Our cat won't sleep through the night....

[Reallytired]

L the cat will not sleep through the night. I could understand it when she was a kitten, but she is nearly 3 YEARS OLD ffg. The cheeky moggy demands milk at four in the morning. We have tried offering cooled boiled water but she won't take it. My husband thinks we should put her out the house at night.

I have thought about using controlled yowling, but I am scared it will damage her pschyologically. William Sears, Gina Ford Christopher Green or our health visitor does not have any practical solutions.

L won't tolerate being in a sling. We tried the co sleeping but got bitten by fleas. L is refusing to sleep in a cot. She prefers sleeping on top of the washing machine.

dear god- if anyone on the antenatal threads is overdue invite them over to read this- the babies will be popping out left right and centre

pmsl

snippity - i really think you need some family therapy. add a little feline paranoia into the mix - blech what a mess.

Well... I tried the Clare Verity trick of putting her out in the garden. All she did was go round to the neighbours house.

To make matters worst she got into an awful fight with the neighour's moggy (another pfb) and nearly chewed the other's cat ear off. Then she fished one of the neighbour's fish out of the pond and came home with a tail hanging out of her mouse.

I am at a lost to know what to do about this really aggressive behaviour. Is it just a phase or have I got a cat with special needs? She does not seem to understand the concept of sharing or the feelings of the other cator the wildlife she has slaughtered. I tried to discuss her behaviour with her, but all she did was purr.

Do you think the naughty step is appriopate for a wayward cat? How many minutes should I put her on the naughty step. I know Tanyia Bryon recommends a minute for every year of life. Do you think I use cat years or human years? How many cat years are there to a human year?

7 cat to 1 human isnt it? How old is the offending puss?

The offending puss is 3 years old.

def up for 21 mins on the naughty step, and maybe get Jo frost to come marching down the street in those glasses and hair in a bun, that may do the trick.

also try taking away all his toys and putting them in a container, having a wall chart for good behaviour, so he can earn them back one by one, or failing that,just stick the cat to the wall.

Message withdrawn

And if you really want to piss him off, get one of those 'cats arse pencil sharpeners' where you stick the pencil up its bottom and it miaows as you sharpen. My cat HATES it and hisses and gets all fluffy tailed, but he cannot find the cat to pounce on it!

lol at jo frost ! Perhaps she can come and read the riot act to dh's horrid mog. Or would she end up befriending her and suggesting a star chart and more quality time together ? I can imagine her showing me chucking boots and yelling at aforementioned feline on her lap top ! tsk tsk !

RT - please don't worry about the aggression. The chances are that she does understand the feelings of her victim, it's just that she doesn't care. That makes her a dangerous sociopath, and this is entirely normal. Good luck

well snippety if you go down the jo frost route, dont forget to 'go down to the cats level' and look him in the eye, you will probably get a swipe of the paw across the face, but jo frost NEVER fails! You are right about the lap top, she will be horrified after spending a week in your house, to go away and find you slipping back into your old ways, then click click come those heels of doom back down the road!

I'm a little worried about our DC(at)s friendship choices. she always makes friends with the scruffiest, smelliest moggies in the neighbourhood. Should i change her (cat)school to get her to mix with a better class of mog? we can afford to send her private but worry that this is against our socialist principles. We are devout tantric meditationists and although the village school would be a good choice - i feel they may teach her about other religions [shudder]

I haven't thought about sending our cat to school. At the moment she is home educated. Our cat doesn't seem to mix well with other cats. She tends to spit at them and hiss.

I tried conficating her toys but it didn't seem to have much effect. She played with a live spider instead.

She scratches our furniture and licks her bum repeatly. She isn't speaking yet. Do you think I should contact our GP. I am worried that there is something seriously wrong. Has our cat got OCD? She gets very upset if she gets dirty.

Can I just say. I know I only joined in November, but I would like to nominate this thread as the most entertaining ever to grace the MN forum, website thingy, whatever it's called...

Feeling a bit down, but you have all so cheered me up!!

I am wondering what to name our cat. I do not want a name that embarrasses me when I have to stand in the garden and call him, but at the same time, I don't want all the cats in the neighbourhood truning up at our door.

spamm - please try to stick to the traditional cat names...Tiddles, Fluffy, Ginger etc. Anything else will mark you out as a complete chav.

tiddles - too fat
fluffy - too middle class
ginger - too working class
i'd go for somthing unique like Joan - spelled geowan

pmsl

However, I sympathise cos we too have a dc(at) who won't sleep through the night.

Pre-kids we did co-sleeping with cat and he slept like a baby in our bed all night.
Since ds was born 3 yrs ago the cat started waking at 3/4am and demanding attention.

Both our dc are dream sleepers but the cat we have had to take extreme measures! He is only allowed access to any bedrooms at night!

We also tried controlled yowling, ignoring attention seeking behaviour, naughty basket etc but to no avail.

He doesn't need any encouragement to sleep in a cot, toddler bed, buggy, play gym or moses basket- in fact given the chance he will sleep there most of the day whilst COMPLETELY avoiding any cat nests/cushions/beds I have specially bought for him.

What can you do?

dc(at) doesn't answer to her real name. I think her hearing is selective though, she is convinced that her name is "dinner time"

The problem is that if I shout out "dinner time" then suddenly a dozen moggies appear in our garden.