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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / June 2004Can't keep cats from scratching at bedroom door
I can't hear it. Or, at least it isn't waking me up. But it's waking my wife up every night 4 or 5 times. They scratch and scratch and scratch. We've been trying the vacuum cleaner thing and that doesn't work. They still come back and scratch. If we're desparate for sleep we give them some food, but now they're coming back in spite of either of those things. We're at a loss for what to do. All it is is that they want to be in the room with us. Or, at least, a couple of them do. And we can't have that, because then they'd dance on our heads. What can we do? We got the vacuum cleaner thing off of here. That didn't work. What now? I was thinking maybe putting carpeting or something on the door so they couldn't scratch. Thoughts? Preston > I can't hear it. Or, at least it isn't waking me up. But it's waking my > wife up every night 4 or 5 times. They scratch and scratch and scratch. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Preston Let them in to sleep with you. That's all they want. (Assuming you leave a little dry food down so they can free feed when they want a snack.) And, if they want to play or do other than sleep, keep a water pistol at each night table. They'll soon either settle down and snuggle or go away and play elsewhere. It's taken a while, but all of mine have learned "Do Not Disturb" when we're under the covers. I still have one who doesn't want to play, doesn't want to snuggle, doesn't want to wake us up. He just wants to stand there on the edge of the bed and watch us sleep, and knead and drool. Who knows? If it wasn't for the wet spot some mornings from the drool, you'd never know he'd been there. >> I can't hear it. Or, at least it isn't waking me up. But it's waking my >> wife up every night 4 or 5 times. They scratch and scratch and scratch. [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > Who knows? If it wasn't for the wet spot some mornings from the drool, > you'd never know he'd been there. I wouldn't mind, but I guarantee they'd be in our face every couple hours looking for food. And, once again, it doesn't wake me up. But I'm sure it disturbs my sleep in subtle ways since it wakes my wife up. Preston Do you keep food out so that they can eat during the night (like the other poster mentioned)?? Gail > >> I can't hear it. Or, at least it isn't waking me up. But it's waking my > >> wife up every night 4 or 5 times. They scratch and scratch and scratch. [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > Preston > Do you keep food out so that they can eat during the night (like the other > poster mentioned)?? The problem is that the girl cat that does all the scratching doesn't care about food. She just wants to be with us or doesn't like closed doors or something. The other cats that scratch now and then like the food and will leave us alone if we feed them, but at a certain point we're then overfeeding them. Preston circa Wed, 16 Jun 2004 11:07:19 -0500, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Preston Crawford (me@prestoncrawford.com) said, > > Do you keep food out so that they can eat during the night (like the other > > poster mentioned)?? [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > leave us alone if we feed them, but at a certain point we're then > overfeeding them. Let them sleep with you and leave a little kibble out. It's the only solution that makes sense, IMO. Laura  SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde "Preston Crawford" <me@prestoncrawford.com> wrote > > The problem is that the girl cat that does all the scratching doesn't care > about food. She just wants to be with us or doesn't like closed doors or > something. Why can't she be with you? >> The problem is that the girl cat that does all the scratching doesn't care >> about food. She just wants to be with us or doesn't like closed doors or >> something. > >Why can't she be with you? I've run into this myself... In our case, my girlfriend is slightly allergic. If we let the cats come in, they'll curl up and eventually end up laying on her neck or face, and she'll be swollen and thoroughly unpleasent the next morning. She's had cats before and it was never a problem, and she's okay to cuddle them and play with them as long as they don't touch her neck or face, and as long as she doesn't get scratched. Luckily we've got three cats and two kids, and I often work nights (I work from home and can pet a cat while I'm working) so whoever wants to be with a human at the time can usually find one. It's only a problem when the kids are away for the weekend and I decide to go to bed. SignatureIn the 60's people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal. In the fine newsgroup "rec.pets.cats.health+behav", Preston Crawford <me@prestoncrawford.com> artfully composed this message within <news:slrncd0s1h.aff.me@serpentor.cobrala> on 16 Jun 2004: > The problem is that the girl cat that does all the scratching > doesn't care about food. She just wants to be with us or doesn't > like closed doors or something. The other cats that scratch now > and then like the food and will leave us alone if we feed them, > but at a certain point we're then overfeeding them. I wish I could tell you how my cats are trained, because the door is open all night and I'll get either two cats sleeping with me but not waking me, or the third will sleep with me and the others don't. None of them try to wake me unless it is past the normal waking up time (kitty alarm clocks). I didn't *train* them. Wish I could offer some help. lol None of them have food left out all night. SignatureCheryl >>> I can't hear it. Or, at least it isn't waking me up. But it's waking my >>> wife up every night 4 or 5 times. They scratch and scratch and scratch. [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > >Preston Don't feed them when they bother you for food in the night. If you do, you will never get ouf of this vicious circle. They are not daft you know :o) Try feeding them a proper meal before you go to bed. They will soon get the hang of it. I've been in your situation and found this works for me and my cat. > Don't feed them when they bother you for food in the night. If you do, > you will never get ouf of this vicious circle. They are not daft you > know :o) Yup, once they establish a routine it becomes something they will do just to assure themselves that all parts of their world are in the proper place at the proper time. That includes making as much disturbance as needed to determine that you are in your bed sleeping when you're supposed to be. > I can't hear it. Or, at least it isn't waking me up. Open the bedroom door. >> I can't hear it. Or, at least it isn't waking me up. > > Open the bedroom door. And then they dance on our head at 3am. Doesn't solve anything. Preston >>> I can't hear it. Or, at least it isn't waking me up. >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >Preston This will only last a couple of days. They will soon settle down and find comfortable spots to sleep. Nothing better than furry hot water bottles in the winter. They will get used to bedtime, etc. My $0.02 "Preston Crawford" <me@prestoncrawford.com> wrote > > And then they dance on our head at 3am. Doesn't solve anything. Oh. Sorry. I've always let my cats sleep with me and they never have disturbed me. One last suggestion: get a BIG HEPA filter and place it between you and the closed door. And confine the cats to the farthest-away-possible room overnight with their food and toys and things. Good luck. My cats just plain do not like to be kept away from my wife or I, especially my wife. They won't scratch at anything, but you close the bedroom door and they will sit outside the door and howl. Open the door and they may or may not get into bed. They do have some dry food left out for them to graze on, and they pick on it pretty much all night long or at least until it is all gone but a couple of pieces. They have trained us pretty well. Let them in. That's all they want. They won't dance on your heads all night. They just want to find a little spot for themselves and they will curl up and go to sleep. They will adjust their hours to yours. -- Barb Of course I don't look busy, I did it right the first time. I'm an advocate of leaving some kibble out at night. It doesn't have to be a vast quantity of it, just enough for a nibble. Given the opportunity, my cats will apprach the kible bowl and soberly chomp about 6 bits of kibble and retreat. They just want a snack sometimes. Don't we all :> If the behavior you want to discourage is dancing on your head, then yes a squirt bottle is effective. I also use a time out - remove cat and place in confined area for five minutes or so every time they do this and eventually they will realize that waking you up in the middle of night makes you mad and leads to bad things. If you really want them to sleep in another room, then make sure that room has beds, blankets or cubbies for them that are comfortable, and their toys and comfort items, and pick them up when they scratch and gently place them in their sleeping area each time. If they continue to scratch, then try a time out. It may take some time, but if you do this consistently, they will come to understand not to disturb you. I would recommend leaving them some kibble, though. Also make sure the sleeping room has a good scratch post for them. |
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