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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

I don't want to share a bed with my cat!

44 replies

ArabellaBeaumaris · 19/10/2013 08:49

Adopted 2 cats last week. Now they are more settled the younger one keeps trying to get into bed with us at night! He wants to sit on our heads & purr like a motorboat. Is this a compulsory part of cat owning? Our door doesn't have a handle so he is able to push it open! Any tips?

OP posts:

PolterGoose · 19/10/2013 12:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ginformation · 19/10/2013 12:33

The Ginfocats have us well trained too. They battered down dh's resistance within a couple of weeks and now they are a permanent bedroom fixture. If we lock them out they gently scratch scratch scratch scratch at the door.

They have varying favourite sleep spots: in between us, on the window sill, on the cushion, on the pile of clean folded clothes I haven't put away yet... Just have to make sure there is no paper hanging around our we are woken by shredding noises at 4am.

Lillygolightly · 19/10/2013 12:45

My cat used to always want to sleep in the bed with us when we first got her....she was re-homed with us when she was about 2 as I got her from a rescue center.

Now she sleeps in different places, she seems to like the sheepskin rug on the landing and often sleeps there are night. Though I will wake up in the morning to find her asleep on my pillow burried in my hair, I have long hair and she seems to like curling up in it. She purrs like a motor boat too!

I love her to bits, she is the most patient (especially with my 3 year old) and affectionate cat I have ever had. If she could she would spend all day bumping noses and rubbing faces with me

RandomMess · 19/10/2013 12:48

We shut ours downstairs for the night, they don't mind at all - ask to get put to bed some nights as they get a treat of half a pouch of wet food to share

Ours are very very very affectionate and would much rather sleep with us (one goes to bed with our youngest for the evening first and then we put him to bed downstairs) but I'm a ver light sleeper and can't stand it.

SilverOldie · 19/10/2013 15:57

Umm you've got it wrong, they don't share your bed, you share theirs

GemmaTeller · 19/10/2013 19:57

Our previous cat used to sleep in between DH and I, but she used to oh so sneakily push us away until we were hanging off either side of the bed and she was stretched out in the middle,
DH banished her to my side of the bed, where she slept every night with her head on the pillow and her body under the duvet tucked in under my chin, and I mean all night, every night. -when there was, umm, night time activity, she would get off the bed, wait till we'd finished and jump straight back on!

Fluffycloudland77 · 19/10/2013 20:36

Dh reached over to me one morning, got a handful of fluffycat and said is that you or the cat?

TheMoonInJune · 19/10/2013 21:02

Some of these posts are so funny!

Mine are banished at the moment (downstairs in the lounge and kitchen, it's warm and comfy and they have food and water and litter trays. I am exhausted with early pregnancy and I can't cope with being woken at 5 with demands for food.

SecretWitch · 19/10/2013 21:12

Three of my four cats are currently esconced in my bed. I feel safe and warm with my beloved kitties surrounding me. Unfortunately, having three human babies stand on my bladder means at least trip to the loo nightly. You should hear the kvetching from the felines when MamaSecret tries to slide out of bed. One or two usually follows my to the bathroom to continue the complaining..

Original poster

ArabellaBeaumaris · 19/10/2013 21:20

I admire all you cat sleepers & I see the appeal - currently have little black cat purring away on me - but tonight I am going to leave doors open to the spare room (they often hangout there during the day) & dd1's room, & try to wedge our door shut! It doesn't have a handle unfortunately. I relish sleep too much.

OP posts:

Ginformation · 19/10/2013 21:23

'Night time activity'

Our cats are banished for such shenanigans since the infamous spooked cat, claws, dh's arse incident.

YoureAllABunchOfBastards · 19/10/2013 21:24

Mine sleeps between us, curled up by my neck. Little sod.

Ginformation · 19/10/2013 21:25

Reading this thread I am reminded of this old classic

ZebraOwl · 20/10/2013 12:30

Much as I love my cats, they're shut out of my room at night (by means of barricading myself in as my door is also a simple push/pull one, sadly): my disability disrupts my sleep plenty & also means contorting myself round my two cats (in a single bed) would end very badly indeed.

My brother lets the cats sleep in with him (on kingsize bed!) when he's in London; & when he's away working (which is a LOT) they sleep in their beds, which are on the landing outside my room. When it was really hot they'd chase cool spots, so blond!cat quite often slept on top of the chest of drawers on the landing (if my brother wasn't home).

If I'm home-in-bed during the day the cats are allowed in - not least because they'd meyowl the house down in fear if they weren't. (Serious separation anxiety, my cats.) My bed is also a v popular snoozing spot when I'm not home: they'll cuddle together up by the pillows - presumably it's where they can get my scent best.

Definitely one to be decided on a home-by-home (or sometimes cat-by-cat?) basis, I think. Cats need their humans to get enough sleep to function, after all, as well as needing somewhere safe&warm&comfy to sleep.

itsnothingoriginal · 20/10/2013 20:25

Ours has been in the kitchen with her litter tray and bed at night since we got her but last night I persuaded DH to let her out and oh what a mistake...woken up at 6am by her sharpening her claws on the lampshade right next to my bed

She's back in the kitchen tonight

She does get her wet food fix when we go to bed so she puts up with the exile fairly willingly..!!

Original poster

ArabellaBeaumaris · 20/10/2013 20:31

Yup, woken again at 3am by the cat pushing the door open - even with a heavy box behind it wedging it shut! Getting a new bedroom door is on the list but I'm shutting them in the kitchen tonight.

OP posts:

Hassled · 20/10/2013 20:33

Mine have always been shut in the kitchen at night and they don't seem to hate me for it. I herd them in before bed - they know what's going on and trot in quite happily. Much as I love my cats, there's no way on earth I'm sacrificing sleep for them.

Fluffycloudland77 · 20/10/2013 20:51

The key thing is not to go down to them if they start scratching etc. dh does and I always tell him it's the worst thing to do.

moonbells · 20/10/2013 21:18

Awww I have missed having a cat on the bed. Though after getting Mooncat and Moonkitten it's been a bit patchy. Moonkitten doesn't keep still and does the sleeping on head/bouncing round thing to me (but is impeccably behaved with DH). Mooncat just this last week has finally started sleeping on my feet instead of under the bed. Like having a furry half-nelson on them. Can't turn over, but it's a victory (she's finally starting to get more affectionate).
Neither sleep under the duvet though.

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