# Rescue cat "being naughty"



## Fuffybecky (Jan 30, 2011)

This is my 1st post and I know a week is no time at all but my husband is not happy to say the least!!

Issey is 3 and a rescue cat we have had her a week - all is going quite well except at night - she wants to come in the bedroom with us. If we do not let her in the room she keeps trying to open the door by jumping up to the door handle (she can open pull handles - we have door knobs so she can not get the door open) - it make so much noise and she does not stop until I either get up or let her in. The 1st night we let her in she went to sleep at the bottom of the bed - the 2nd time she would not settle and my husband was so annoyed he made her go out of the room and shut the door - then the trying to open the door efforts started again so I had to get up. Does anyone have any advise - we are so tired. 

Husband is saying I need to train her to keep off the furniture and stop trying to get into the room - scratch post worked with the sofas and we have moved the table to stop her climbing on it - now I need advise on the night issues - please help - thankyou - I know its early days and we are all learning.


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## ebonymagic (Jun 18, 2010)

First off, tell your husband he's got a cat not a dog:lol:

You've only had the cat for a week he/she needs to settle in. If you can't cope with being woken up, keep him?her in the kitchen, shut the door, leave loads of toys etc.

Maybe your cat is very sociable and doesn't like being on his/her own, or he/she is like any other cat and more active at night.

I have a young cat, who from the start, has woken me up at stupid o'clock for a fuss nearly every night, sometimes I sleep through other times I don't, but then it doesn't take a lot for me to wake up.

I also have a dog and 3 other cats, if I shut my bedroom door I would have no carpet and pressies in my bedroom some mornings from my dog.

As for keeping the cat off the furniture are we talking all furniture or just the sides in the kitchen?

As I said before, if your OH wanted a dog he should have got one, not a cat.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Hi and welcome.I think you are asking a lot if you expect a cat not to jump up on what ever surface takes its fancy.Why do you want to keep her off the furniture.Do you mean scratching or just sitting on sofa's chairs ect,cos if you do then I dont fancy your chances.As for wanting in to your room she is probably just wanting to be close to you.She has had a lot to deal with recently and cats are very sensitive creatures,so please dont be impatient with her.She needs reassurance,if she is not to be allowed in to your room then can you perhaps put her in the lounge or somewhere that she can feel safe,with her litter,food/water and some toys over night.As you say it is very early days and you all need to learn to get along together.Be patient and you will get there ,but it will take time .


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## NEW2CATS (Aug 28, 2009)

i am afraid there are a few things your oh needs to accept about cats; 

- cats hate closed doors
- cats are active in the early hours of the morning
- cats will jump up wherever they like


my flatmate had a few issues with my cats when i first got them but as soon as he accepted that this was just cat behaviour and not them being naughty he was able to relax and enjoy them


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## TatiLie (Nov 2, 2010)

Welcome to the forum! 
We gave up of keeping Ari (also a rescue cat) off the countertops. As soon as we turned our backs, she would jump there again, and sometimes, she would use the chair I was sitting on AT THE MOMENT to reach them! God knows she would use my shoulders if I got distracted for a second! Now, we just try to keep it clean (nothing edible, dangerous, nor interesting) to make her lose interest. She never climb there when we're present but we know she's been there as we see the paw marks left during the night. You can try the selotape (sticky part out) and tin foil, but I don't guarantee it works (Ari loves to lick selotape and play with tin foil). What I do is to encourage her to play in other areas. She has a play area in the living room, and a box with toys where she spend hours inside. I never disturb her there and always talk nicely when she's there. Positive reinforcement works better than negative (my behaviour analysis professor told me that. I forgot to ask him if he has a cat!)

And about the agitation in the middle of the night, I suggest to ignore her. If you give her any attention, she will do it again and more often!! I would also suggest you to play a lot with her during the time you're awake, so we will be tired and sleep when you sleep (cats need 16-18 hours of sleep per day. It would be terrible if those few 6-8 hours she's up and bouncing happen to be right in the hours YOU should to be sleeping, right?). 

I hope it helps!


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## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

Hello and welcome to the forum and the world of cats
I can only quote science fiction writer Robert Heinlein:
Women and cats will do as they please, men and dogs should relax and get used to it.


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## Colette (Jan 2, 2010)

Welcome to the forum

I sympathise with the night time issues - our two went through a phase of beingover-active all night in the bedroom, then pinging the door handle, scratching and mewing a the door if we shut them out.

We gave up shutting the door pretty quick - it is a lot easier to sleep through a fidgetting cat than the noise from the door handle!

Two things I found effective - ignoring them if they disturb me when trying to sleep. Difficult, and can take time (as the behaviour has previously been reinforced every time you reacted) but the best solution in the long run. And feeding them their dinner much later in the evening, so they don't want breakfast before dawn!

And of course, wear them out as much as you can during daylight hours!

They're far from perfect - but they've improved enough that I get enough sleep to manage.

As for everything else - I quickly lost any pretense at being house proud when I got cats. Everything I own is covered in fur and cat litter dust, and I can't remember the last meal I eat that I didn't find a stray hair in. They jump on or climb everything, and now Bob has taken to sleeping on top of the wardrobe - which is fine until he jumps off onto the bed - and lands on my stomach when I'm asleep! Its not everyones idea of fun, but you do get used to it.


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## Kiwi (Nov 18, 2010)

Don't worry - my hubby was a bit slow to come 'round at first but now he adores our cat and likes nothing more than her cuddling up on the bed or his sofa (just as well because there's fat chance you'll be able to keep her floor-bound). He has also become much more tolerant about her toys scattered about. Maybe your OH just needs a bit more time to bond with her? I agree with ignoring her if she pesters you in the middle of the night - it really does work - although I wouldn't shut her out myself. In the early days (and especially as a rescue), I think she probably needs comforting more than strict training. Hope it works out


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## mrswoodwoose (Jan 23, 2011)

I wonder if giving her something warm to sleep with, like a snugglesafe will help, and also setting an automatic feeder to open at say 5am (seems to me the time when all cats want to eat! LOL) will help?


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## MILLIEMOO (Jan 31, 2011)

Hello! This is exactly like my situation. Poppy was a 6 week old stray kitten with alot of issues. One of them being she liked to suckle and my bf became her adoptive mother. He's never had a pet before so our ideas are very different. He would make her sleep in the living room but I could hear her crying in the night and she would keep trying to open the bedroom door by climbing onto the back of the sofa. I felt so sorry for her but he wouldn't allow her to sleep in his room. So I brought her to my flat (which is downstairs of my bf) and she would go loony in the night and not settle down, jump on my head, bite my feet etc. I basically had 4 months of sleepless nights. But when Poppy was getting spayed, I decided to buy her a big cat carrier to sleep in so she wouldn't injure herself but she would have enough space to move around. I got a bit carried away and the one I have would easily fit a border collie!lol I put Poppy's bed inside, some warm blankets etc. She resisted at first, she wanted to get out of it but as time went on, she got to like it. 4 months later, she still sleeps in it. Its now become her bedroom and she gets put in there at bedtime, usually around 11pm and she's let out at 6.30am. we keep it at eye-level so that she can see us and honestly, it's been a life saver. She's taken to it really well, she's now back upstairs with the carrier in his bedroom!! She even goes in there herself in the daytime for a nap. Crate training a cat, what insanity!lol


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