Hi everyone, weve got a bit of a problem with our 9 month old kitten, hes a lovely kitten and very affectionatte but he will insist on waking my wife at about 5 in the morning by gently tapping on her face while she sleeps and we cant seem to stop him. Im usualy up for work around this time and have tried giving him food and water and making a fuss of him but he will still wake my wife up, he doesnt seem to want anything just for her to be awake. We did try closing the bedroom door so he couldn't get in but he went crazy as he likes being with us. Anyone got any ideas what we could try. Thanks.
Kitten problem
Originally Posted by frogy69:
“Hi everyone, weve got a bit of a problem with our 9 month old kitten, hes a lovely kitten and very affectionatte but he will insist on waking my wife at about 5 in the morning by gently tapping on her face while she sleeps and we cant seem to stop him. Im usualy up for work around this time and have tried giving him food and water and making a fuss of him but he will still wake my wife up, he doesnt seem to want anything just for her to be awake. We did try closing the bedroom door so he couldn't get in but he went crazy as he likes being with us. Anyone got any ideas what we could try. Thanks.”
“Hi everyone, weve got a bit of a problem with our 9 month old kitten, hes a lovely kitten and very affectionatte but he will insist on waking my wife at about 5 in the morning by gently tapping on her face while she sleeps and we cant seem to stop him. Im usualy up for work around this time and have tried giving him food and water and making a fuss of him but he will still wake my wife up, he doesnt seem to want anything just for her to be awake. We did try closing the bedroom door so he couldn't get in but he went crazy as he likes being with us. Anyone got any ideas what we could try. Thanks.”
Lock him in the kitchen downstairs with his own basket. He will soon get the message. Kittens should not be in bedrooms as they turn into little demonstrative tyrants if you let them. Demonstrative little ones turn into large demonstrative cats which is not good for you and definitely not good for them.
Ignoring him i dont think will solve the problem. It seems your little one wants you wife up at the same time as you i amfraid. Has he been neutered and as he always been like this and does he favour your wife more. I have a couple of cats that do the same they come upto me and hit me in the face for me too get up. It try too ignore them but then the other one does it. I grown so used too it now it doesnt realy bother me. Closing the door just makes them annoyed and want too get in more.
Originally Posted by Maisey Moo:
“Ignoring him i dont think will solve the problem. It seems your little one wants you wife up at the same time as you i amfraid. Has he been neutered and as he always been like this and does he favour your wife more. I have a couple of cats that do the same they come upto me and hit me in the face for me too get up. It try too ignore them but then the other one does it. I grown so used too it now it doesnt realy bother me. Closing the door just makes them annoyed and want too get in more.”
“Ignoring him i dont think will solve the problem. It seems your little one wants you wife up at the same time as you i amfraid. Has he been neutered and as he always been like this and does he favour your wife more. I have a couple of cats that do the same they come upto me and hit me in the face for me too get up. It try too ignore them but then the other one does it. I grown so used too it now it doesnt realy bother me. Closing the door just makes them annoyed and want too get in more.”
That's so true. I'm impressed when I read about posters who've managed to confine their cats to a kitchen or living room at night - and for those cats to be happy and content. My cats must recognise me as a soft touch or they must be particularly stubborn/spoilt because they have always been relentless in insisting they have access to my bedroom - and I get lots of pulled up/scratched carpets at doorways, not to mention the claw marks on the doors. Fortunately, only my late Tabitha had a habit of pawing my face to wake me up. Two of the three I have now will happily go about their business, Bernard stays with me until I get up even if I'm having a lie-in (he's a very lazy cat).
The pawing at the face seems to be habitual in certain cats. Tabitha was used to me getting up at 6am for work so I think she would get a bit worried when I had a day off and slept for longer. Or it may have been that she wanted her breakfast.
My kittens (now 8 months) have always been put in the kitchen at night, I really didn't want them wandering about at night, they have a lovely soft bed under the radiator and there they stay!
