# Cat scratching outside bedroom at night



## nicolanicola

I've read the other thread abut this problem, but I've tried tiring out my kitten before bed and he'll usually scratch for 5 minutes then wake up at 5am and start scratching again! It's just because he wants to be beside me, he follows me everywhere.

I was thinking of putting something down at the door that maybe would make him stop scratching, a liquid or a smell of some sort that'd put him off. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks


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## Themis

Where does he sleep? Could you not close the door to the room that he sleeps in so that he can't scratch at your door?

I shut my kittens into their own room at night or else they would (well 1 of them would be!) miaowing outside our door all night.


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## nicolanicola

Themis said:


> Where does he sleep? Could you not close the door to the room that he sleeps in so that he can't scratch at your door?
> 
> I shut my kittens into their own room at night or else they would (well 1 of them would be!) miaowing outside our door all night.


No, My house is open plan so I can't lock him anywhere. I do have a porch type area that I put him in before but he went crazy, I could hear him meowing like he was terrified so I let him out.


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## lady_r0gue

Is it a massive problem if he comes into your room at night? If he's on his own without any companion and he's young, he probably just wonders why you're his best buddy in the day and then you go and lock yourself in a room! Our kits often perch on the end of our or our daughters' bed for a little while at night (with the dog) and when we wake up they're usually on the windowsill.. I dunno maybe I'm just too sentimental - I treat them like family which is probably why it often feels like we have a zoo on the end of the bed at night 
If you really don't want him in your room at night and he seems lonely, maybe you could find space in your heart and home for another kitten as a friend for him?


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## smellymelly

My kitten did this lots when we first got him but we got him into a routine, we play with him alot before bed and tire him out then give him his tea downstairs while we go to bed and then i have also put a blanket and a cushion that smells of us outside our bedroom door and he sleeps there, aswell as a little bit of spare carpet that he sometimes scratches. Hes in the routine now that we are in bed and not comin out to play and after a few nites of doing this he was fine. goodluck!


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## nicolanicola

He's got two other kitty friends which is why I can't have them in my room at night because they run around playing, fall asleep, then wake up at 5 and start playing and I get no sleep!

I'll try putting something that smells of me outside my door then, thanks for the advice


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## rachael

Is it possible that he's just seeking more attention? Maybe try 15 minutes of play time before bed?


As far as the smell thing goes I don't know how well that will work.. I do know, however, that cats hate the smell of citrus. 

If you want to try the smell thing then I'd recommend getting citrus scented laundry detergent and wash bathroom rug with it and leave that outside your door. That way it won't be an eye sore or a bad smell for YOU, and your cat won't like it.


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## 1971

I have this 4/5am problem too, we do keep the bedroom door open its the crawling of the bed or playing with my hair that we suffer from!
This morning the cheeky thing actually put his paw under the quilt and was playing with my legs!!!

Anyway op, my friend was telling me that there is some cirtus spray that you can use (natural not full of harmful stuff) that stops them from scratchin - I will try and find out the name of it.


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## miffy

my rascals used to do this too :smile5: Its not amusing getting woken in the early hours.. whatever you do don't go to see or reassure your kitten, as cruel as it may seem if you give the attention they will learn to just keep scratching until you get up, so be consistent! another thing I found works well is spraying something like hairspray or deodorant into the air when they start. Obviously do not spray at the cat. As they do not realise the sound is coming from you it should not cause any negative associations to be made towards you, just towards scratching the door. Good luck, this is definitely worth sorting out early on.


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## thenaughtyfairy

rachael said:


> As far as the smell thing goes I don't know how well that will work.. I do know, however, that cats hate the smell of citrus.


Yes this worked on my cats. When we moved house they took to sitting outside the bedroom door and meowing at 3 in the morning and believe me Fizgig is a loud cat! So my OH thought of rubbing some lemon juice on the door and it worked!


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## jess&tiggy

Our kitty used to do it too and i agree with everyone above. Try spraying something and failing that, ignore them and don't show them attention otherwise they'll expect it each morning at that time! 

good luck x


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## fluffosaur

To stop them ripping up the carpet put down a doorstop that runs the length of the door, they won't be able to get at the edges then.

I found that a quick spray with a water bottle soon discouraged this behaviour.


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## sootisox

Thats my boys trick ... pulling up / fraying the edges of carpet and lino etc. The only thing thats worked so far (after having the carpets replaced:huh is buying some rubber car mats out of the pound shop and placing these under the bedroom door ... he'll have a go for a few minutes trying to claw his way into the bedroom and then gives up. My carpet has thanked me lol. It doesn't look too pretty, but then neither does pulled carpets - we remove them temporarily if we have guests over. We tried bathroom mats outside the door but these get pulled out of the way before he starts on the carpet. Rubber mats seem to be too heavy / bulky for him to move. Good luck!


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## buffie

loanne said:


> hey guys I've recently had problems with my cat scratching my furniture. She's been scratching our sofa's making them look old and unattarctive. I heard that 'www.soft-claws.co.uk' could stop this problem. Is this so? Has anyone else heard or know about softclaws?


Heard of them and there have been many discussions about their use.Personally i would not use them,Does your cat have plenty of scratching posts ,vertical and horizontal .Cats come with claws and it is a side effect of being a cat slave to have the odd scratched piece of sofa,carpet ect.Is your cat an indoor cat or one with outdoor access.You could try something as simple as clipping the sharp tip of the claws.There was infact a thread just yesterday on this subject.Heres the link to it http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-chat/176243-omg-i-have-literally-seen-all-now.html


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## buffie

loanne said:


> *no I don't actually, I might go and buy some *but then again my friend keeps pestering me, saying soft claws is the one for me... I might buy one aqnd see how it goes.


A cat needs to be able to "scratch" it is a part of its natural behaviour.If your cat doesnt have anywhere appropriate to scratch then how is it supposed to fulfil this need.It is not surprising that your cat is using your furniture.You havnt said whether your cat has outdoor access if it does you cant use these soft claws .


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## Faerie Queene

sootisox said:


> Thats my boys trick ... pulling up / fraying the edges of carpet and lino etc. The only thing thats worked so far (after having the carpets replaced:huh is buying some *rubber car mats *out of the pound shop and placing these under the bedroom door ... he'll have a go for a few minutes trying to claw his way into the bedroom and then gives up. My carpet has thanked me lol. It doesn't look too pretty, but then neither does pulled carpets - we remove them temporarily if we have guests over. We tried bathroom mats outside the door but these get pulled out of the way before he starts on the carpet. *Rubber mats seem to be too heavy / bulky for him to move.* Good luck!


Thank you for this super idea. 
Why it's never crossed my mind before, I can't imagine!


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## gloworm*mushroom

This thread confuses me!


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## buffie

gloworm*mushroom said:


> This thread confuses me!


GWM go back to my post.Read the "quote" it would seem that loanne was either trolling or "selling" soft paws,she has I think now been removed.At least all of her posts have on the various similar threads she "dug up"


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## gloworm*mushroom

I was getting so confused cos I couldnt find the quotes and the threads so old! Very random!


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## nicolanicola

Just to update this thread with what happened.

I couldn't get him to stop so I eventually nailed down a piece of laminate flooring over the carpet against the bedroom door. That stopped him scratching. However, when I moved out and pulled up the laminate, my landlady deducted £100 from my deposit because of the damage he had done to her carpet :frown2:


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