Putting Cat Outside Room at Night

[Anonymous]

I adopted a cat this summer and I love her to bits. She just recently started sleeping in our room in the fall. At first it was uneventful but the more comfortable she got, the more she started acting up while we were sleeping. Walking on us, licking/pawing our hair while we sleep, meowing, etc. I finally started putting her out in the hallway but she whines/meows even more loudly and will often start trying to open the door. It's only been a week or so of this, but I'm wondering if it gets better. At first I assumed to just let her "meow it out" so to speak, but the meowing is incessant. Even right now she is meowing loudly outside the door and I'm worried she's going to make herself hoarse.

[Anonymous]

She’s gotten used to sleeping with you and is now lonely. I have two cats. One is like yours and can be relentlessly insistent, particularly during the night. Giving her dinner and her favorite junk food treats right before I go to bed helps the majority of the time. I think she sleeps better on a full belly. Locking her out doesn’t help as she just gets more desperate at the door. When I had a house, I could put her with tasty wet food, water, litter box, and cat cave in the office and she’d be happy. After downsizing, we don’t have that option. I occasionally spritz feliway on top of the comforter — only by my feet — and that helps.

[Anonymous]

Cats are nocturnal and she doesn't understand you aren't too. The best solution is probably to get another cat so she has a playmate at night.

[Anonymous]

Nope. If you lock a cat out from a room, she will be hyper focused on getting into the room. It’s a game, a challenge, a puzzle, and cats know when something isn’t the way it used to be and enjoy routine, so it will continue to bother them if it is a typical. If you leave your room open, she will get bored if you don’t give her attention at night and go somewhere else.

Also, my cat tends to do things in cycles. He will sleep on our bed for three weeks straight, and then will move to the couch in the living room for the next three weeks, then to an easy chair in the guestroom etc. It may be short-lived!

[Anonymous]

Our cats sleep in the basement for this reason.

[Anonymous]

Let the cat back in. The meowing will not stop and your cat will be very sad. Treats/food before bed will give cat a full belly and some sleep time. Or get another cat for company and you will not be the source of play overnight.

[Anonymous]

Let her back in, but ignore her. It's difficult, but you have to really try to ignore her.

It took time, but my young cat learned this and now sleeps on the bed through the night. She's SO much more respectful of my sleep, although occasionally she still attacks my hand if it's outside the covers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I adopted a cat this summer and I love her to bits. She just recently started sleeping in our room in the fall. At first it was uneventful but the more comfortable she got, the more she started acting up while we were sleeping. Walking on us, licking/pawing our hair while we sleep, meowing, etc. I finally started putting her out in the hallway but she whines/meows even more loudly and will often start trying to open the door. It's only been a week or so of this, but I'm wondering if it gets better. At first I assumed to just let her "meow it out" so to speak, but the meowing is incessant. Even right now she is meowing loudly outside the door and I'm worried she's going to make herself hoarse.

You have to stick it out and not let her in. I had a cat that would throw her body against the door. She eventually stopped when we did not crave. The cat will not meow herself horse. She will give up but, you have to be tough. My cats can sleep with me while I take a nap and are fine but, they are nocturnal and are horrible when we tried it at night. So they lost that privilege. No dogs in bed either.

[Anonymous]

You can’t lock a cat out. They will spend eternity making your life miserable. You can’t lock them in either. The cat makes the rules. If you want quality of life, you obey. Even my German Shepherds defer to the cats. They run this place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can’t lock a cat out. They will spend eternity making your life miserable. You can’t lock them in either. The cat makes the rules. If you want quality of life, you obey. Even my German Shepherds defer to the cats. They run this place.

So NOT true. My cats do not sleep in my room. We lock them out all the time. They adjusted. You can do it, Op

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

OMG my cat sleeps locked in her house at night. She would keep me up all night if she could. Cats are nocturnal animals.

[Anonymous]

We trained our cat to stop this night time behavior. It can be learned.

We put her soft bed, a bowl of water and a litter box in a bathroom and put her in there overnight. ONLY if she was acting up in our bedroom - biting big toes etc.

It didn't take many sessions in the bathroom for her to figure it out. Maybe 3 non-consecutive nights?

Good luck, it can be unlearned, you just have to be firm (but kind).

[Anonymous]

I don’t allow cats into bedrooms, and we keep the doors closed for this reason. Op, absolutely close your door and don’t let the cat in. The first few days / week she may meow and try to get in, then will find another place.

[Anonymous]

Don't be beaten by a cat OP!

I had two young cats once that I used to let sleep on my bed. I have asthma and allergies so it had to stop. I simply locked them out of the room. They got used to it and I never felt bad about it because they had a nice big sofa to sleep on.

I would like to add, that when I was a child in the UK, my family had a cat that would voluntarily sleep outdoors. It would wait by the backdoor to be let out in the evenings, and we often wouldn't see it again until the next morning. Cats are more resilient than people think.