I have been woken up in the past with a paw in my face and with at least 3 of the heaver cats fast asleep on me at the same time. One of the kittens tilly loves washing your face but she thinks i am mum as i handreared her.
Originally Posted by guernseysnail:
“My kittens (now 8 months) have always been put in the kitchen at night, I really didn't want them wandering about at night, they have a lovely soft bed under the radiator and there they stay!”
“My kittens (now 8 months) have always been put in the kitchen at night, I really didn't want them wandering about at night, they have a lovely soft bed under the radiator and there they stay!”
My 2 youngest charge around the house at night (though not every night thank goodness), up and down the stairs, under the bed, on the window sills etc. They have a mutual game of pouncing on each other but they make a right racket when they're doing it. I sometimes wonder if my neighbours can hear the noise though the soundproofing between the houses seems quite good. I've always lost the battle of wills between myself and my cats, going back to when my Tabitha was a kitten crying at my bedroom door (back then I lived in a flat so I couldn't put her 'downstairs' - I would have been able to hear her from wherever I confined her).
Luckily, I don't mind having broken sleep as I've worked such irregular hours and shifts over the years that I'm quite used to it - and I like having the cats curled up on the bed with me
My cat does the same thing with me. But it's usually for breakfast. He also uses his actual claws. I just cover my face up and leave him. (He's about 6 years old now)
Originally Posted by MarellaK:
“My 2 youngest charge around the house at night (though not every night thank goodness), up and down the stairs, under the bed, on the window sills etc. They have a mutual game of pouncing on each other but they make a right racket when they're doing it. I sometimes wonder if my neighbours can hear the noise though the soundproofing between the houses seems quite good. I've always lost the battle of wills between myself and my cats, going back to when my Tabitha was a kitten crying at my bedroom door (back then I lived in a flat so I couldn't put her 'downstairs' - I would have been able to hear her from wherever I confined her).
Luckily, I don't mind having broken sleep as I've worked such irregular hours and shifts over the years that I'm quite used to it - and I like having the cats curled up on the bed with me”
“My 2 youngest charge around the house at night (though not every night thank goodness), up and down the stairs, under the bed, on the window sills etc. They have a mutual game of pouncing on each other but they make a right racket when they're doing it. I sometimes wonder if my neighbours can hear the noise though the soundproofing between the houses seems quite good. I've always lost the battle of wills between myself and my cats, going back to when my Tabitha was a kitten crying at my bedroom door (back then I lived in a flat so I couldn't put her 'downstairs' - I would have been able to hear her from wherever I confined her).
Luckily, I don't mind having broken sleep as I've worked such irregular hours and shifts over the years that I'm quite used to it - and I like having the cats curled up on the bed with me
”
I would love to have Eric and Ruby curled up with us but my dog Lil sleeps on the bed and she is very jealous of them. We decided that it was best to keep them apart at night to save any squabbles!
Our cats work as a team; one sits on my chest and paws me in the face and the other cat does the same to my girlfriend. If we ignore them, they proceed to knock things off the chest of drawers next to the bed until we get up. They do this even if they have plenty food and water in their dish. Bizarrely, when we are up, neither of them are all that interested in us (unless it's cold).
Simba is allowed in our room but he's discovered under the bed.
He goes under there about now, and he will fall into a deep sleep, then he will eventually come out about 1am-1.30am and walk all over my husband and lick his face.
My husband then takes him downstairs, settles him on his office chair in the living room, closes the door and comes upstairs. It's almost routine now.
He'll stay there till 7-8am when he's fed and he has run of the house again.
He goes under there about now, and he will fall into a deep sleep, then he will eventually come out about 1am-1.30am and walk all over my husband and lick his face.
My husband then takes him downstairs, settles him on his office chair in the living room, closes the door and comes upstairs. It's almost routine now.
He'll stay there till 7-8am when he's fed and he has run of the house again.
