My Cat is Wrecking my LIFE!!!

[breamarie]

Is he neutered?

Otherwise, I'd close the bedroom door at night and possibly get earplugs. When my Scarlett was alive, I always had to have the bedroom door closed because she often decided to walk over/sit on my head at night, or find a plastic bag in the room to rustle (I can't stand that sound).

Do you have a basement or something that you can put him in when he's really driving you crazy when you're awake?

 

[tweetykiss]

How old is your cat? Is he still a kitten? My cat has found ways to entertain herself.

 

[ducman69]

Another cat in the house, if he gets along with him/her, will keep him decently occupied and they can chase and wrestle each other all day wearing each other out.

At night, you need to close the bedroom and put a Multivet SSSCAT in front of the door so that he doesn't approach it and whine or scratch.

 

[gravetzt]

Both cats are neutered and about 7yrs old.

I tried the tire him out for 3hrs but it didn't work. He still did it last night.

 

[kittiei]

I have two females cats about 6 years old. Tulip has been a whiner ever since i got her. She's usually whining for food even though she has an automatic feeder so I really have very little to do with her food. When I approach her she usually runs away (heading for her food dish because she thinks I'm going to feed her). When the cats slept in my bedroom with me, Tulip used to wake me up every morning around 5, she'd go away not too long after. Since my b/f and I moved into our new house, we haven't been letting them in the bedroom (especially at night). She still whines at the door occasionally but if we ignore it, she goes away pretty quickly.

By b/f tells her to be quiet sometimes. He says if we don't let the dog bark, why do we let the cat whine. I have to explain to him that it's because she's a cat and she's going to do what she wants regardless of what we tell her to do

I think if you stopped letting your cats in your room at night, they might cry loudly for the first few nights but eventually they'd get used to it. Especially if you provide them with a nice comfy place to sleep somewhere else in the house. Good luck!

 

[luananeko]

One thing that seems to work well with my cats is I take catnip and sprinkle it all over their cat tree about a half hour before bed. Make sure its not RIGHT before you go to bed though or they'll keep you up with their initial racing all over the house. After the initial racing, they get so caught up in the "drugs", playing with each other, rubbing/scratching all over the tree, etc that it buys me a good 4 hours at least before they start thinking about where I went. At that point the "catnip crash" makes them sleepy enough all they want to do is curl up on my legs and sleep

Of course, this strategy is entirely dependent on how your cats handle catnip, as it could easily backfire and have them sprinting around and bugging you all night

 

[ducman69]

Originally Posted by kittiei

He says if we don't let the dog bark, why do we let the cat whine. I have to explain to him that it's because she's a cat and she's going to do what she wants regardless of what we tell her to do

I think cats quickly grasp the concept of ActionA produces instant ResultA.

I only have to put the Ssscat on something for about a week before they figure out that jumping on that specific counter produces a negative result.

The trick is just figuring out a no-brainer way that the cat can understand the association and that its negative.

If she wants attention, saying something loudly back is likely more reward than anything. Ditto on if bored and doing something gets the instant response of action and a chase game where you try to catch her. What fuN!

Squirt bottle... not so fun.

 

[kittiei]

Originally Posted by Ducman69

I think cats quickly grasp the concept of ActionA produces instant ResultA.

I only have to put the Ssscat on something for about a week before they figure out that jumping on that specific counter produces a negative result.

The trick is just figuring out a no-brainer way that the cat can understand the association and that its negative.

If she wants attention, saying something loudly back is likely more reward than anything. Ditto on if bored and doing something gets the instant response of action and a chase game where you try to catch her. What fuN!

Squirt bottle... not so fun.

Lol, that's true. My cats are pretty good at listening and they know when they're somewhere they shouldn't be and jump down as soon as the see I've noticed them

I'm pretty good at ignoring the whining too, I think maybe I need to train the b/f to ignore it rather than trying to train the cat to be quiet

 

[ldg]

Originally Posted by GrAveTzT

Both cats are neutered and about 7yrs old.

I tried the tire him out for 3hrs but it didn't work. He still did it last night.

Did you end the play session with a high protein meal as suggested in the article to which hissy provided a link?

When Flowerbelle starts trouncing and pawing on me at night, I blow a short, sharp puff of air directly in her face, pull the sheet over my head, and then ignore her. She goes through cycles, and it can take a few days to a week for her to stop bothering me, and then I usually get a several month reprieve.

 

[gloriajh]

I have at least two emotions here - I feel sorry for you, been there, still doing that - but the situation is also kind of funny ...

Fine example of who the "Boss" really is, huh!

By now you may be realizing a new definition of your "life".

We now have Eight - two with special needs (one diagnosed as FIV, one with FeLV), and my life hasn't been "wrecked" - it's just taken a different turn.

 

[nekomania]

It drives me absolutely nuts when my cat whines for attention too. We just moved into a new apartment and because we are sleeping on an air mattress currently i have banned Bean Bean from the room for fear that he might pop it on accident.

The first few nights were horrific with the crying and pawing at the door but the trick really is to just ignore it. Don't make any noise to aknowledge him. Shouting, saying "STOP IT" and even throwing something at the door are all types of attention. And for heavens sake don't open the door. It might drive you nuts for a little while but he will eventually get that crying is NOT the way to get your attention.

Also while you are watching TV, working out, or eating ignore him as well. Ignore him until he is quiet and settles down, even if it takes an hour or more. If he jumps on your lap and paws at you, stand up to knock him back on the floor and then sit back down and continue ignoring him.

But as soon as he lays down at your feet or goes to play with a toy instead of bug you, praise the heck out of him and offer him a bit of scratches or playtime.

It takes a while but a month or two of training out of a 10-15 year lifespan is worth it in the end when you have a well-behaved animal. (And never forget that there is always plenty of time to sleep when you're dead

)


And just to update on my situation, my cat no longer cries at the door. It may seem heartless but cat's don't have feelings the way that we do. They aren't "out to make you mad" by whining and getting into things that they shouldn't. It is a learned associated behavior and ignoring it is the quickest most effective way to nip it in the butt.

But cats ARE different than dogs in that they very quickly associate unpleasant things with something that YOU do. For instance, making a loud noise or squirting them with a water gun. It is virtually impossible for you to do these things without your cat realizing that you are doing them.

Which pretty much makes training moot as they will then only do bad things when you are not around.