To be considering rehoming my cats?

[nationalshirehorse]

I know I’m going to get hate for this but please hear me out.

We got two kittens in the autumn. We live rurally and a derelict farm by us was discovered to have a cat and four kittens. I managed to find a home for two kittens and kept the other two and I now really think that this was a huge mistake.

They are lovely friendly cats but it’s the sleep issue. We have young children, aged four and one and the one year old generally doesn’t sleep through. I have to keep the cats downstairs as otherwise they charge round upstairs and also if I get up to go to DD they then thunder around expecting food.

So what they have started doing now is making an absolute racket downstairs until someone me goes to feed them. They have dry food and water and a litter tray but they bash themselves against the doors so that they shake and rattle. I know it would probably be best to ignore this but I can’t have them waking the whole house up. This used to be just in the morning at around 6 which I didn’t really mind as it isn’t that far off when I’d be getting up anyway but then it was getting earlier and earlier 5, then half four, then four.

Last night they would not settle at all and I was up every couple of hours with them. It was awful and it’s so difficult to get back to sleep afterwards.

They have been to the vet to check they don’t have a thyroid issue as I know this can cause excessive hunger but they are fine. Plus they do have dry food so they can’t be all that hungry.

DH wants them gone; he’s absolutely fed up of it and I have to admit I am as well. It’s one thing to have bad nights with children but with the cats combined I’m barely getting three hours some nights.

I don’t know if anyone has any suggestions. I have tried putting them out but they yowl under my window so that doesn’t help!

Sometimes this is the case a family friends cat kept getting fatter so they put him on a diet so he starting hunting his own dinner =p

This is what cats do, mine use to scratch the bedroom door early in the morning to get in. Cute little creatures just want company

Shut them in a downstairs bathroom or store room (but make sure they can't damage anything in there).

Wedge the door.

Shut all other doors so you can't hear them.

Eventually they'll outgrow it.

But don't EVER reinforce the behaviour by going to them/feeding them. They're intelligent animals and it'll encourage them.

If you could have homed them, you'd have done it as kittens. Few people will want demanding adult cats.

Leave out food for them in the night but do not go down to them to top it up. Otherwise they are training you to feed them whenever they make a racket. Cats are really good at training their humans.

Timed feeder to release food at intervals so they don’t eat it all at once?

Vigorous play with a feather wand or other chase toy before bedtime.

I’d explore the outhouse option for the time being.

I do this in the summer

They sound semi feral so I would be making a cosy home in a shed with a cat flap so they can come and go at night without disturbing you.

Get an automatic feeder and time it for whenever they're causing an issue. Shut them somewhere you can't hear them. Kittens do grow out of it. Also don't go to them, that will reinforce the behaviour. They will eventually adapt to your routine.

We have a 6mo kitten, and at first he'd be waking up to play overnight, but he sleeps through now and has adapted to our routine.

I’d put them in an outhouse overnight, comfy beds and some food and they’ll be fine!

This sounds like adolescent cat behaviour. Ours have done the same over the years, but outgrew it eventually. They were worse with the lighter mornings and nicer weather.

If you've got up and fed them when they start making a noise, then I'm afraid there's also an element of training involved (yes, cats can be trained). If they get fed/ attention every time they make noise, then of course they'll wake up earlier and earlier.

Cats are actually creatures of habit who do well with routine, over time they will adopt the routines of the household. There will be times when they wake up because they think it's wake up time (especially if you have young dc who are awake early) but you either learn to live with this, or you don't.

Tbh, if you've got your work cut out with young dc then you probably don't have the time or the energy to train and socialise the kittens. It doesn't sound like you view them as part of the family (which ours definitely are! We wouldn't be without them) and your dh has made his feelings clear. Take them to a proper rehoming place. If they're friendly, they'll get snapped up by someone more suited to them.

@nationalshirehorse Re worming- assuming you are up to date with this?
A friend has what was once a feral kitten, and she only lives indoors.

She used to go absolutely nuts at night, and passed a poo that was writhing with roundworms.

She wrongly assumed that the rescue place would have wormed her , and then thought as an indoor only cat that she wouldn't need regular worming.

Once she was appropriately wormed, she calmed right down.

Indoor cats are at risk from worms, too.

