I need some sleep- HELP

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kids and pets

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Hi TammyP. 

Its going... Thank you for asking.

Romeo is still crying on and off all night, which is driving us nuts. I have been letting him hang around more in the evening, then proactively putting him outside right before I head to bed. This seems to have cut back a little on his crying and yowling for in/out.

He has been leaving us dead and stunned critters on the deck by the doors for the last week. No way I can put a cat window back in. I cannot deal with live critters (snakes are worst) in the house. And even the windows that have the chips do not stop him from bringing in his presents.

The Sccat spray did nothing to deter him. And the sound of the spray did freak out my dog. SO that was a good idea, but doesn't help. He is not afraid or startled by the spray. He just stops just out of range and cries. If he wants the door bad enough, he will stand right where he is being sprayed and keep yowling and scratching the door. Honestly, if  cat could laugh and roll his eyes at me...I think he would have.But I do appreciate the idea, it was worth trying.

I am just not sure what will happen. My daughter will be home within a week. Maybe she will deal with the crying and in/out all night.

Thank you everyone for your help.
 

nansiludie

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Sorry to hear he is still this way, I am grateful he has a kind and understanding family, who care for him even as he is. Thank you for that.
 

tammyp

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Indeed, you are doing well by him!  I do hope he can settle into a routine and acceptance.  Seems like you have a pragmatic routine :)

I don't dare ever answer my boy if he cries at my closed door, because I know he will be like 'it worked, good, that's what I will do!'.  He starts out with me, and then I often shut him out for some of the night basically because I battle him wanting to pee on the bed/me (he is a stress pee-er) anytime from about 4am.  So if he walks over me and squats, I wake up and put him out (lovingly and basically sleep walking!).  I also don't appreciate being woken up by meows or feet, so same treatment applies.  I am so grateful that he is intelligent enough to know that this consequence is not what he wanted - and accepts being out, or desists the activity (he never meows now to wake me up), and that I sleep well enough to ignore his protest meows at the closed door when they sometimes do occur!  The stress peeing is a trial though!  He went and did it last week on hubby who was sleeping on the couch, and had left his sleeping bad out and crumpled when he got up (a perfect target for Kato! - I have to make the bed as soon as my feet touch the floor so that there are no crumples, and the pillows go straight into the cupboard!).  I am still cleaning...

SO keep up the good work!  What we do for the love of our fur-kids!!
 

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Hey, sorry to hear about your problem. Have you found a solution? I was thinking if a door can be built outside that "he can only open with his mouth", he may not be able to carry these insects. It requires a lot effort to train cats, but a dangling toy opening the door can also work (not for play but he may get the idea). Or it can be dangling treat. 

Or is there a way to make him repellent against insects (i.e. putting a smell on an insect and leaving it in his bed), so he stops doing. You may know, cats don't like the smell of citrus, ocalyptus, or you can try vinegar, or cyanne pepper. I heard that the ready made sprays are not working on every cat.

By the way my cats love to play with sticky tapes, and thats not a solution either. Water is a good repellent. Putting a dripping water on top of his door may cause him to drop his preys?

Lastly, you can think of getting one more cat. He may get jealous against him and may not want to leave the house to him (or he can pee everywhere too). 
 

beckyjo

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N nansiludie yes there.s no exact solution, thus K kids and pets can borrow someone else.s cat to see the side effects. If it doesn.t work they won.t have to return the cat to where they brought it from. In addition to peeing both cats may unite and yowl together too :)
 
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Good Morning.

I appreciate the new feedback, as the issue continues.

We have had multiple cats in the past, as well as several dogs and a horse. It made no difference. This kitty, Romeo is his name, is independent. He socializes with the other cats but never had an issue with jealousy. And with his behavior my husband will not even consider another cat. Pretty much Romeo will be my last cat. I can say, I have never had an issue with his missing the litterbox that I recall. Since the nice weather hit, he has refused to use the litterbox and will hold it until he can go outside.

