what did my cat want?

[NippyDrips]

Mil has rehomed her cat with us. It was all going well, we kept him in for a week then let hun out , he didn't go out for long at first maybe half an hour at most.

Last night about 1am he meowed at the door so dp let him out. Well he wouldn't cone back in, no sign of him. We went to bed and at 5am I could hear meowing at the front door. I went down and let him in.

He ran past me to our room. I had to shoo him out (i am allergic to him an don't want him in my room) he then sat on the landing scratching the carpet and meowing loudly.

He had biscuits in his bowl and water to drink.

What did he want?

Cats are nocturnal, he wanted attention and was annoyed hos servants were sleeping instead of giving it to him

thanks summer I didn't know cats are nocturnal! I wondered why he spends most of the day sleeping under dd's bed, I thought he was just lazy.

Oh dear, so a 5 month breastfeeding baby, 2 kids to get to school and now a nocturnal cat. I am destined to never sleep again.

Don't worry, he'll settle in over time and learn that night time is not a good time to be asking for things.

I'd suggest not responding to him during the night, if he learns you'll get up at 3am to let him in and out he'll assume it's acceptable every night. Try to get him used to the idea that once you go to n eew he has to wait til morning for attention. I'm assuming you have a litter tray for him to use at night, if not, get one. He doesn't need to spend the night coming and going, he just wants to

N eew = bed

We've not got a litter tray, Mil said he was fully house trained and we didn't need one. I will invest in one today, will he know what it is for if he is used to going outside?

Ignoring is a good idea, I will give it a try. He sleeps all dat until the kids come home from school at which point they stroke and play with him, he has his tea and once the baby goes to bed he sits on my lap until my eyes are too streaming. Dp and my brother give him lots of attention too, hes definitely not lacking in attention.

U should avoid him really but he is so gorgeous and affectionate.

Would a cat flap be an option? You can train an adult cat but it would be tricky in your situation as he's used to going out, and obviously you want him to keep going outside during the day, but don't want to be up and down all night petting him in and out in case he needs to pee.

Having a litter tray is always useful. If the weather is foul, he may well start using it - and it's good to have one around if he becomes ill for some reason and needs to be kept inside for a bit.

I'd get one and see how it goes. He should know instinctively how to use it (he may have used one in fact as a kitten) but if in doubt, just lift him into it and scrabble his paws on the litter for a few seconds to give him the idea.

Cat flap's not really an option as we privately rent. I will pick up a tray and see how he gets on with it.

I don't suppose either of you know anything about cat allergy? I only became allergic whilst I was pregnant, I have never had a problem before. Is it likely to go away again?

I'm not sure, I know a lot of people developed s tolerance to their own pet though so in time he may not set your allergy off even though other cats will.

We're renting too so have to have trays. I taught my old girl yo use it as an adult and she's very good now. One tip that worked brilliantly was when she messed somewhere she shouldn't I clearly waned it up so Ty h kitchen roll and put it smelly paper in the tray and showed her. Worked fantastically and she got the idea straight away.

sigh I cleaned it up with kitchen paper

Sorry, on my phone and forgot to check what the autocorrect was up to

Phones always think they know better than us, what we want to say.

I will give that a go then, get a litter tray for night time. Mil used to let Jim out if ur wanted at night but if he didn't come home before she went to bed then he stayed out all night.

I am very impressed that he went out of the back door but came an meowed at the front door to come in. Clever cat eh!

It is bet to keep him in overnight to reduce the risk of RTA.

Dh is allergic to cats but built a tolerance up to him. He does have Asthma now due to him though.

Petal wipes reduce the allergens, the dander will be be everywhere, keeping doors shut won't really help its more psychological.

Try local animal feed outlets for chick crumb, it's brilliant for cat litter,less messy and not as smelly. I love it. Black farm gate has a list of stockists on its website.

I love the name Jim for a cat

Good luck!

Wood pellets are great too, fuel suppliers sell them for wood burning stoves but they make brilliant, cheap and mess free, kitty litter.

Train him to come when biscuits are rattled. then you can let him out shortly before (your) bedtime, and rattle the box to get him to come in when it's time, and then give him a couple of bikkies.

Lots of great tips thanks.

His name is Ben, fat thumbs typing on my phone changed him to jim. I like Jim too, its my dads name though.

Ben is awesome too. I love cats with people names (unfortunately none of my five do as I'm constantly outvoted by the kids!)

A host of sparkles and Mr whiskas for you then? 5 cats is a lot, our one has taken over the house as boss nevermind 5 of them!

Not far off

Yeah, one more and they'd outnumber the humans!

[Smile] well one is enough for me. He is very bossy.