Cat and bedroom boundary at night

[Egon’sHuman]

Hello!

I’d love to get opinions on a situation I’m having with my kitty. Egon is a healthy 21 month old neutered male who lives indoors (except occasional excursions to the garden on a leash). Egon had been sleeping on my bed with me at night ever since he was a kitten.
I recently met someone who is allergic to cats, so about a month ago I decided that Egon would have to sleep in his own bed in my spare bedroom! I got him a cosy igloo and he loves it. He seems to have accepted the new bedtime routine and just goes to his bed or his toys when I go to bed and close the door. He still meows and scratches at the door a little (maybe twice/thrice a week) in the mornings.
Now here’s the contentious point I’ve been arguing about with my partner; during the day I let Egon go the bedroom. It’s very bright and he can sunbathe as well as look at birds out the window, so I’m really not keen on making that room off limit to him full-time. My partner claims that I am confusing him by allowing him in the room during the day but not at night, that I’m stressing him out and that this is why he still meows at the door in the morning. My take is that he meows at the door in the morning because I’m in the room and he wants attention.

Does anyone have any experience of this type of situation and do you think that by wanting to keep his day enrichment that he gets thanks to access to the bedroom I could also be causing him confusion and distress? Thank you for any advice or experience you can share

 

[susanm9006]

Cats understand routine and the difference between night and day, so I don’t think allowing him in during the day but not at night is confusing or stressing him in any way. Not giving him the opportunity to sunbathe or watch birds in his favorite place probably will though so I would continue on. You know your cat much better than your bf does so go with your instincts.

 

[silent meowlook]

I think it’s fine he goes into the room during the day.

Cats don’t think like we do. They think in the here and now. Their reactions to things are learned behaviors. He scratches at the door because he knows that you will open the door eventually. It’s not because he doesn’t understand why he can’t be in the room.

 

[ladytimedramon]

My girls are used to my routine where when I wake up I open my bedroom door and let them in. They have the run of the room while I'm at work. Bed time I close the door while they're having a snack in another room. Occasionally one will meow at my door but I just turn up the radio. After 2 years my older one is fine with it. My newer cat took a few months to get used to it. She parks herself on a cat bed outside my bedroom door.

 

[ArtNJ]

Agree you wont reduce the protests by never allowing the cat in. Now if you had never let the cat in that room in the first place, yes, that would have made a difference. But that ship has sailed. If anything, excluding during the day will make the cat more eager to get in there. You may have door darting. And when you forget to close the door, and you probably will because folks tend to go in and out of their bedroom a lot, the cat will head right in.

Ignoring the scratching at night will do the trick, eventually, and no real way to speed that up that I know of.

 

[mxphs]

I feel like in my experience, Humphrey is super good because our lives are so routine based. He knows that after 1030 there is no play time even if i leave the door open for him to come in and out as he pleases.
As long as you keep a routine going where night time is clearly off limits in the bedroom, i think he will understand. I love the fact cats are so routine based tbh!

 

[D_H]

Lose the partner.



Or you can listen to the more rational answers above me

 

[Egon’sHuman]

Lose the partner.

Honestly, considering how big a deal this is becoming I think it’s likely how this is going to end up.

 

[Egon’sHuman]

Egon does well in the evening because I usually go to bed early and he’s on board with that. If I got to bed late he’s happy for the company. I think he’s kind of aligned on my morning routine (normally I wake up at 7:00) and it’s whenever I try to wake up a little later that he gets impatient. I do think the door open during the day is a red herring and has nothing to do with it at all.

 

[Eurocat]

Hi
I totally agree with you that behaviourally Egon will grasp the different day/night routines.
My cat loves to hang out in my offce during the day where she has some nice perches and sometimes really enjoys wrestling the cotton rug in the bathroom. Both these rooms are off limits at night as when she is in her 4am zoomy phase she will either regress to one of her previous cat lives when she was a full time paper shredder or a flying cat ) both of which are not safe in these rooms.
We have no issues with the different routines, even though the office used to be accessible to her at night. I just offered her more enticing but safer possibilities in another room.
From the allergy perspective the only reason I could understand regarding keeping the bedroom totally off limits for Egon would to be to keep one room totally cat free. There again I don‘t know how much of a difference this would make as the allergy triggers are spread around the whole house and are on clothes etc. anyway. I suppose it just depends on the individual.
Good luck! )

 

[lollie]

I close my door at night, but my girl will nap in the bedroom during the day. They just want to own all parts of the house and make sure their scent is everywhere. She will be waiting at my door in the morning, to say hello, but also get fed.