We adopted a kitten who had been a stray so I feel your pain. She would scratch at doors all night and keep us all up.

We had a week of her scratching in particular at my youngest son's door, waking him throughout the night. He literally wore ear defenders for a week so he ignore it. She learned not to do it.

We keep all downstairs doors open at night, but kids doors shut upstairs, mine open. She has learned and usually zooms around for a few.minutes, goes in and out the catflap multiple times from 10-11pm, then curls up in her basket.

I try and give her some kind of real food leftover if we've had plain fish or meat, as this fills her up much better than pouches. I do this last thing and usually mix it with a pouch.

When she was a little you her we used to play a lot in the eve ing with fishing rod toys and a table tennis ball was a big hit and very amusing.

We all sleep fine now, no ear defenders needed for anyone. She's either asleep on my bed when I wake up or sitting patiently outside my youngest son's door!

Have you tried a timed feeder? We have one that you can put an ice pack thing in (they come with it) so wet food will stay cold. We also use a puzzle feeder, but more if we are out through the day.

Our cat is shut in the kitchen overnight or he would be a total menace when the sun comes up. We have a religious “closing down” routine and he knows the cues it’s bedtime. He will often take himself off when he hears tooth brushing etc. In the morning his audio cue that it’s time to get up is the bathroom light/extractor fan going on - if you get up for a wee in the night he doesn’t bother because we either don’t put the light on at all or use the mirror light.

Could you get a timed feeder and give them some wet food overnight?

Mine are almost 10 and are still like this. They have a cat flap, they have food later on in the evening but they are still nocturnal. They are locked downstairs or they will run around upstairs and have this awful habit of clawing at our face to wake us up! Unfortunately, they now claw the oak doors to shreds. I have tried using foil on the doors, they bash it off. Tried all the sprays, they don’t work either.

I will never get another cat. They drive me absolutely nuts.

Just to say I feel for you and can relate! We took in 2 kittens and a mother cat as they were strays. Have two small children and its either the cats or the kids that are keeping us up - feels like a lot of stress but am hoping that when the kittens are old enough to go outside it will help... good luck!

Sachets are expensive relative to tins and such a tiny amount in them. Try switching to tins and putting a whole one down at bedtime. Then timer feeder to give another in the am.

Also, leave cat flap open

i used to make sure I locked mine in in evening, but as time went on they just refused to come home on time or would start scratching door at 4am or run around house cause chaos. From about 2 years they had the freedom of the cat flap just open, and it was much calmer as they would come in on own accord and then back out at 4-5am even if just 10mins

If yours are causing so much stress now, I would just leave the cat flap open.

The rescue place probably did worm them, but if she was a stray they may have had a bad case. The little guy I have now had treatment before he came into foster with me, his appetite was insatiable and he had stinky poos. Anyway he then had a spot treatment again and another more intense treatment which caused him to vomit up worms as well as poo them out over about 3 days. He then still had a poorly belly and had to be treated again, this is since Dec! His appetite has improved greatly but like I said on earlier post he is on 2 little tins of higher quality and then has Royal Canin dry and his behaviour and food intake is so much better.

Could you get an automated feeder that gives them wet food early in the morning?

We switched to feeding our cats with an automated feeder - it seemed to remove the association between us and food so they stopped hounding us to feed them/ meowing at our ankles. They just hover hopefully around the feeder instead

my 17 year old used to eat eight of those sachets a day. I switched to high quality tins from zooplus. He still supplemented his diet with rabbits and squirrels. I’d find rabbit feet and bladders on my kitchen floor when I came home from work. He is still as lithe as a wild cat so I guess he needs all that protein. When he last went to the vet (for antibiotics from a fighting wound), the vet said he was in amazing health. He also would only eat dry food if he was desperate. My other cat only eats dry food and certainly looks less muscly so I don’t think it’s a great diet, even though we buy him the good stuff.

If the cats are very active, they need more food than you think.

I don’t think it sounds great for the cats or you tbh. I don’t think YABU at all but as a cat lover, in his shoes I wouldn’t move in with you.

If you are both intent on moving in together, then I think it is best if he rehomes them. They will not like living with your dog, in a noisy house with no escape.

Oh somehow my post is on the wrong thread!

Jackson Galaxy website may have some ideas to help