Would this be horrible?

MeezeIfYouPlz

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Back story: Without going in to the gory details, I am disabled due to a genetic disorder. I sleep in a hospital bed, with plenty of precisely placed pillows to protect my fragile joints. I also have central sleep apnea, which is different from obstructive sleep apnea but treated the same way, with oxygen and a CPAP machine. Our elderly siamese KiKi sleeps either in a chair in the office or on the large dog bed she always slept on with her dog that passed last year. Our middle cat Braveheart wanders from room to room at night but usually ends up sleeping in the cats room. The kitten Ollie has slept in my room since we got him nearly two months ago.
Ollie simply cannot continue to sleep in my room! I don't mind his activity on the bedroom floor or in the attached bathroom nor his sleeping on my head. What I do mind is his chewing on my CPAP hose and face. The worst part is that Ollie insists on sleeping on the edges of the bed and when he rolls over and falls off the bed, multiple times a night, he throws out a paw to catch his fall, catching my face, scalp or other body part with his claws. Nothing like being woke up with a cat hanging off your arm by one claw like I did this morning.
DH and I have been discussing new sleeping arrangements for Ollie. The only viable solution we can come up with is to lock Ollie in the cats room with Brave at night. The cat room has two cat trees, several beds, three litter boxes and plenty of toys. Since KiKi wouldn't have access to a litter box with the cat room door closed we would need to move her bed to have her sleep in my bedroom, with her litter box in the bathroom, where Ollie's nighttime box is now.
I would feel bad for Brave, being punished for a crime he didn't commit but Brave is a pretty chill cat that gets along well with Ollie. KiKi may be a bit put out with the change at first but at 16+ her life is sleep, eat, poop, repeat. So long as she has her bed, she's happy. We have considered one of those three tier cat cages for Ollie but that's an expensive fix for what I hope will be a temporary problem.
If you have read this far, thank you. Any suggestions?
 

KittyFriday

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I don't think there is anything wrong with that arrangement. Could you also just close him out of your bedroom? That's another (potential) option, but if that wouldn't work I don't think having him in a cat room is a problem at all.

My own cat is not allowed to sleep in my bedroom. It's not anything he does, but my dog has a food dish down at night and I don't want to risk any altercations over the food while I sleep. He has meowed a few times, but most of the time is totally fine with that arrangement - like your kitty, he has everything he needs.
 

susanm9006

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I think it is perfectly fine to move the kitten to the cat room at night. He will adjust quickly and it sounds like a well set up room. As far as Kiki, I would start out with her litter box as close to its old spot as possible, so outside the cat room door, with a second new litter box in the bathroom. That way if she gets confused by the shut cat room door she will use the box there until she discovers the new one.
 
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MeezeIfYouPlz

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Could you also just close him out of your bedroom?
Though we have kitten-proofed the house to the best of our ability Ollie is a climber and a jumper. He finds trouble to get in to. Plus, though we have trained Ollie to leave KiKi alone when we're watching I'm afraid he would harass her all night long, so she would still need to sleep separate.
 

Meowmee

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I think your solution could work well. 😀

Other things to try are to clip Ollies claws, and train him not to do that, hang on to you etc.

And for the tubes- my Quinn, a meezer hooligan, was a monster as a kitten and he still can be, lol. He has a chewing issue with electric cords and other things, for the cords I found this heavy duty cord cover on amazon that opens up with Velcro closure, they are neoprene I think.

I covered all of the cords that he seems to be interested in which is not all of them oddly enough. It worked for him. I don’t know if it would work and be safe for you to use that on your CPAP and other things like that.
I sleep with tubing etc too on my insulin pump and had to worry about that with Quinn only so far. I trained him he was not to touch it and I wore it under my nightclothes when I slept until he got older. If he is on my lap once in a while when I am doing pump things he will still show some interest, and I deflect him away from it.
I also found crazy cord covers ( on amazon too) and used them for charging cables but as I recall it did not work well for the pump tubing due to logistical issues and having to do pump stuff.
In terms of the logistics, it sounds like Braveheart will be ok locked in with Ollie overnight, and he will discipline him too. Then Kiki can be your nighttime companion. Maybe get her a new box as well for your room.
 
