Cats Driving Me Crazy at Night

I've raised cats my whole life and at one point I had to share a room with my Aunt and her 3 himalayan cats. The water bottle is amazing! YOu get used to hearing where they are and just point and shoot. They scatter!!! They soon learn that if they misbehave they will get water...gets kind of funny and I even felt bad sometimes when they'd slide trying to get away. But the bad behavior stops. Soon you won't have to use the water bottle. Hope this helps.

This is what we do with our cats... We have those little spray bottles (can find at many stores either in the travel items section or hair section), we each have one on our nightstands filled with water and set so it comes out in a straight spray instead of the mist spray. As soon as the cat starts a behavior we do not like squirt, squirt with the spray bottle and after awhile the cats usually do not act up during that certian time. We only use this method during my daughter's nap and night time, that way it does not get over used.

I do wake up when my cats jump up on my bed and roll around and yes, they get us up to feed them. But I don't personally see it as any more annoying than getting up to feed or change a baby. I guess I have to say that I love my cats as much as I do the children I gave birth to and the ones that feed me (via my business). So I don't care. Sounds like the water bottle may work, or at least get the cats to move their playing to another room.

As far as the chewing up of the door....sorry the door is ruined. I wish I had talked to you before hand. I would have told you that would happen.

Your cats are behaving in perfectly normal feline fashion. Cats are nocturnal animals - they like to sleep more during the day and be more active at night. They want you to be up to play when they're up and they don't understand "I have to go to work in the morning."
Since they don't like the closed door, try leaving your bedroom door open, but placing a baby gate across it.

We've got 3 cats, and it's kind of like babies in the bed--- it seems like a good idea at the time, but eventually you're wondering how you let it happen! We just finally kicked them all out and kept thumping the door with a slipper when they fussed until they got the idea. It took a few nights, like breaking any habit. If you still want them to sleep with you, but not play (they're nocturnal by nature--ours have always played around the same time), you can use the squirt bottle to chase them away when they get frisky. The idea when working with animals is not to let them see where the deterrent is coming from. You want them to learn that every time they do a certain thing, something unpleasant happens. If they see you reach for a bottle, they associate the bottle with the punishment instead of what they were doing.(Hence, the slipper-thumping on back of the door.)Or you can just say,"NO!" every time they wake you, and push them off the bed! After 10 or 15 times, they'll get it.

Hi!

I feel your pain. My oldest cat did that when she was younger and it drove me CRAZY! What we initially tried was ignoring her, but that can have it get worse before it gets better (which I don't think you want). The second thing is do something to startle the cat when you catch him doing it. Whether you get a spray bottle or a can with pennies or tap the door, just do something that startles the cat. I'm not saying frighten him, but you want him to associate scratching/biting the door with something bad.

Hope this helps!

at one point i had 5 cats and no I am not the crazy cat lady we just we're not allowed to have dogs at our apts. anyway whenever they would get a hair up their a** and get to be aggravaiting we used a spray bottle with water. the best is the industrial ones that can spray like 20 feet out it took about a week of getting them with the water till they got the idea to knock off what it was they were doing.

We have three that used to sit outside the bedroom door in the morning screaming for food. If you think it is food they are after, don't feed them when you first get up, but wait 15-30 minutes, so they don't associate you getting up with eating. We've also used an automatic feeder that drops food at a set time and a set amount of food. We really only use it for vacations since two of them are very shy and they are all piggies. When it is out though they will all sit and stare at it starting about an hour before it goes off. Which means they are not begging, they are just quietly waiting.

Cats also can get the "night crazies" and run around like mad. Our younger two normally go crazy for about 15 minutes after everyone has gone to bed. I think they are waiting for the dog to sleep, since she breaks them up if they get too noisy otherwise. So if they are just playing, try getting to play before you go to bed with a toy, running around, cat nip, etc. The extra exercise may help them sleep while you sleep. If they will chase a string toy through the house or go after ones you throw. Just make sure if it is string they don't eat it!

Also if he does wake you up, try just putting him out of the room for about a minute each time. If he wakes you up, out he goes, if he behaves he gets to stay. I know this means no sleep for another night or two, but after that it should get better. They will learn noise, running around, etc means no attention and out. If you go this route no attention, petting or talking to them when you remove them nicely from the room.

Good luck to all of you and congrats on the marriage and new kitties!

Oooh... I was in the same situation, except the two cats actually belonged to my husband's ex-girlfriend. She decided one day that they were "too much" and literally left them on his doorstep in a box- yikes.

Here's what I learned from my vet- it doesn't sound nice, but it works. Cats are terrified of tin foil. If there is a place that you don't want them to be (like in my son's crib, or bassinette), line it with tin foil. They jump on it once, are terrified and will never do it again. When you leave for the day, put foil on your bed and see what happens. It may not work for your situation, but it worked like a charm for us!

Our cats like to jump on the bed and then bathe themselves at 2:00 am. The only thing that (sometimes) works is tossing them off the bed consistently. Eventually they get the message!

Also keep in mind that cats are naturally nocturnal, so they are more active at night. Make sure that they have toys and things out to play with while you are sleeping.

When this happened to us, we put the offending cat in another room, just like you did, but in a pet carrier. Eventually (over a period of several weeks, maybe more than two months...can't remember) we were able to let him roam the house at night again. Good luck!

Just a quick tip. To address poor behavior in a kitty, you just hit with a shot of water from a water gun. Works to redirect them as they do not like it. Also teaches them to associate water with the behavior and they will relocate. In your case, I'd leave the door open but hit them with water everytime they are on your bed. They will soon learn the bed is off limits. It should be easy as cats are smart. I also suggest some silent toys for the other side of the house that you only put out at bedtime.
Best Wishes