you try closing the bedroom door and would not let him in?
If you can lock the door, then that's definitely the best.

Let's see somebody else chimes in on this.

 

[phillygal]

I think this is probably fairly common. Buddy does this too, at around 4:30 in the morning and it is irritating in the extreme!

But I get the impression that he thinks it is great fun and he just delights in getting a reaction no matter what it is! He seems to be "giggling" to himself.

To be fair, he does not do this every morning - thank heavens - and he does it maybe twice then he stops. But it sure gets a reaction!

 

[natalie_ca]

It's lonely and wanting to play. Cats are nocturnal animals, meaning they sleep much during the day and become more active at night.

I've only had that problem with one cat. I quickly learned how to fix it.

When I get a kitty I make sure that I turn their sleep/wake pattern to mine. I play with it very actively during the day, and keep a close eye on it to make sure that it's not sleeping during the day other than for a brief nap here and there....and I mean brief.... 30 minutes tops a few times in the day if they are very young. By the time I'm ready to go to bed (early evening most nights), the poor thing is falling over from being tired and sleeps through the entire night.

 

[mystik spiral]

Help Nacho get more on YOUR sleeping schedule by having a good, hard play session with him right before bed. Of course, that's no guarantee that he won't attack your feet early in the morning... My feet get attacked every day, without fail. AND I get woken up around 4:00 in the morning for breakfast. 10 years ago, I could never have gone back to sleep after having been woken up. NOW, I can practically sleepwalk to fill a cat's food dish and then collapse back into bed and go to sleep with no problem.

First off, DON'T get up to sit with him when he does this. IGNORE him. It will take a while, but he will learn that when you are in bed he doesn't get to sit with you (unless of course he wants to cuddle with you under the covers

). Now, the attacking the feet thing... that's a pretty common cat behavior. I've learned to not let it bother me, and like KKH, I actually think it's kinda cute...

Personally, I've just gotten used to a cat walking all over me when I'm sleeping. And I have to admit I can't help but pet her when she sits on my chest and head-butts my chin for pets. I've gotten pretty good at "sleep-petting"...

 

[cheylink]

Cats are crepuscular, most active during early morning/twilight. It's who they are, what they do, something you can't hold against them because they are just being themselves.
Some people lock their cats out of the bedroom at night, I have never done this. Sometimes it works and sometimes it completely back fires where you have a kitty crying and clawing at the door and floor.
I have always done the ignore and hopefully they give up, or counter them with a hug and hold, keeping them snug next to me and drown them with attention, kisses and heavy petting, to the point of them regretting waking me

. Maia is very polite and respectful, she wasn't always but it didn't take long for her to realize she was better off this way

. When she was a kitten she did the foot and hand attack, I just tuck them under the covers and play dead. If that doesn't work I do the scoop and snuggle...........
It is completely possible to have them respect your sleep but you have to respect them for simply being a kitty as well. There are many mornings I am woken by Maia either digging a hole to China in her litter box (We have a 1 bedroom apt.), or running around like a freak, or sticking her cute little face and whiskers in my face, all in attempt to maybe wake me and be fed.........Just more reasons to love her