DU cat behaviorists... a question

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

We let our new (for the past week) cat sleep in the bed with us. However, lately he has been walking around our pillows in the middle of the night, disturbing our sleep. Outside of banishing the cat to another room for the night, is there something we can do to prevent this? He loves human company and contact and I would hate for him to spend his nights away from us, but at the same time he is disrupting my and DH's sleep and we can't afford not to sleep.

[Maraya1969]

1. Maybe you can spray your pillows with some non-toxic thing that he doesn't like

Also it's OK to say "NO" to a cat and move him to another part of the bed. It might work for a few minutes.


Here's a link I just found.

http://cats.about.com/od/youandyourcat/tp/sleepdeprived.htm

[Callalily]

2. Your cat is training you!

But I have been guilty of that too. Here's a wonderful call-in program, and you can submit written questions too. http://www.wpr.org/pets/ Patricia McConnell always gives sound advice.

Good luck. You're privileged to be owned by your cat.

[crispini]

3. Make sure he gets plenty of action during the day.

If he's sleeping all day long, he's going to tend to be more nocturnal. If you're around I'd make sure he gets plenty of attention and play sessions during the day. If you're not home in the day at least give him one really good play session a few hours before bed. Make sure you top it off with something he can "kill" i.e. a sock or a small toy he can really rip on. Then feed him. This will tap into a cat's natural cycle which is to hunt, kill, and nap. Hopefully that will get him sleeping better and then he will sleep through the night. Also if he's young, he's probably NOT going to sleep through the night until he's a bit older. Good luck! :hi:

[Raven]

4. If your cat is a kitten,

you shouldn't let it sleep with you because, just as with a newborn, you could smother it. If the cat is older, throw it out of the bed, literally. It will learn not to go there. My cats would do the same thing. They like human hair and will groom you if they can...that's probably why your cat is focusing on your pillows.

[InternalDialogue]

5. I concur with Raven's post.

When my cats were brand new kitties, they wanted to sleep all over me, including my head. They even walked directly across the head of a friend who was staying over one night. At first I put up with it, imagining perfect kitties sleeping perfectly next to me, but it didn't happen. I started tossing them out of bed when they got all over my head and pillows, or when they got rambunctious at night.

I'd say it took a month straight of tossing them out to break them of the craziness. They pretty quickly came back to sleeping on the bed, but cautiously at first, sometimes jumping up and curling themselves on the corner of the bed farthest from me. But they craved the warmth and closeness more than they needed the playing and grooming, I guess, because as adult cats they were great bedmates. They slept quietly down around my legs or in my arms.

[Lasher]

6. Your cat is lonesome and wants you to wake up.

It's natural for them to be up at night. Good advice upthread about keeping him awake during the day. Or wear a scary dog mask to bed.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. You could banish him from the bedroom, but then

he'd be scratching on the door and howling, which is even more disturbing than a cat walking on your head. The other suggestions -- wearing him out before bedtime and giving him some good toys to play with if he gets bored -- have worked well with my cats. Very young ones, like small human children, tend not to sleep through the night anyhow; though most of my kittens preferred to pounce on my feet. You might even consider getting another cat so he'd be busy playing all day. Although then you might have two cats walking on your head at night.

[Arkansas Granny]

8. I have always trained my cats by putting them off the bed when

their nighttime behavior was interfering with my sleep. It takes time, but they eventually learn that if they are going to sleep with you it has to be on your terms. My current kitty was very insistent that I pay attention to her during the night, but after being put off the bed promptly each time she disturbed me she learned that the only way she was going to sleep with me was to mind her manners. Since then, she curls up next to me when the lights go off and we both sleep. The key is to be consistent the same way you would be with any other aspect of training a pet.

[npincus]

9. you're lucky!

I had a cat who used to sleep next to my head, and put her paws around my neck (hug me)... it distrubed my sleep, but I loved it. She passed away suddenly, Christmas day, 2005.

[mike_c]

10. he's either not sleepy enough or he's not yet adapted his schedule...

...to sleeping all night. Make sure he gets lots of exercise during the day, and a good playtime shortly before bed. That will help him to be sleepy. Remember too that cats are nocturnal animals and although they will adjust their schedules to match yours, it sometimes takes them a while to do it.

Several of my cats sleep with me, usually quietly for most of the night. One in particular CUDDLES hard and sleeps there the whole night. He only moves when I move.

[China_cat]

11. I'm an oddball on this because I don't allow any

animals to sleep with me. They aren't even allowed in the bedroom unless they are sick, injured or needing quarantine and then they have a bed in a crate (with the door open unless they get too rambunctious). I think every one of them understands this and I can even leave the door open and not have them come in unless invited.

I feel it's important to have a place that can be quiet for the ones that need it to get better.

[applegrove]

12. Keep a spray bottle near the bed. And use it only when the cat does that behaviour. Water works!

[KT2000]

13. Oh - I don't know

My now deceased cat used to go to the top of my pillow when she could tell I was not able to sleep. She would put her chin on my head and purr - talk about a lullaby! It was wonderful. Miss it too.

[Vinca]

14. My cat whacks me on the nose in the middle of the night

when he's cold and wants to crawl under the covers. It's like sleeping with a heating pad that purrs.

[SOteric]

15. Is it possible that your cat is cold?

When most of us sleep, it's in the cooler hours of the day. Our bodies are covered with blankets and the exposed portion, - our heads, is often a warm magnet to a chilly pet.

I had an elderly cat, now passed, who suffered greatly from arthritis and tended to prefer nuzzling up to my head when I slept, especially in the colder weather. He was lured away by a heating pad placed nearby and turned on a low setting for the night.