How can I sleep whilst also helping my little recue cat feel secure?

[stormwatcher]

So, our little rescue cat is home with us and is very affectionate, and already interacting with us even though she only arrived on Friday.
But I have a dilemma-last night she ignored the bed she brought with her that she is inseparable from, seemed to be awake all night, and decided to sit on my pillow whilst making loud vibrating engine noises. That, or sit on a pouffe to stare at me ! 😍
I have to sleep downstairs (open plan terrace) and she has lots of cosy hiding places, igloo etc. and access to the kitchen, but is sticking to me like glue 🐱
Today she has seemed keen to explore the rest of the house, coming and going at leisure. Tonight i decided to set her up in our (small) kitchen with treats, water, scratching post, favourite bed, toys and litter tray as advised by the recue, as she has been used to sleeping in a closed room by herself.
But she is scratching and pawing to get out, and I don't know whether to tough it out, or whether this is distressing for her.
I wonder whether i should have put her things in the long front hall instead, so that she could have the hall, stairs and long top landing to use overnight, then open the living room/dining room door when i get up?
And now she is crying for me :(

Aw, let her in with you. If she purrs on the pillow, try moving her to a slightly less disturbing position e.g. next to you on the bed. Hopefully as she gets more relaxed and used to everything she will not keep up the pillow thing.

<Middle of the night and I have 2 cats asleep on my bed, slightly too close to me>

🐱🐱

Ohhh...I'm so tempted !!!!!!!!
She's a tortie and is very insistent!!!
I didn't try the hall idea as i was worried her little paws might feel cold on the tiles.
And to think I used to be a lifelong dog person x😂

Yes, let her in with you!

Torties are gorgeous.

She's 'imprinted' on you now.

Mine's been here about 10 years, she often sleeps on the pillow next to me or actually on me.

Buy earplugs. And BTW where is your tax payment?

She loves and trusts you. Congratulations on being a cat employee, you now have to let her do what she wants. She owns you.

it’s wonderful x

OP, don't thwart the cat. Let the cat do whatever it wants. This will greatly simplify life for everyone. Picture please.

Surely you have to pay the cat tax, we need a pic op. Also, let her in. As the Borg say, “resistance is futile”.

Well, I capitulated at 4am. No pillows, just vaulting onto the bed, walking all over me and getting her own way. As we speak, my son is feeding her chicken-finally, she deigns to eat !!!
I think we have been assimilated 🐱xxx

Ahhh. She's a beauty.

My cat likes to monopolise my pillow on occasion. She comes in and wraps herself around my head!

You work for her now I’m afraid.

Aww she's gorgeous.
With each of my 6 cats, going back 40 odd years, we have said we would try to keep them downstairs.
Ha not a chance, so all 6 have had the run of the house, and we love it.
She's settled down well by the sound of it.
Welcome to the cat slave world ! 😻

My cat is a pain in the bum at night demanding cuddles and making biscuits on my face at 3am. But there lie little better than waking up to purring cats next to you.

Not quite sure where I'm supposed to sleep.

Bless her.
One of my cats was a pillow sleeper - only my side ever tho. He would drape himself around my head and purr loudly. Sometimes he'd wake and then pat me on the cheek to wake me up so I could stroke him.

He died last year and I miss him terribly. Current cat occasionally jumps on the bed but if you twitch or even blink she's off.

If your cat likes to sleep on the bed with you it means she likes being close to you, and don't you find the sound of your cat's purring very relaxing?

I let my two rescue cats, aged 8 and 6 years when they came to live with me a year ago, choose for themselves where they wanted to sleep but made sure there were litter trays readily available. I would have been happy if they chose the living room sofa, but they both decided the foot of my bed is their place of choice to sleep at night or snooze during the day.
I also have two small dogs sharing my bedroom and the fact that they ve all chosen to sleep in the same room as me means they're happy and like being close to me.

Beautiful girl. I do especially love torties.

Sounds like she’s training you well and that you and DS are fast learners.

Enjoy her.

Aw poor wee thing! It is such a difficult task to train one's humans.

If the kitty wants to snuggle, the kitty wants to snuggle. Cruel to keep them shut away from their human slaves!

Oh, she is beautiful ❤️ I also am a cat slave to a tortie cat & a ginger cat

Nope not me. My cats stay downstairs (open plan kitchen/diner/livingroom) otherwise they would wake me up at 4.30am asking for breakfast. They have food, water, cat flap and litter box. When they were little they'd drove me nuts chasing each other. So door shut and they seem to accept that.

Ours sleeps in the kitchen at night, or she is a total pain - in our bed at 5am demanding breakfast by pulling my hair. She knows the knock-down routine and often goes through when she hears teeth brushing, but otherwise the key word is “beddy bed”, then she trots through and gets straight into her bed.

Yours is a cutie!

Thank you fellow cat slaves 😂She is my first cat employer, so I'm sure I'll have many more questions! She is currently talking to me through a closed curtain so I am about to sneak into bed and see what happens tonight x

I foster cats.
if they choose to sleep on my bed, I know they are feeling secure.
if they insist on sleeping on my pillow, I know that I’m being auditioned for preferred human status. AKA as cat servant…
Dont fight it. Resistance is futile 😻

Look at her peeping around the curtain! She's so cute OP, welcome to being owned by a cat. I rescued Bibi 11 years ago. She was very ill with panleucopenia, was badly malnourished, and had birthed 2 kittens despite still being a kitten herself (teen mum). She tricked me into adopting her by pretending to be the sweetest, most demure little kitty in the world who would never be a bit of trouble to anyone. She dropped this act within twenty seconds of getting home. She is unbelievably intelligent (and this isn't owner bias, my other cat is a dumb sweetheart), charismatic, talktative, bossy, and a massive force of personality. She sleeps on my pillow everynight, taking up most of the space, and when its time for me to get up and serve her, she pricks my nose with her claws. Not hard enough to really hurt, just hard enough that I can't ignore it.