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ArtNJ

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I have mild positional sleep apnea, but it still zonks me out. I've not allowed cats to sleep with me for 30+ years. They sleep in the finished basement.

As long as they have a perfectly nice area, there is no need to feel bad whatsoever. It is true that cats hate to be confined, but its really a surface level hate based on some instinct that says all doors should be opened and they should be able to go where they want. Once you get past that, they dont think about it anymore and can be quite happy confined at night. I belive the key, with most cats, is a good nightime ritual. Once you estabish a ritual, with maybe some substantial difficulties in the beginning, the protests should die down. For me, the ritual is simple. I carry their food and water downstairs, go back up stairs, shake the treat box, and throw a few treats downstairs. They run to get them, and I close the door. They actually look forward to the ritual, and get antsy if it doesn't happen on time. In the past, with other cats, a cat has been seriously resistant to formation of a ritual, and uses the ques to start evasion tactics. If you run into that, I dont have any good tips, but maybe someone else will. Evasion tactics can be aweful to deal with -- it doesn't really matter if one is a healthy adult, since cats are so fast and agile that chasing after the evading cat is generally an exercise in frustration.
 
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MeezeIfYouPlz

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I think your solution could work well. 😀

Other things to try are to clip Ollies claws, and train him not to do that, hang on to you etc.

And for the tubes- my Quinn, a meezer hooligan, was a monster as a kitten and he still can be, lol. He has a chewing issue with electric cords and other things, for the cords I found this heavy duty cord cover on amazon that opens up with Velcro closure, they are neoprene I think.

I covered all of the cords that he seems to be interested in which is not all of them oddly enough. It worked for him. I don’t know if it would work and be safe for you to use that on your CPAP and other things like that.
I sleep with tubing etc too on my insulin pump and had to worry about that with Quinn only so far. I trained him he was not to touch it and I wore it under my nightclothes when I slept until he got older. If he is on my lap once in a while when I am doing pump things he will still show some interest, and I deflect him away from it.
I also found crazy cord covers ( on amazon too) and used them for charging cables but as I recall it did not work well for the pump tubing due to logistical issues and having to do pump stuff.
In terms of the logistics, it sounds like Braveheart will be ok locked in with Ollie overnight, and he will discipline him too. Then Kiki can be your nighttime companion. Maybe get her a new box as well for your room.
We do have all the electrical cords covered with conduit. I would have to ask my pulmonologist if it's okay to cover the cpap hose. They do sell such a thing so it would probably be fine. Ollie really goes for my face though, especially around the mask. We do keep his nails trimmed but my skin is paper thin (part of my disorder). I've been intending to buy stainless steel litter pans for all three cats, buying them on at a time due to the cost. KiKi will get the first one.
 
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MeezeIfYouPlz

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I have mild positional sleep apnea, but it still zonks me out. I've not allowed cats to sleep with me for 30+ years. They sleep in the finished basement.

As long as they have a perfectly nice area, there is no need to feel bad whatsoever. It is true that cats hate to be confined, but its really a surface level hate based on some instinct that says all doors should be opened and they should be able to go where they want. Once you get past that, they dont think about it anymore and can be quite happy confined at night. I belive the key, with most cats, is a good nightime ritual. Once you estabish a ritual, with maybe some substantial difficulties in the beginning, the protests should die down. For me, the ritual is simple. I carry their food and water downstairs, go back up stairs, shake the treat box, and throw a few treats downstairs. They run to get them, and I close the door. They actually look forward to the ritual, and get antsy if it doesn't happen on time. In the past, with other cats, a cat has been seriously resistant to formation of a ritual, and uses the ques to start evasion tactics. If you run into that, I dont have any good tips, but maybe someone else will. Evasion tactics can be aweful to deal with -- it doesn't really matter if one is a healthy adult, since cats are so fast and agile that chasing after the evading cat is generally an exercise in frustration.
Ollie debuted a new evasion technique tonight. He somehow discovered that if he walks under and in step with our younger aussie, his partner in crime, I won't see him. Ollie used this technique to gain access to a room he's not allowed in just a few minutes ago.. I'm doomed.
 
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