# Kitten / cat training to sleep in bedroom



## reds (Jun 30, 2010)

Our 8 week old kitten has been with us since saturday.

He has been a joy so far. the first night he was confined to his "safe room" with no issues, the 2nd night there wasa bit of meowing but that was it. 3rd night, he worked out how to get over the barrier blocking him in - i put a cupboard in the way, but he still got over it !

So we decided as he was comfortable in the rest of the house, to allow him to roam upstairs with the exception of the 2 bedrooms

Last night he managed to dart into our room before we went to sleep, and hid under the bed where we couldnt get at him - we decided that we would let him stay, we settled, and then he went mental ! we told him no and he settled a bit, but then kept on wanting to play, so we eventually put him outside - where he meowed / scratched the door for an hour or so

at 2am i had to go to the toilet and he was sat out there waiting for me! again he darted in and the whole sequence was repeated

this morning he was asleep outside of the door

We are happy for him to come into the bedroom - but he obviously needs to be settled - would there be any point / is it possible to set him up a little bed in our room - that he can come and go to as he pleases - but make him understand that at night time if he wants to come into the room he needs to use it / not play - or is this impossible ???

any advice is much appreciated:thumbup:


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## kota (Jun 17, 2010)

Everything is possible. You should play with him in daytime and before sleeping until he's getting tired, then (maybe) he'll sleep at night. All my cats know that night is for sleeping, not for playing or hunting, (in spite of the scientists, who say just the opposite)! It's also good to give some food before sleeping.


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## Colette (Jan 2, 2010)

We've gone back and forth a bit with our boys about the sleeping arrangements.

The first couple of weeks we shut them out of the bedroom and other rooms so they only had the hallway, and the living room where their bed, scratching post, litter tray etc are.

Once we were happy that they had settled in fine and were using the tray reliably we started leaving the ebdroom door open.

We lasted a couple of months - but eventually the chronic sleep deprivation got too much and we ended up shutting them out again.
We found that every night, as soon as we turned the last light out, they went totally bonkers - literally charging around doing the wall of death round the flat, fighting eachother, knocking stuff over etc.
they also got into the habit of attacking my OHs feet or arms if they slipped out of the covers during the night.

We decided to give them another chance a few weeks back and for the most part they're fine now. they usually settle within 5 minutes of lights out, and foot-savaging seems to have stopped.
Once or twice we have ended up shutting them out when they refused to go to sleep but they do seem to have got the idea.

I wonder if its an age thing - now ours are about 6 months they do settle much more quickly.


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## shortbackandsides (Aug 28, 2008)

i can never understand the need people have to train their cat to do this and that when they want it towe have had cats for years and never even thought about things like that!! just let him be a kitten,why confine him anywhere we have 2 kittens now who have the whole house 24/7 at night they sleep where they want,we have no hassles or problems,sometimes we have to shove them out of our faces during the night,but thats all part of pet ownership surely.Relax stop worrying and just let things take its course,naturally without you trying to force ityour making pet ownership a task and a chore


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## The Twins (Oct 11, 2009)

shortbackandsides said:


> i can never understand the need people have to train their cat to do this and that when they want it towe have had cats for years and never even thought about things like that!! just let him be a kitten,why confine him anywhere we have 2 kittens now who have the whole house 24/7 at night they sleep where they want,we have no hassles or problems,sometimes we have to shove them out of our faces during the night,but thats all part of pet ownership surely.Relax stop worrying and just let things take its course,naturally without you trying to force ityour making pet ownership a task and a chore


Hang on a min, isnt it about personal choice?? I dont think they're making it sound like a chore at all! I say good on them for thinking things through and asking for some advice on the subject! You make it sound bad thing if someone want to restrict their cat from their bedroom at night time... and confining them to a safe room is absolutely the right thing to do when they're new and little etc.

Mine sleep downstairs, we dont allow them in our bedroom at night time - they are allowed in at other times but not when we're sleeping. They have the run of the house otherwise and are perfectly happy. Part of having a pet is enjoyment surely? And if i wasnt sleeping - and mine would def wake me i am sure of it - alot!, then i would too knackered to function let alone enjoy them and vice versa! There is nothing wrong with having them in a different room to you when you go to sleep. Mine know its bedtime when their lights downstairs go off on a timer around midnight and am sure they play and sleep and play and sleep on and off all night which is great for them.


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## reds (Jun 30, 2010)

we tried having him in after an unsucessful attmept, and last night he was a joy - about 10 mins of running around, and a bit of bed scratching, but he was told no and returned to his blanket by the bed - he eventually climbed up onto the bed with us and settled down - didnt make a sound until 5am - when he went to use his litter tray, then came back up and settled down again - by 5.30 though he was in manic play mode, so we had to pop him outside again to entertain himself (running at full speed from the living room, up the stairs and along the hallway to the bathroom - he seems to love the thudding his feet make on the wooden landing floor - very adorable during the day, but not some much in the wee small hours!)


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## catzz (Apr 8, 2010)

My cats are in and out of our room all night. They seem to have a fairly fixed routine. We go to bed. Gypsy and Kiera follow us. Gypsy goes under the bed and tries to sleep. Kiera wanders round the room for a bit, jumps on the window sill and bats the blind cord. Then she likes to jump on the bed. She does this like a small child would jump on a bed - literally bounces up and down. After a while Gypsy gets fed up and comes to see what her kitten is doing. Then they run in and out of the room for about 10 minutes play fighting. After that they disappear and it all goes quiet. However, they are almost always on the bed cuddled up to each other when we wake up. They seem happy with their routine and we don't mind it either


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## Leam1307 (Feb 12, 2010)

My two stay in the kitchen at night times, its a very large room and they love all the different levels from their bed area to the ironing cupboard, on the units where the oven is and the fridge etc. I sometimes hear them going nuts playing with their bouncy balls. A few times at the weekends or if OH is working late i let them sleep beside me and without fail at 4am they start the antics of curtain climbing, jumping on the shelves above our bed knocking things onto our face, which isnt too safe.

They have the run of the whole house during the day and seem to love our bath for some strange reason, it slopes at one side and they like to fling themselves against it and slide back down towards the plug :lol:

they always seem happy enough and this way im awake enough to play with them in the mornings.


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