Cat keeps attacking me in the night

[MrsSchadenfreude]

He’s an indoor cat and always has been, but goes outside on our huge balcony. He’s always calm and affectionate in the day, but over the past few weeks, he has been savaging me for no reason at night when I am asleep. He’s always slept on a blanket at the bottom of the bed, but recently he’s been taking over my pillow. If I move to the other side of the bed then he follows, and I’m always being woken in the night by him biting my arm. He then glares at me for a bit, I go back to sleep and he attacks me again about an hour later.

I don’t know if he is missing DH, who is stuck in UK? He is the best cat ever during the day, but I am getting seriously sleep deprived due to his behaviour.

Oh dear. He's obviously decided to change where he wants to sleep and you're in the way I get similar behaviour from one of mine, except he taps my arm with his nails during the night and if he doesn't get a response, he does the same to my face. My arm is almost shredded. I have to retreat under the duvet. I don't have any sensible answers for you, other than he might be hungry or want to play? Does he have access to food overnight?

He has access to food overnight, and his toys. I have the cat olympics shortly after I get into bed, and as soon as I turn my light off, he’s on my pillow. 🤷‍♀️

I read somewhere that if you die alone with your cat, the cat will start eating the top of your arm. As that’s where he nips me, I’m slightly worried that he is practising and knows something that I don’t...?

oh no, don't say that. They're too cheeky for their own good

Shut the bedroom door at night or shut him in one room? It sounds as though you are in a flat so can't put him out but the reason I put mine out at night is to avoid middle of the night cat antics.

Have you tried playing with him last thing in the evening to wear him out and get out some of his play energy? My cat gets bitey when she has too much energy and needs a release. One ‘game’ is to catch our toes to make us get up and feed her, but she doesn’t do it if we knacker her out with lots of play.

This is the idle lump of fur. I’ll try playing with him before I go to sleep. His favourite “toy” is the charger cable for the phone, so we can have a go at tiring him out with that.

I know that position!

Make him sleep somewhere else, outside the room.

Have you tried shutting him out? Mine isn't allowed in the bedroom. You get tired of being a spring board.

Shut him out of the bedroom Op. If I don't shut my door properly I end up with a small dog and fat cat sleeping on me

I read somewhere that if you die alone with your cat, the cat will start eating the top of your arm.

Nooo! My darling boy would never eat me.......would he? There's always that slight element of doubt

Is he spayed? If not that may help. Also I second the advice above - if he's being a brat, bye bye he can sleep elsewhere. Our 2yo cat is a brat, he sleeps in the bathroom. One warning, if he keeps it up bathroom for the night it is.

Well the playtime before bedtime went well. Not. He whipped himself up into a mad frenzy, ran around like a mad thing and used me as a trampoline. However, once he had calmed down, he did sleep. On top of me, with his tail flapping across my face.

His litter box is in the en suite bathroom, so can’t really shut him out of the bedroom. On the occasions I’ve tried this, he hurls himself at the door and shouts all night.

And he is definitely spayed!

Mine started biting me at night and I shut her out of the bedroom. I got the digging up the carpet and scratching at the door to get in and the shouting at me.

I kicked the door on my side when the demands to get in started loudly and shouted Shut Up. Repeat as reqd!
She no longer shouts and the digging and scratching was cured by a fluffy cushion on her side of the door that she can knead on. It calms her down and I get peace.
Move your ones tray to the other bathroom or somewhere else and put fluffy cushions or an old folded blanket at your door and see how it goes.

Hmm, the other thing that I find helps to get them away from sleeping on you pillow and body etc is a fluffy blanket on the bottom of the bed that they can knead. Do you have something like that?

That’s his lovely soft blankie behind him...