Bedtime Routine Resistance

Poppysfirstfoster

... who became Poppy's mom!
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Hello!

My cat and I have just moved into an apartment with a roommate after previously living alone. For a variety of reasons, I’ve chosen to keep Poppy in my room at night with the door closed. The main reason being that my roommate comes and goes so often in the evening and Poppy is an escape artist and tries to exit the building if not carefully watched.

Poppy has grown increasingly more resistant to coming into my room before bed and has resorted to hiding under the couch, under the table or getting aggressive when approached around bed time. (She has a history of aggression, so this isn’t too terribly unusual for her but difficult nonetheless)

I’m wondering if anyone has any tips other than just let her roam around at night? I’ve tried coaxing her with treats, toys, etc. All of her cat things are in my room as well, her litter box, food, cat tree, tunnels, etc.
 

ArtNJ

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I had this problem big time with one cat and others to a degree. We require our cats to sleep in the finished basement to avoid sleep disruption, and have done so through several sets of cats. None of my cats have disliked it down there at all, and all would gladly follow us down during the day. At night, however, they resent the loss of freedom of the house. My current two obey the ritual I set up, where I add some food to their dish and carry it down the stairs. In the past, I've had problems though, just like you. Tossing the treats might help -- cats like to actually hunt down the treats. Have you tried moving the final feeding to right before bed in the room? Beyond that, I don't know what else you can do other than be persistent. Eventually, they do adapt to this sort of thing.
 
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Dimie

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Well I will say this is a tough one, but when I was young and lived with my parents we kept the cats in a cat room for my parents had an alarm system downstairs at night. So we moved their last dinner to bed time just to make sure they would come. But cat tend to not like it being locked up in a room when during the day they have a more room. Hope this helps
 

di and bob

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I kept two of my cats in a heated shop for a year and a half at bedtime, 4 cats were just too many to sleep with! They willingly followed me out each night, even in the snow, because I carried a bag of their favorite treats and shook it, enticing them along. They received a few treats when they got there. Their food motivation was much stronger than their resistance!
 

Talien

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The best solution would be a better roommate but that's not always possible. If she's food motivated then as others have said, move her last meal of the day into your room right before bed or give her a few treats in your room right before bed. If she's more play motivated then really wear her out before bed, a tired Cat is a more compliant Cat.
 

JerseyCatMom

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When we first got our cat, and we were new to the cat world, I went off to work and set the alarm so I could not have an animal wandering around during the day. I carried him up to his room and put treats down for him and then exited. After awhile, he would beat me to the door. He won his freedom and we adapted our alarm to that area he set off (we had the police visit once). Now I have a feral cat in exile, soon to be free again, and would prefer he "sleep" in his room at night. When he was free during our failed intro, we played him into his room at night and then he caught on and hid at bedtime. I had to catch him using his litter box or eating in order to keep him in there. Anyway, I get what you are saying and am about to go on the same adventure once again. When we needed our female cat to visit the new cat, she was very resistant until we got out the can of tuna. The smell of tuna got her every time. We would give her a tiny bit so it remained special. Just an idea in case you haven't tried that. Also, maybe start the bedtime routine sooner just to get Poppy in there before you need her to be in there. Good luck and let us know how it's going.
 
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Poppysfirstfoster

... who became Poppy's mom!
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Thank you for all of the advice! She is still going strong with her resistance but saving her last meal for bedtime has definitely helped.
 
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