Any cat behaviour experts here?

[ImWearingPantaloons]

Recently adopted a three year old tortie from RSPCA.

She wasn't well looked after by her previous owner (no abuse, her owner had MH issues and couldn't cope) and has had many litters in her short life.

She's not our first cat, and we love her to bits, but by GOD her night time habits are killing me.

Used to cats coming upstairs in the night, my first cat used to get into bed with me, the second one lived sitting on the windowsill.

All fine and dandy but this one loves biting my scalp.
She'll nuzzle into my hair whilst purring, then the jaws open and her teeth scrape my scalp.

It's every night, she doesn't do it to my husband (no hair), just me!

Any ideas why she does this (there's no biting in the day) and, more importantly, how can I stop her?

I'm getting really tired from the disturbed sleep

As others have said, she’s a naughty tortie! My tortie does this as well, really hurts as she pulls my hair hard as well as biting my scalp. One of my other cats does it to me as well, so it’s not just torties.

I interpret the behaviour as ‘you ignored my other attempts to wake you up and I know this will get your attention…’. My husband is usually aware of what they’ve done and with us both shouting at whichever cat it is, they go running and don’t come back in the bedroom for a while. Luckily for me it’s not every night now, but it was for a while. I think they’ve both realised that I don’t get up/give them attention etc and instead they get shouted at, so therefore it’s not worth the effort, but sometimes they try it anyway 🤦🏻‍♀️

The only thing I can suggest is maybe a cat feeder going off around 4am with a small amount of food to see if this breaks the cycle with her? It might not be food she’s after though, but could be worth a try.

I have a norty torty .The hair thing is called ‘wool sucking’ .My vet said it is a bonding thing they do like washing a kitten. Lovely no nonsense northern vet who said in all seriousness that the longer the hairs in their ears the naughtier they are… so good luck.

My cat went through something similar. She would wake me up at 4 am every night without fail and would paw at my face until I woke up.
In the end, I ordered an automatic cat food feeder for about £25 from catmate which would open at 4 am. Boom. She stopped waking me up. I just gave her a smaller amount for her bedtime meal and top it up at the 4 am meal. Worked like a charm and I’ll never go back.
maybe you could do something similar for her to distract her at this time, which is clearly her witching hour

She’s just a sweet girl who is still getting used to her new home after a huge period of upheaval and change. Give her a break. If it’s disrupting your sleep, go to bed earlier. When you take on a cat that’s come from a neglectful home, you have to make allowances and be patient.

Try a satin or silk bonnet, Superdrug sell them pretty cheap. It might be your brand of shampoo has an appealing smell to her, so changing brands if possible might help. The same can happen with perfumes or some of the scented washing detergents, something in the smell they get obsessed with. I had a cat many years ago who would curl up in the washing basket if it had fresh washed clothes in it and lick them.

My cat, not a tortie, brushes my hair when I'm asleep and he wants attention. It was sweet at first, 2 years later not so much. It's the claws that hurt!

I can be sat in meetings with him next to me on the desk (he can't sit on the chair next to it) next thing I know out comes the paw and up to my cheek it goes and he starts hitting me. I'm not sure how my boss manages not to laugh.