My cat 'grooms' me all night & it's driving me nuts

[Albadross]

My cat is a gorgeous loving boy who likes to be near me whenever he's in the house. He used to be allowed out at night but since the horrible cat killer struck nearby we've kept him in. He likes to sleep on top of me with his face right in mine and he dribbles, which is lovely as you can imagine.

Usually around 4am, the bugger gets up on my pillow, puts his paws around my head (with claws out) and starts ripping my hair out. He's so persistent I have to actually pull the covers up tight over my head (and boil) to stop him doing it and then he'll just sit and wait until I fall asleep again and the covers slip off so he can try again.

Is he trying to groom me but just a bit shit at it or is this something else?

My boy cat is exactly the same, cant get close enough to me and dribbles! On the odd occasion he comes in my bedroom at night at around 3/4 he sits on my head snd does paw my hair although not as rough as yours. I shut him downstairs at night, he is aloud free run of the house except when we are asleep as he wakes us up.

Wear a hat?!!

Put him downstairs?

Shut the door?

He is hungry

I have a cat that does the same. Except it's my face. She once licked my nose so much I lost some skin. It's dementing but lovely at the same time. She's very affectionate.

I have no idea what to suggest. I let cat lick my face for a few minutes and then stroke her head and keep pushing her away from my face until she stops and then she snuggles in under my chin. Still tries to get the odd sneaky lick in though.

This is hilarious, sorry OP.

I know your pain. I let my cat stay in my bedroom once and at 4am (must be the cat witching hour), he did exactly what you describe. I pulled the covers up to stop him clawing at my head and his paw appeared underneath the duvet. He was searching for my face so that he could repeatedly smack it!

You'll note that I said that he stayed in the bedroom 'once'.

Oh dear. I'd swap my catlessness for this any day. I'm sorry. It sounds awful, but I WANT. :(

I've very occasionally locked him out but he just scratches the bloody door for hours! It's not every night, sometimes he's totally fine and just sleeps but other times it's like he's feeding some kind of addiction

MyCats that must've been fun to explain to anyone who asked about your raw nose!

I love him (probably more than is healthy tbh) so I like him being there but ARGHH!

Also embarrassingly i now sleep in the spare room because all three of us in the bed was too much and I'd rather allow the cat in than share with DH

Wear a balaclava in bed? Maybe with a bike helmet on top?

Push him off the bed. My cat gets shoved off several times a night due to her trick if stealing 1/3 of the space despite being tiny and 3kg.

Don't stand for it, and push him away earlier in the night. Encourage him to sleep further down the bed - mine now sleeps on any hand that's out the covers as I used that for redirecting her attention....

And even trying to watch TV. She IS lovely but it's weird. She sticks her tongue into the corner of my eyes.

If I push him away he just resists - I'm usually too tired to keep trying 🤪

Cats are the weirdest creatures

Mine comes in and head bumps me awake at about 4am for a bit of fuss. Once he’s had his attention he will usually curl up and go to sleep for another couple of hours ( and I’ve somehow learned to stroke him only half awake so I can usually go straight back to sleep with minimum disturbance!)
If I don’t respond, however, he ramps up his antics. This usually involves walking all over me, sitting on my head or pushing things off the bedside table. On one memorable occasion he started licking my eyelids- I woke up pretty quickly then!
I’m another one who tried and failed to keep the cat out of the bedroom- after 6 weeks of building barriers so high I could hardly get in or of the room he was still scratching and yowling at the door and I finally gave up for the sake of some peace. I actually quite like my early morning cat cuddles now!
They are definitely very weird creatures 😂

idiotcat does this to dh, but not me. Not even when dh is on nights.

You need to retrain, be consistent and stern!

We have rules...he may snuggle and pluck/paddypaw while I am awake but he can't claw, he can poke to get under the covers if I am asleep but prolonged poking/fidgeting means OUT! He can make a nest on my pillow and snort in my ear, but dribbling is a no no

When I say "HE" I am meaning idiotcat and not dh, just for clarity

The cat torments the living daylights out of dh some nights, but he never tells him off so it's his own silly fault.