Scratching sheets while we try and sleep?!

[adamg]

Hi!,

I'm a first time poster, and relatively new cat owner. I've live with cats all my life, but this is the first one that is actually mine.

She is 8 months old now, a domestic short-hair, black and brown tiger who is named Zoe. She is a lot of fun and I love her to death, but she has one habit that is beginning to drive me and my girlfriend nuts!

I get up around 7am, so this isn't a huge deal for me, but my GF doesn't get up this early and she has to deal with Zoe wandering in, jumping up on the bed and "scratching" at the sheets almost every more morning now for the past couple of days! Now I put that in quotes because she is not actually putting her claws out, but more or less pawing at the bed. She does this constantly, even if we tell her to stop or remove her from the bed. She will jump right back up and start again. Now she doesn't have a problem scratching furniture or the carpet, and she has a sturdy scratching post that she actively uses.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to stop this, please, as it is driving us nuts! All we want to do is waking to a peacefully kitty.

Thanks in advance!

 

[yayi]

Welcome to TCS!

You mean she "kneads".

In my case, I got used to it and eventually both of us fall back to sleep.

Maybe you will too.

But your cat is young. She will adjust to your sleep schedule and the kneading will stop (unless she feels you are oversleeping or she's hungry)

 

[melissaw]

Our younger cat Libby does this alllll the time when she's feeling happy and snuggly
She loves to knead towels, blankets, sheets, pajamas, housecoat!

Sounds like Zoe is happy you guys are awake and wants to snuggle and have some attention!
If it really bothers you then you can try discouraging the behavior...maybe when you get up you can close the bedroom door to keep Zoe out so your girlfriend can sleep?
Persistence also pays off...my older cat used to have a habit of sitting on my face until I woke up...I just kept pushing her off the bed when she did it until she realized that behavior wasn't going to fly

 

[adamg]

Originally Posted by yayi

Welcome to TCS!

You mean she "kneads".

In my case, I got used to it and eventually both of us fall back to sleep.

Maybe you will too.

But your cat is young. She will adjust to your sleep schedule and the kneading will stop (unless she feels you are oversleeping or she's hungry)

She was definitely not kneading, I know what that looks like. She is pretty much scratching without using her claws, kind of like she is covering up her litter.

I'm always the first one up to greet her, and I always feed her when I get up. She usually has food from dinner the night before left over any way, so I don't think she's hungry.

 

[adamg]

Originally Posted by melissaw

Our younger cat Libby does this alllll the time when she's feeling happy and snuggly
She loves to knead towels, blankets, sheets, pajamas, housecoat!

Sounds like Zoe is happy you guys are awake and wants to snuggle and have some attention!
If it really bothers you then you can try discouraging the behavior...maybe when you get up you can close the bedroom door to keep Zoe out so your girlfriend can sleep?
Persistence also pays off...my older cat used to have a habit of sitting on my face until I woke up...I just kept pushing her off the bed when she did it until she realized that behavior wasn't going to fly

She only does this action on one other item we own, it's like a big bean bag thing, but covered in a soft cloth cover in the living room. But she only does that for a short period of time, compared to the bed where she could go on for 10 minutes if we let her.

I've tried locking her out, but she hates not being able to see her mommy and goes nuts at the door! We also try and discourage it, but she doesn't seem to care.

 

[baloneysmom]

I canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t help you out here but i totally know what you are talking about. My Bugsy does this to me every night. I have no clue why he does it but i am happy he doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t normally do it in the mornings LOL.

Itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s sort of like digging in a fast like manner. He does it to the floor too sometimes… Sorry I canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t help you, I am sure someone will be around shortly that knows what this is…. I am curious as well.

 

[strange_wings]

It's just an attention getting type behavior, sometimes it's also used in play. If you don't like it, interrupt your cat with some other activity. You could always try shutting the door behind you in the morning and keeping Zoe's attention so as to give your girlfriend more time to sleep.

 

[clucas976]

this may sound ridiculous BUT have you noticed afterwards that your kitty uses her litterbox?

My recent rescue maybelle, used to wake me up at around 6am every other day or so doing the same exact thing. I'd push her on to the floor about three times, and then she'd run over to her litter box and make a huge poop. (this cat poops bigger than my dog)

I always thought of it as her giving me the option to leave the room if I wanted instead of sitting in her stench

Maybe Zoe just has to poo? lol, its just all it reminded me of.

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by CLucas976

this may sound ridiculous BUT have you noticed afterwards that your kitty uses her litterbox?

With mine - never. They do it to get me out from under the covers. Tomas will also do it when he wants me to pull the covers back to let him under.
One way to make Tomas do the digging behavior is for me to cover my head (hide under the covers completely) and say his name. He'll get excited, brrr, and try to dig me out.

I've had a couple dogs in the past that would do this exact same thing, too.

 

[lyrajean]

Aya does this. It's not kneading per say but scritching the blankets very enthusiatsticly like she's digging a giant hole in her box.

Aya does this every morning, if I don't get up in time to feed her breakfast on schedule (around 7am) or if I show signs of conciousness. She jumps on my bed and digs all around the edges of the covers and sometimes right on top of me!

Like the others said its an attention getting gesture. You either jsut ahve to appreciate it for what it is (she loves you and wants your attention) or shut her out of your room at night. I live in a studio so not an option for me.