cat question

[thanew]

ok, since I can't register for felineadvice, and it has never sent me my previous activation stuff I must ask a question here, because I am in dire need of help.

my cat, pookie, is an "alarm clock kitty" he runs around a 4:45 am meowing, banging doors with his head, slapping them with paws, meowing really loud and will not stop until my parents wake up.

we thought a new cat would stop it, but it hasn't.. it worked for awhile but then he just gave up.

my parents would leave their door open, but then he does the same thing, except he jumps on them and slaps them a few times, licks them, etc.

hes about 12 years old, is an indoor cat.. hes an orange tabby..

we are just lost, hes been doing this for awhile about 2-3 years now

-thane

 

[Hara]

he is 12 years old, he is not going to change his behaviour. The only thing I would recommend is getting a crate and put a bed in it, crate him at night in a room far enough away from the bedrooms to keep his yowling from waking people up. A small caution with crating...if he isnt used to being penned up, this may prove to be too stressful for him.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Mine does the same thing. Except since we don't have doors (loft apt), he lays on our heads and will lick our faces until we wake up. If we don't get up with that, he will crawl under the covers to the foot of the bed and bite out feet. I used to just push him off the bed with my foot. Now I just get up. I don't know if this is something that can be broken or not. You could try the crate idea, but that might just make him howl like crazy. Then he would be away from his liter box, food, and water bowls.

I've noticed that he doesn't do it as much if I play with him ALOT before bedtime, fill up his food bowl, and give him freshwater right before bed. Have you tried that?

 

[thanew]

yea, we've tried playing with him, him and the other cat play a lot before bed and into the night but then he still waits to wake people up just to eat and then sleep.

but his food bowl is constantly filled, as is his water

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I know how ya feel. When I come home on weekends, I don't want to get up at Nemo's 5 AM wake-up time. Everyweekend I lay there and he wakes me up by licking my face so normally I push him over onto James, but he always comes back to me. So I put my head under the cover. Bad huh. Otherwise I just get up and go downstairs then come back upstairs and go to sleep. I don't know what to tell ya.

 

[Melody]

What about a squirt bottle? When he starts freaking out, just give him a squirt in the side, after a few squirts, he should chill out. If it doesnt stop the behavior, it will make him go give himself a bath to get the yucky human germs off of him...

It works with my dogs, and now I just have to show them the bottle, they calm down real quick. If just straight water doesnt work, add a little bit of white vinegar. It wont hurt him unless you add too much vinegar, and then it will just burn a bit. But just a little bit and it will send him packing to another room...

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I'd never heard of that Melody, adding vinegar. Nemo is so used to being squirted with water (he gets into EVERYTHING and breaks EVERYTHING) that he just sits there and takes it. I'll have to give that a try! How much is too much vinegar?

 

[deli_conker]

Get a shock collar. I know it sounds cruel, but the shock doesn't cause them pain; it's more of a surprise than anything. But as said earlier, not much will change his behavior now especially if it's been going on for 2-3 years.

My cat is at the point where if you show him the squirt bottle, he just squints his eyes at you and keeps doing whatever he was doing in the first place. He'll stop after a couple of good squirts though.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

HAHA, Yup Deli_conker, that's what Nemo does. Squints his eyes and pulls his body down a little bit, but he will keep chewing on the electrical cords.

 

[thanew]

yea.. ive been testing water the last few days.. the sad thing is I think it was all caused from when the newspaper hit the wind chimes outside and it totally messed him up

 

[Menagerie]

I feel for you and your family. We have the smae thing here with our three cats. Squirt bottles did not work, playing with them did not work and trying to put them in a room after they misbehaved only caused them to scatter and at 4 am, who wants to catch one cat, let alone three of them! The solution was simple, the girls sleep in one bedroom and we sleep in the other. They actually have the master bedroom with bathroom, so the litter pan and food are with them

 

[Zagz]

HAHA, Yup Deli_conker, that's what Nemo does. Squints his eyes and pulls his body down a little bit, but he will keep chewing on the electrical cords.

My cats also chew electrical cords. I bought some corragated electrical wire cover to top them. The same kind used in engines of cars. It comes in different diameters and is very cheap from an auto parts store. The water bottle doesn't stop mine from chewing either.

 

[ReefRaff]

My cats also chew electrical cords.

I have a cat that learned a very tough lesson on why not to chew cords. as a matter of fact, H e dislikes shoe laces, string, or anything else that resembles a power cord.

as far as the cat running around at all hrs of the am, I know from personal experience, you get used to it, and eventualy will sleep right thru it all.

 

[DeFeKt]

The only thing I would recommend is getting a crate and put a bed in it, crate him at night in a room far enough away from the bedrooms to keep his yowling from waking people up.

Never EVER tell anyone u do that...
Animal rights will be on you like a tonne of bricks...
Unless, the cat has sufficient area to run/jump/play.
Had a similar situation with a dog.
My boy ben could climb our 8 foot lattice fence and get out the front..
He would only jump when we went out..different situation i know but....
He broke the chain we tied him on, and ended up at the pound.
Anyway, the lesson we learnt, was:
You cannot tie ur animal up for any amount of time, unless it is on a run of sufficient size, that did not restrict the animals daily activity and was in no way possible to wind him/herself around a pole of sorts and choke itself.
Same with a cage, You cannot keep ur animal ,for any amount of time,in a cage unless it has sufficient room and allows his daily activities/exercise...etc
Just food for thought.