Any suggestions about cats waking you up at night?

United States
December 31, 2006 4:05pm CST
We have a constant problem with our cats, one in particular, waking us up repeatedly in the middle of the night. I know cats are nocturnal, but it's getting out of hand. It's hard to sleep when 16 lbs of cat walks on you, or they start playing with each other while sitting on you, or they bring you a toy and meow loudly until you wake up. My 16 pounder also likes to sit on my head. He FLOPS. Forget closing the door. The howling and scratching is unrelenting and they are STUBBORN. They don't stop if you ignore 'em, they just get louder until you can't stand it anymore. Any suggestions?
2 people like this
12 responses
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
1 Jan 07
Hartz Help - This product works to keep pets from area that you want to keep them from
Cats can be so much fun most of the time. I have only one. When I have an area that I don't want her in I use a product called "Stay off Training Aid" It is a product of Hartz. It smells like cilantro and it works wonders. You could spray it around your room fairly early in the evening so the order is not so strong that it bothers you. Use it for several days and soon they will stay out of your room.
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
1 Jan 07
giuess yoy'll have to live with them waking you up then
@SplitZip (1488)
• Portugal
1 Jan 07
But then you'll miss out on the fuzzy feeling of having a cat warming your feet! :P
1 person likes this
• United States
1 Jan 07
Yes, I don't necessarily want them to stay out of the room completely. Their warm fuzziness is great when they settle down. It's just the getting them to settle down that is an issue. Especially when Mr. 16 Lbs brings a toy and drops it in front of your face. He likes to play fetch. At 3am.
@mari61960 (4893)
• United States
1 Jan 07
I had this problem a few years ago with a couple of my cats that thought my bed was a playground while I was trying to sleep. I tried alot of things and the one that worked was.. I kept a small spray bottle of water next to my bed. When they would wake me up and be rough housing I would say "no, go to sleep" and give a quick squirt with the water. It doesn't hurt them and you don't even need to get them wet .. just a little spritz will do it. After a couple of times they found another place to play at night. When they start all I have to do is say No go to sleep and off they run...lol I don't know if it will work for you but you could give it a try.
1 person likes this
• United States
1 Jan 07
Yep, we have the spray bottle. They do react to it and it is an immediate deterrent, but it doesn't seem to stop anything long-term. I'm not sure why. Perhaps we're not consistent enough. It sounds like you've been really consistent, so that they associate the words with the bottle. We'll have to try to be more consistent.
@Willowlady (10658)
• United States
1 Jan 07
cats on our bed - we have minor problems with our cats waking us up and so are not surprises that others do have problems larger than ours.  cats are amazing at maniupulating things larger than themselves.
All we know from experience is that they will continue to do what works. You have to be firm like with kids when small. Also keep in mind that they do know how to manipulate things bigger than them..US. LOL. So my suggestions in your case would be to serve their dinner more toward your bedtime, catnip is a good diversion and mine tend to take a nap after enjoying it. You could try and cuddle with your 16 pound beauty and maybe that would help you rest more. Ever thought of buying one of those bird or fish aquarium videos that they might enjoy? Good luck our feline friends sure do know to run our lives and we must strive for balance so we all can be happy!!!
• United States
1 Jan 07
Oh, rats, I typed out a long reply then lost it... :P Thank you for the suggestions! :) We already do some of what you mention. They certainly do know how to manipulate us, despite our best efforts. LOL! I know we need to be firm. It's easier said than done when you're half asleep. We have a squirt bottle that is effective, but only after repeated reinforcement, which of course means someone has to be awake to "pull the trigger." :P If they would FLOP then settle down and stay there, it wouldn't be such an issue. But our humongous boy and his sister are still young enough that their attention spans aren't that long and they don't sit still for a long time. And our third kitty is a cranky little old man that complains very loudly in your ear if he is disturbed in any way or doesn't get what he wants... I think they really just want our attention and so will continue to pester until they get it, be it good, bad, or indifferent. They really are like little kids... The video is a really good idea! I hadn't thought of that one. I'll have to see what I can do.
@Bev1986 (1425)
• United States
1 Jan 07
LOL! Your post just made me laugh.... we have two cats and a dog and I've just learned to sleep through it. I agree about not being able to just shut the door.... they will drive you absolutely crazy crying to get in! My husband will just kick them away and they have learned not to go on his side of the bed... but not me... no, I can't be "mean" to them and kick them off the bed! lol! So I put up with it. Luckily, as the cats have gotten older, they aren't as bad as they used to be... but that dog! She takes up more room than either my husband or I do! I suggest you just learn to get used to it! Sorry!
• United States
2 Jan 07
Well, I'm hoping, as you mention, that as our youngsters get a little older they'll settle down... Of course, my big moose will probably settle down...right on me. FLOP! LOL!
