Cats waking me at night

[Tinkofhousepan]

Firstly I know IABU, as it is my furry overlords every right to bend me to their wills... however, I haven't had a night of undisturbed sleep in over 3 years. My big girl (5) has always been quite good and slept in her own bed, but the little one will not sleep anywhere other than with me! Every morning at 5 she wakes me with the song of her people, to let me know she has safely returned from her morning poo. She will also wake me 2-4 times in the night for no apparent reason other than she is lonely and wants strokes. I love her to death, (found her when she was 2 weeks old in a box in the street) but I'm actually feeling like the zombies from the walking dead are livelier than me now. Can't shut her out otherwise she cries for hours outside my door. I know nothing can really be done about this but I needed a vent! Do any of yours do the same? And how do you combat It??

We have the cat beds in the kitchen where the cat flap is, and close the door every night for this very reason. Essentially they can warble all they like, but the kitchen is far away enough from our bedroom that we can’t hear.

Do they get fed before you put them to bed?

Eldest cat likes to announce himself in the early hours before coming for affection & to lie on me. If I'm not obliging he'll annoy DDog until she gets up to come and join me & he then takes her warm bed. Either way I'm woken up. Last night I started out with youngest cat and then ended up with eldest cat & DDog - I had to sleep diagonally across the bed.

ontherise I tried that. Sadly it didn't work for me :( when I first found her she would shiver all the time cause she was so small and got cold so easily, so I used to put her in my onesie to keep her warm. If I wear one now she will demand to get in with me lol. I for sure made a rod for my own back didn't I!

Ear plugs is the only way and even then the bastards jump on me/have a scrap/steal my pillow/decide the cat flap needs to be opened/unravel the loo roll etc

Can you lock them in a room at the opposite end of the house?

We've given up and argue with each other in the middle of the night about 'whose turn it is to deal with the cats' as if we we're talking about a screaming newborn but there still may be a chance for you

pandarific they get 3 pouches a day and treats on top. If no one is around to give them the lunch pouch they get dry food left out. I really don't think she is hungry. Though my big one stuffs herself at every opportunity then throws up everywhere so I am monitoring their food intake more (but that's a whole other thread). nikephorous I feel your pain! I often sleep in crazy positions to accommodate her. If indi decides to join us i end up with one cat taking up most of my bed, and the other sleeping across my face!

Couldn't be arsed with that OP sorry.

After years of broken sleep with human babies I am not prepared to be woken by a cat.

Thankfully I can shut them in the conservatory overnight at the other end of the house, far away enough from my bedroom that I can't hear them yowl.
The conservatory is heated, they have blankets on the sofas, a litter tray, food and water.
I let them out in the morning when I am ready.

Sorry if this has been said - I’ve not read fully - but we have similar and needed a solution when we had our baby. So our two main culprits are now locked in the living room at night - it’s laminate so they can’t pull carpets up.

We also bought plastic carpet protector (the harder spiked grip stuff) and have put this over the door gap so they can’t get their claws into the carpet when the baby is sleeping in her Nursery etc.

accidentally that's not really an option for me. I'd not like to lock her anywhere because of how I found her. She was in a sealed box at 2 weeks old and I just don't want to lock her away xxxx

I have earplugs, a cat flap, special blanket and all the works. All the cat food bowls are filled before I go to bed so Twat Cat is not hungry or thirsty. But still, 2-3 times a night, he'll get up on the bed and punch me in the chest or face repeatedly (no doubt thinking "Oi! Stroke me, you fucker!") until he gets a cuddle and I'm allowed to go back to sleep. He's even been known to open my eyelid with a delicate claw, because if the eyes are open I'm obviously awake enough to do his bidding. And I do, because I am daft.

I have a cat. It's how things are .

speakout didn't think my OP was particularly rambly. But thanks for taking the time to tell me you couldn't be arsed to read it. As I've said before there is no barrier between the cat flap and my bedroom door.

If I get up for a piss in the night, my cat comes and sits either on my knee when I'm on the bog or she'll sit on the side of the bath.

Can't believe I originally thought about getting 2.

I think the pp meant she "coudn't be arsed with" the cat waking her up and then used "OP" to mean your name.

speakout I Think I misread what you meant. Sorry for my arsey response.

My youngest cat (1 year old tomorrow!) is like this. She's a ragdoll house cat and very needy. Like a dog she has to be around people all the time. She also will lick you on the face and mouth to get your attention and her breath honks!

chickenvindaloo when I re read the post I realised. I'm very sorry speakout! chicken I am not allowed to close the toilet door. And I am definitely not allowed to have a bath in peace. She will sit on me in the water!!!!

I hate it when I wake up at 2/3 in the morning for a pee and the cats go charging through to the kitchen anticipating food.

porkless does she play fetch? Tinky does and it is honestly adorable. Get the pompoms from Poundland x

Experiencing this with Heidi Cat at the moment. She sleeps at the bottom of the bed all night, usually on DH's feet, but come 5am onwards she starts the kitty hassle.

This is basically standing on our heads meowing furiously, and when that fails and we put the duvet over us, a little paw complete with one claw sticking out of it, boxes us (usually me!) awake. This morning I was boxed in the eye, lip and nose. Purring and kneading my head and shoulders are also common tactics.

Anything to get us awake. Little furry purr box.

Oh and also knocking stuff off the top of the fridge to get to the hidden Dreamies so she can shred the pack open and scoff an obscene amount of treats also seems to be a great wake up call. According to Heidi Cat anyway.

stewpots there is never such a thing as hidden dreamies!!!!

My last two cats both slept on my bed - one like a sort of hat, wrapped around my head and the other at the foot of the bed.

When I started to do a longer commute 'the hat' got a bit insecure and would wake me during the night by grooming my head. The other one would sit on my chest and bat at my moving eyelashes as I started to wake.

I had to shut them out eventually and wore earplugs to block out the angry mewing. They had their revenge when I woke at 5 am one morning to find they had pulled back the landing carpet by my outward opening bedroom door, thus trapping me in my bedroom.

@Tinkofhousepan yes. I'm currently discovering that I may have to get a safe!

A collection of cushions on the bed, to be used to lob at her when she meows. I did that with my offending meower and he learned to wait impatiently for me to wake up normally before demanding food. No way would I tolerate being woken up throughout the night because they felt lonely. He could cuddle up all he liked, but if he clawed me or meowed at me he was turfed out of the room.

Our dreamies are in a tin, in a cupboard they can't reach as we experienced the 'shredded dreamies packet' many a time.

Reading this post- why do we do it to ourselves!