[cphillips]

Hi
I am in desparate need of help. We have 2 cats and 2 dogs, who've all lived well together for many years. Just in the past two months though, our cat, Lilly, has gotten into the bad habit of waking us up at all hours of the night by putting her paws under the bedroom doors (we have 2 doors to the room) and jiggling the door, scratching at the door, etc. We have tried numerous things to stop this behavior and nothing is working, and we are getting no sleep.

We have tried feeding her before bed (she used to only eat once in the morning, but now gets a bedtime snack); we've tried squirting her w/water and even putting her in the shower when she does it, that hasn't stopped her; we've tried locking her in another room, but she gets mad and urinates and poops in that room; we've tried putting that "cat-off" spray on the bedroom doors, still doesn't deter her. Nothing is working. I've tried ignoring the behavior, but it just gets so loud and I finally give in and either get up and feed her or put her in a room, but I know both of these things are etiher reinforcing her or making her mad so she acts out(being locked in a room).

I am at my wit's end. Lilly is a very affectionate, sweet kitty, and this has only started over the past 2 months but is getting worse. We've never let her sleep in our bed except occasionally, b/c the dogs sleep in the room w/us. Other than this, her behavior is fine. But she does have hairball problems a lot, and we treat that as directed by our vet, but lately she seems to not be able to get her hairballs up as easily and its causing her tummy to hurt so she doesn't always eat all her food at each feeding. She is only 8 yrs old.

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[TAsunder]

drjean posted something about ssscat, which is basically a motion sensor which sprays an unpleasant (to cats) odor. www.ssscat.com

my cats like to try to get into the closets where i store cat toys using the same technique. i have had some success with putting a cheap area rug in front of or actually under the door. however, some cats then start scratching the door itself.

 

[fallon137]

You could also try putting a citrus oil or a citrus joice.. (orange, lemon..) on your door to repell her. That's supposed to work also.

 

[cphillips]

thanks

Thanks all. I may try both methods - I actually found that SS product on Ebay cheaper as well as a similar motion detector that emits a sound that is supposedly inaudible to humans but scares kitties. In the meantime, I will try citrus juice.

Willing to try anything at this point as I am seriously sleep-deprived!!!

 

[drjean]

Try having a play session before bed to satisfy her hunter instincts and tire her out. http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?a ... w&item=012

Also, you don't mention her age, but there are medical conditions that can cause behavior changes; you might want to consider a vet visit to make sure there's nothing physically wrong.

Cheers,
Dr. Jean

Cheers,
Dr. Jean

 

[kitkat]

Try stuffing the rug under the door or a towel. But just wondering, maybe the cat just wants to sleep with you in the warm bed. Do the dogs and cats not get along in the same room :?:

 

[cphillips]

Thanks, I may try the garlic.

The dogs kinda get along w/this cat - we've tried letting her sleep with us but it's the same thing - she wakes me up at 4am by nudging me and not stopping til I get up to feed her. We tried the towel under the door thing - that didn't work either she still managed to rattle the door.

Last night tho, was the first night she has slept all night with no early am wakeups. We played hard with her last night and my fiance kept waking her up throughout the day when he was in & out of the house yesterday, so we may have succeeded in wearing her out! and we also used some the kitty-off spray on the doors, but it hadn't worked the before so don't know if that was it.

She also finally got up a hairball that's been bothering her and that may have helped b/c now she can eat better. I think I may just have to fork out the $40 for the motion detector spray if she continues doing this.

She's indestructible kitty! thanks for everyone's advice