Please help! Cat wakes us up and keeps us awake almost every night starting midnight-4am! We're so tired!?

Question

One of us has a minor pet allergy so we keep our bedroom door closed to minimize pet allergens in our sleeping area. However, starting about a month ago and each and every night since, our neutered 4 y .o. cat starts scratching our door starting any time between 12-4am, continuing NONSTOP until morning. As a kitten he was disciplined with a water spray bottle but no amount of spraying, or presenting him with that intent, has curbed this new behavior. I lined the door with fabric but he clawed through it until the wood was reexposed. The layout of our small condo provides only 2 rooms where he could be isolated overnight. One would keep our child awake, the other is nearby enough so his scratching to get out would be heard by all. Until recently this was never a problem so we don't know what started it. We give him lots of love every night before bed. Please, we need other ideas! And please, no uproars about the spray bottle. This is documented, safe discipline for cats.

He is not the only cat in the house, he actually has 2 sisters (littermates) who were adopted along with him 4 years ago, to keep him company. They are like 3 Musketeers. It probably sounds crazy given the allergy issue but they are pets from a previous relationship and the allergies are not so bad that it's unlivable; it just makes for a better sleeping environment without all the fur on the bed!

He has access to the other bedroom and can sleep there if he chooses. He just chooses to scratch our door, instead.

Answer 1

I will type slowly so you will get the message. Get rid of the cat.

Answer 2

Kitty is lonely - perhaps acquiring a little friend for it would help - personally I've always believed in having two kitties together.
If you can't get another kitty, you may have to tackle the problem from a different angle by addressing the allergy issue. There are plenty of effective treatments for allergies.
* An interesting note here - I once knew a person who would visit us sometimes - she was always saying how terribly allergic she was to cats. One day I wasn't home when she came over. She went to sit down, asking my husband which chair the cats never used. He pointed out the one that they always used, and she sat in it. She had absolutely no reaction at all, then or later. The fact was, she just didn't like cats.

Answer 3

I think your cat is just lonely. Could you have the person with the allergies take a Benedryl one night and then let the cat in your bedroom to see if he would sleep on your bed? Or if your child is old enough, you could let the cat in and let him sleep on that bed. Leave the door open when you go to bed and see what he does. Leaving the door open gives him the choice of coming in or not.

My cat sleeps on my bed every night. Cats are very social animals, and I think he just needs some company.

Answer 4

I can't believe someone else in the world has this problem.
We try to keep our cat awake all day so that he'll sleep all night, but sometimes that doesn't work. I remember one day he tried to sleep but I kept him up all day, until we went to bed, he was laying on a chair and had just fallen asleep. I looked at him, he was dead asleep. I turned the TV off, 2 seconds later I heard him jump off the chair. Needless to say, he kept me up all night.
As cats get older they start to see badly in the dark. Try getting a night light or leave lights or a TV on. He probably just gets lonely at night. I'm assuming getting him another cat is out of the question. My fiance has bad allergies too. Plus we took in another cat for a month and it didn't help at all, instead of meowing and scratching we heard them fighting all night

I say try and keep him awake during the day and see if it helps. If that's not a possibility, and you have the money for it, try bringing him to Petcetera, they have a day care program and might be able to help keep him awake all day.

My cat also persuades me by falling asleep in my arms and I can't help but smoosh him.
If you find the solution to this problem, I really hope you post it here.



EDIT
Not all alergy treatments work. If he has little friends he might just miss you at night. Some people get over their pet allergies after a few months, if he hasn't gotten over them yet, maybe have him take allergy pills, maybe it'll help, but like I said, not all do. Maybe the cat just wants to know where you're going?

Answer 5

Could you possibly train him to sleep in a crate at night? Or if he is a completely inside cat get him de-clawed?


I have decided to edit my earlier comment after reading some of the others.

1. I am not the same person as the top two, I would never suggest killing or getting rid of an animal.

2. Many vets suggest crate training or de-clawing inside cats. I did not agree with de-clawing until I lived with a cat that had been de-clawed. He still pawed at furniture but did not tear them up. He could still catch things because he had compensated with paw strength, this cat's paws were incredibly strong. He still went outside and was perfectly fine, I live in the country and he was still perfectly fine. He is a loving, friendly, huge, cuddly, neutered, energetic cat that just happens to not have claws.

Many cats carry virus or bacteria under their claws and being scratched by a cats claws can lead to infection. De-clawing an inside cat is not cruel. De-clawing can be a better choice than to medicate someone un-needed for allergies and by un-needed I mean when there are other alternatives.

Answer 6

^ That is terrible!

Have you tried putting tin foil or another material that annoys him? Have you tried a clicker? The spray bottle has always worked for me but I guess every cat is not the same. Maybe he is needing a little extra attention before you go to bed at night.

Answer 7

he/she might be hungry at that hour. maybe keep a bowl of kibble in your room as soon as you here kitty fussin, opne the door, place bowl of kibble outside of the door. once kitty is fed kitty should go back to sleep as normal cat pattern is after eating they're too exhausted to do much else!

I have a cat that does what we call "making biscuts". He climbs up into bed and kneeds on you until you wake up and feed him. Its CLOCK work at 4:45am. If we ignore him he goes through the house and knocks things over.

Answer 8

Get some cat repellent from a pet store and spray around your door at night. He wont want to go near it.

Answer 9

try cat repelent spray or fix tin foil up near bedroom door to stop scratching,leave dry food out at night try playing with before bedtime to tire out

Answer 10

Have you heard of those sticky pads that you put on your furniture to stop animals from jumping on the couch? Get some of that and tape it to your door, they hate the stickiness... If he felt it stick to his paws then maybe he will hate it enough to not wanna touch the door. Good Luck!!!

Answer 11

play with your cat at the morning... so thatyour cat will not sleep at the day and it will sleep at night.....