Attention-seeking cat driving me bonkers - any advice?

[chollockbops]

Hello,

I love my cat very much BUT she is driving me up the wall at the moment. For the past couple of days particularly, she has been constantly under my feet, purring and yapping, begging for food and looking for attention. At night she is barging through our closed bedroom door to come and sit on my head, several times a night. This would be more endearing if I didn't already have a 1-year-old who wakes several times a night too, and who she often manages to wake up when relentlessly throwing herself against the door...

In case a bit of background is useful, she's a rescue cat, moggie, and we reckon about 3 years old. She's quite a fatty - we've tried cutting down and changing her (dry) food but it doesn't seem to make any difference. She has a catflap and can come and go as she pleases but doesn't seem that bothered about going out these days.

She did have quite a personality change after the baby appeared, going from quite an unsociable, skittish but energetic cat, to a very friendly girl who just wants to be around people. She also got way more interested in human food...

Anyway, any advice would be much appreciated! My husband keep telling me just to give her a slap, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Difficult one. I've always had Siamese and that's what they're like. Try letting her actually sleep in bed with you?

Maybe someone else can advise,

You cant slap her! thats just mean.

Do you have a downstairs lockable room? we lock ours in the conservatory overnight in the summer. Maybe a utility room? you can get locks from amazon that people use when travelling to make hotel rooms more secure or even just a simple bolt to contain her.

As with cozie, I got a breed of cat that is specifically energetic and attention-seeking, so to me your cat sounds lovely.

Why can't she come in your room at night? If you refuse to let her in, then you'll have to shut her in a different part of your house, so that she can't open your door, and wake your son.

What kind of stimulation are you giving her? Does she like to play with fishing rod type toys? If you can't tire her out through play, another thing to try might be food mazes. You can buy them online, but I make my own out of empty cartons and boxes. For example, cut several holes in an empty coke bottle, and then filled it with dry kibble. The holes are just big enough that when the cat rolls the bottle along the floor by pushing it, a piece of kibble will fall out. You can start with bigger holes as your cat is learning how it works. This way your cat is working for it's food, both mentally and physically.