Will locking my cat out of my bedroom condition him to not sleep with me?

[R_DISDIER]

I just adopted a ~1 year old tabby. He's super sweet and for the first few nights I let him sleep in my bed and in my room. I have no problem with him sleeping with me, but he gets bursts of energy at night and I was getting around two hours of sleep per night. Recently, I started shutting my bedroom door at night to keep him out. The first night he was pretty loud and voiced his displeasure, but last night was as bad. I also moved my work desk out into the living area to give him less of a reason to go into my room and so I can spend more time with him during the day. I also did this so he can explore the rest of the apartment and isn't as frightened at night.

Will shutting him out of my room at night begin to condition him to not sleep with me? Thanks!

 

[ArtNJ]

Get him used to it so he doesn't meow at the door you mean? Sure! Eventually. Hard to say how long it will take since this is a 1 yr old and you don't know what his prior owners allowed, but most likely probably a few days I'd say. Hopefully not weeks, which it can be if its a really entrenched thing. Dont open the door for any reason if you can help it. If you get up and pay attention to him or feed him that reinforces it. Some say getting up and shooing the cat away or squirting water is paying attention and reinforces it. Regardless, it doesn't seem to help, so don't do that. Got to suffer through it.

 

[R_DISDIER]

yes, so he doesn’t meow! sorry, should’ve been more clear. thank you!!

 

[daftcat75]

Sadly, no. That's not likely to work. Cats socialized to sleep with other cats, even the strange mostly hairless vertical cats (you), will have a hard time sleeping on their own. 1 year old is still young. He'll mellow out over the next year or two. In the meantime, I'd play with him right before bed to try to drain his energy, and give him a meal to encourage him to sleep it off. You might put out some high quality dry food (Dr Elsey's, Rawz, Tiki Cat, those that are trying to correct for what's wrong with dry food) overnight to give him something to snack on. You may also put out catnip mice and kickers, solo toys, to keep him occupied when he wakes up before you.

 

[R_DISDIER]

gotcha. thank you!!