My cat is a housecat and has to come upstairs with me at night when I set the burglar alarm, otherwise she will set it off.

She usually automatically goes upstairs when i'm going through my bedtime routine eg switching things off etc. If not I just say "bed" and/or clap my hands and she goes upstairs. Lately, however, not only doe she not go upstairs when i'm getting ready for bed, but actually refuses to go to bed when I tell her to!

She will defy me when I say "bed" and move away when I go to pick her up. I then scold her and she answers me back with a "f f f" sound. It almost sounds as if she is startining to use the F word to me!

What's going on?

Just what I'm thinking

You do realise you own a cat, right? They don't generally follow instructions!

Nobody owns a cat, they own you. Nothing you can do, Richard, they just please themselves. I have the reverse problem, we have 1 cat as good as gold, and 2 maine coons who find it necessary to be within 1cm of me at all times. I cannot sleep witht them on th bed, I have to chuck them out, we usually read for a bit, and they stay on the duvet for that, purring and making a nuisance of themselves, getting in front of the book etc. Their cries when asked to leave for the night are heartbreaking, but they soon curl up together. You have to harden yourself, and impose your will. Wish I could right now, the kitten is on my gel wrist rest, purring like mad, but making typing very difficult.

I dont know what i was thinking writing that, must've been caffeine deficiency

I knew what you were trying to say

Thread title of the year

My cat actively revols against 'bedtime' by making sure the second I turn my light off and get into bed she is wide awake for the next 8 hours

maybe your cat is over stimulated. cut down on tea and coffee and no TV an hour before bedtime

you need to stop the bad language too. threaten to take its toys off it if it carries on

good luck

You could ground it, but it being a housecat probably wouldn't notice


Sorry, this thread title just makes me giggle

As RBG22 says, it's thread title of the year. What were you thinking of, Richard? I have the same trouble with my teenaged daugher sometimes, but even that is easier to sort out than a cat.

Make it sit on the naughty step for a while until it agrees to go to bed

Same here.

She tends to nap in the early evening, and when I try to wake her to play with her so she sleeps in the night she's having none of it.....

Mine just refuses to come home at an agreed time!

Same here.

She tends to nap in the early evening, and when I try to wake her to play with her so she sleeps in the night she's having none of it.....

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Yes, i've tried that tactic and it didn't work. Every time I woke the cat up, she gave me a dirty look and, eventually, moved away somewhere else and nested again (to continue sleeping).

At one point the cat made a "vu vu vu" growling noise.

I don't know what's brought this on, she used to be such a good girl and now is being defiant. I am CONVINCED that the cat knows that I want her to go upstairs, so it's not a case of lack of intelligence, but she simply refuses, point blank, to go to bed when I do.

I have even tried putting her at the base of the stairs and then shutting the door to the stairs (I pretend i'm not going to bed so she doesn't catch on what i'm doing), but, as soon as I open the door to go up myself she runs back into the living room. It's ridiculous that I should have to resort to psychological tactics to get a cat to go to bed.

I am at my wits end.

I wouldn't even try to fathom her out.

She's a cat!

Always remember - dogs have owners - cats have staff.

Yes, i'm beginning to think that lol. I still need to get her to go bed tho 'cos of the burglar alarm. Anyone (more experienced in cats than me) got any suggestions?

Call the Cat Whisperer

Treats at bedtime perhaps? I'd look at feeding times as well regarding when the cats are most active. Our cats fight over the right to bed....

Can't you just pick it up and carry it upstairs?

* Maybe something unknown to you happened upstairs that scared your cat and it now thinks of upatairs as being a 'bad' place??? A loud noise for example.

You could put a train of cat treats up the stairs and a long the landing with toys for her...

* Maybe she is to warm upstairs, there is more stimulation for her downstairs, you could take her bed up with you...

Lots of different things.

I'm not quite sure what the problem is really.... My cats don't volunteer to go to bed either (opposite way round from you - they get taken off the human bed upstairs and put downstairs on the sofas to sleep). I pick them up, carry them downstairs and shut the door. Not difficult is it?

One thing I would query however - my cats are downstairs overnight with access to their litter tray. Does your cat have litter facilities upstairs?

Ah see nighttime is the time my two to charge around the hosue and do all the things they are not allowed to do during the day.

We have woken up before thinking there was a stampede outside the bedroom

Has something changed upstairs or anything? My cats hate change and freak out for a bit if anything has been moved about or cleaned or anything.

I know you must be frustrated at your uncompliant cat, they can drive you crackers with their seemingly irrational ways sometimes .

That results in a stern annoyed look, followed by a display of iindignance before she insists on jumping down and running back downstairs!

She's ok upstairs once we have got PAST the bedtime routine.