Last night he had me up 9 times between 11pm and 4:46am. I have a wicked headache this morning from lack of sleep. It is not looking to be a good start to the day. Some of these were within minutes of each other.

I have also tried putting food and water outside for him, so he does not need to come inside when he needs a snack or drink. I made sure he is aware of it, and can access it easily enough. No, he refuses to use them and insists upon coming inside for his food and water. 

This morning hubby made a comment about setting up the dog crate in the garage at night. I don't like that idea, as he threw himself around in it when he was in his cat room. Bad idea, and now I need to keep that from happening.

I think at this point it is a stand off- will winter come (and Romeo decide to stay indoors again) before hubby and I reach the point of no return and Romeo goes to the shelter....

He is really a sweet boy. Loves to cuddle next to me, purrs, and gently begs for scratches. He gets along fine with our German Shepard.  He doesn't knock things over or damage curtains, etc.... Truly, the only negatives is his insistent yowling at night, and occasionally scratching the wood posts on the deck. (Bringing in stunned critters if he is allowed to). The yowling is the real issue because it is detrimental to our health due to lack of sleep.
 

nansiludie

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Can you use ear plugs at night? Also can you try to keep Romeo awake during the day so he, himself is tired at night? Can you also see if a Vet will prescribe some calming medication for him?
 
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Columbine

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I know you keep saying no to toys, but until you've tried him with Da Bird, you can't be certain. It's the best toy I've found for mimicking live prey. If you're able to use this toy to recreate the hunt-kill-eat cycle before bed it should reset his ciccadian (sp) rhythms so that he sleeps when you do.

All I can say is, especially given what a great cat he is in all other respects, it has to be worth a shot.
 
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Ear plugs do not work, tried it. He is louder then the ear plugs ability. I tried the soft one you put in your ears as well as Boise noise canceling headphones.

I did speak to the vet in the past about his behavior. No meds, the vet is absolutely positive it will not help. The cat is not anxious or in need of calming. He just wants what he wants and when he wants it.

Keeping him awake during the day is not an option. I work and cannot spend my day keeping him awake. It is just not a realistic option.

ok, last recommend was Da Bird, which I had not previously tried...I thought. I googled it and if I am finding the right thing DaBird is a bunch of feathers on the end of a string and a stick. Does that sound right? If it is, then I have used that, several times. My other cats loved it. Romeo...not. He is not interested. I actually have one in the closet. I pulled it out tonight to play with him. He just looked at me, laid down, and started cleaning himself. Zero interest.

We had a feather thingy hanging on the larger cat condo as well. A couple of months ago the dog knocked it off. The cat never played with it. We even cat nipped it, as he likes cat nip sometimes, and nope...no interest.

If daBird is something else, please let me know. 

Thank you for the suggestions
 

Columbine

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There are two big differences between Da Bird and other wand and feather toys. The first is that Da Bird actually sounds like a flying bird when moved through the air. The second is that there are tons of different attachments for it, so it's possible to try different options until you find what your boy gets excited about. I promise it's worth a go. Asha was a totally different cat when playing with hers as compared to using other wand and feather toys - the change in the way she played was extraordinary.

You might find there articles on playing useful too (I apologise if you already know the things they mention):-

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/cat-play-the-rules-of-the-game

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/playing-with-your-cat-ten-things-every-cat-owner-needs-to-know
 

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Hi @kids and pets  sorry Romeo is not letting you sleep, I understand what that's like
. Hopefully you're having a little improvement at least! I was thinking, have you tried only letting Romeo out (and in) during specific set times? Maybe he can be trained using an alarm sound to know when the door will or will not open initially, then gradually you can set the alarm only to go off during certain hours (thus creating a pattern to expect). This would definitely not be a quick fix but seeing as your Romeo is quite determined he may learn very quickly. Good luck!!
 
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