@xphile777 (427)
• United States
1 Jan 07
I suppose it depends on the size of the house or apartment you live in, but my suggestion isn't just to close one door. From personal experience, at night I close two doors. :P I have two cats and neither sleep with me. I originally thought they would, until the first night I tried it. Beastie is OK to sleep with. She's quiet the entire time I sleep (and I sleep a long time: 10-12 hours). Skinner, on the other hand, is the reason there's an area the size of a continent separating her and my sleeping body. :P Skinner, who weighs about 14 pounds, thinks that my head is a Serta mattress. She hunkers down on top of my head, with her body covering my eyes and her tail wrapped around my nose and mouth. As if having every sensory input device on my body covered in cat is not annoying enough, her excitement at being able to be on "Mama" results in her "making bread" on my scalp. "Making bread" is the kneading motion cats make when excited. They scratch on something with their paws while they flex their claws. In other words, it's a euphemism for "removing sections of skin in the most painful way possible." :P So, while still rendered incapable of seeing, breathing, smelling or speaking but fully capable of feeling my scalp being torn to pieces, Skinner, whose nose is in my ear, starts purring LOUDLY. Only, she's not just purring LOUDLY, she's so excited that she's purring AND making a noise that's a cross between heavy breathing and moaning. Kind of like: UGH-SUGHHHHHHHG, UGH-SUGHHHHHHG in between purring: ERRRRRRRRRRRRRGTH, ERRRRRRRRRRRRRGTH; thus creating a sound similar to: UGH-SUGHHHHHHHG-ERRRRRRRRRRRRRGTH-UGH-SUGHHHHHHHG. Words really don't do justice. Anyway, after putting up with cat hair being in my eyes, nose and mouth and while my scalp was being systematically removed in inch-length sections and being deaf from having "UGH-SUGHHHHHHHG-ERRRRRRRRRRRRRGTH-UGH-SUGHHHHHHHG" shouted into my ear at a decibel level slightly louder than that of a Boeing 707 landing inside my head, I decided sleeping with Skinner just wasn't going to work out. Fortuately for me, there's a bedroom door and down the hallway a door to the living room between me and Skinner at night. This means that her howling, yelling, screeching and crying is reduced to the noise level of a jackhammer. If you're not able to lock away the cat in a section of your home far removed from your bedroom, I suggest replacing your bedroom door with a steel one; placing rubber tips on the ends of the cat's claws; and wearing earplugs. You wearing earplugs, that is. I don't think the cat will wear them.:P
@banditwsj (653)
• Indonesia
2 Jan 07
i think there is any sugestion with cat. in bali, people believe those cat have strike back effect to who is beat them without any fall cat do. if any people beat or kill cat without some reason, they will strike back who beat them more than people beat them. that suggestion in bali i know
• United States
2 Jan 07
Ummm... okay. I'm having some trouble understanding what you're saying, but if I'm getting the correct gist... I DON'T BEAT MY CATS. Good grief!
@pendragon (3350)
• United States
1 Jan 07
We too have an incredibly l-o-u-d 16 lb feline.He decides when breakfast should be , even if it strikes him that that should be a 3 a.m. we keep him out of the room at night and give him a softly playing transistor radio for company.
@kbkbooks (7022)
• Canada
1 Jan 07
I don't have any suggestion. Unfortunately. My husbands cat wakes him in the night to be fed and sits on my head or face in the process. It is a really awful way to wake up. I sympathize with you.
• United States
1 Jan 07
My TWO cats used to do the same thing, in fact, mine would come up to me and kiss me on the lips and their whiskers would tickle me awake, the best thing I did was shut them out of the room, took them about a week to stop crying and scatching at the door but they have finally quit and it has been almost a month now, good luck
• United States
1 Jan 07
OMG, I don't know if I could take a week of that. I applaud your perseverance! Ours kiss on the lips too. It's a bit disturbing and not something we encourage. LOL! Those whiskers do tickle. My old guy *MUST* shove his face as close as possible to mine before settling down. So I know about tickling whiskers. But at least he settles down, if you don't mind kitty breath in your face... Heh.
• Romania
1 Jan 07
lol i don't thinck there is any sugestion.My cat does the same way to.But Sometimes i play with her in the day and i don't let her sleep at all and in the night he is tired so she get's to sleep.But is hard to get her tired becouse she'll play all day and when she sleep then she sleep and when she play she macke you run wild :)
• United States
1 Jan 07
Yes, we try to make sure they are good and tired. The youngest two are just always ready to GO! :)
• India
1 Jan 07
is ur cats he or she.i thinks males do the damage at night more than female cats.i had a female cat.she used to sleep with me.she comes to my bed aftr i get asleep.so wen i am awake ussually i will be the one who disturbs her.they in a way adjusted to our way of life to sleep in night.maybe you have to give some small punsihments to them they do are intelligent they will sop doing it for sure.
• India
1 Jan 07
keeping a dog for somedays may be a solution to this problem...see if u can manage anyones dog to keep in ur house for a week...