Need suggestions! Cat scratching at/under bedroom door

[JumpQH]

Help! I have one particular cat that wants to be in the bedroom if anyone else is. Since I work day shift, and my SO does night shift, the bedroom is almost always off limits. We don’t allow cats to sleep with us because of the continuous interruptions. The bedroom door gets closed if either of us is trying to sleep.

Recently, one of the cats decided it would be really fun to scratch at and under the door, making tons of noise and constantly waking us up. I have tried the following with no success:

Putting her in a different room (this led to lots of scratching and very vocal disapproval on her part)

Putting a towel at the bottom of the door (fun new toy for kitty!)

Putting a bath mat at the bottom of the door (great challenge for kitty to see how much mat she could pull out by the end of the sleep period)

Putting padding on the jamb/frame to make it quiet when she DOES play with it

Any suggestions? We need sleep, and at this point, are woken up numerous times every day/night from her scratching and playing under the door!

[Justmyluck]

Yeah I tried all that the cats sleep on the bed now. =)

[JumpQH]

[QUOTE=Justmyluck;7705781]
Yeah I tried all that the cats sleep on the bed now. =)[/QUOTE]

LOL! I have tried letting everyone sleep with me, but I am a very light sleeper, and a cat walking on me or the bed wakes me right up!

[sk_pacer]

I gave up many cats ago - one actually figured out how to turn the doorknob and then shove the door open. The current lot all sleep with me and I never notice if one comes in or leaves except for Spots who thinks she needs to wash my face when she gets in.

[jetsmom]

Scat mat outside door.

[JumpQH]

[QUOTE=jetsmom;7705888]
Scat mat outside door.[/QUOTE]

Oh, GOOD ONE! I hadn’t thought of that! I love COTH!

[saje]

Or one of these:

Sscat spray

Video

[OBXPony]

Scat mat is your last chance, otherwise, you are going to have to bow down to king kitteh :winkgrin:

[JumpQH]

I’ve already tried my local pet store - no scat mats. I saw they had them online at Petco, so I’m hoping they carry them there when I go into town tomorrow!

[Sobriska]

I am also a very light sleeper. Probably why the teeny kitteh that now sleeps on my head even survived, LOL!
I feel for you.
But, IF Cat will actually sleep when it’s in your room, that’s probably a much better solution than trying to keep him out.
Make sure he has been fed and had exercise before you try to sleep with him.
Cats MAY traditionally be nocturnal, but mine sleep the whole night with me, with minimal movement.
Good luck

[JumpQH]

[QUOTE=Sobriska;7706394]
I am also a very light sleeper. Probably why the teeny kitteh that now sleeps on my head even survived, LOL!
I feel for you.
But, IF Cat will actually sleep when it’s in your room, that’s probably a much better solution than trying to keep him out.
Make sure he has been fed and had exercise before you try to sleep with him.
Cats MAY traditionally be nocturnal, but mine sleep the whole night with me, with minimal movement.
Good luck[/QUOTE]

I only WISH mine would sleep when I’ve tried sleeping with them! Instead, it’s a party to them! Very active!

[enjoytheride]

Give up and leave the door open. When the cat tries to play in bed (don’t you go encouraging it while you are in bed watching TV because you’ll make a monster) eject it. hard.

Mine sleeps on my head.

[Justmyluck]

[QUOTE=enjoytheride;7707045]
Give up and leave the door open. When the cat tries to play in bed (don’t you go encouraging it while you are in bed watching TV because you’ll make a monster) eject it. hard.

Mine sleeps on my head.[/QUOTE]

I’ve become the master of the spread eagle move. If you’re fast at it you can clear multiple cats off the bed at once.

[Feliz]

Get a small water pistol and keep it handy. When the cat is making noise outside the door say “SSSH!” loudly, whip open the door and squirt her. Soon just the Sssh! will work.

We adopted an older cat who started the 3am zoomies when we’d had her about 3 weeks. She was allowed to sleep on the bed but she was NOT allowed to run around the bedroom going ‘Mrp!’ ‘Brpt!’ at 3am. It only took 2-3 nights for the Ssh – squirt to work. We did make a big effort to play with her and keep her awake in the evening too, so her bodyclock was set to our hours.

[BigHorseLittleHorse]

SO doesn’t like the cats on the bed at all, so the bedroom is totally off limits in our house. When we bought the current house, we established that room as a no-fly zone from day one – the bedroom door is always closed, regardless of whether anyone is in it or not. For the first few days, there was some door scratching when we were in there, but they gave up after they realized we were just ignoring them.

It might be easier for the cats to understand if you make the room permanently off limits, as opposed to sometimes being allowed in there and sometimes not. My mom swears by the ssscat spray for door deterrence.

[chestnutmarebeware]

What about putting you vacuum right outside the door? Mine won’t go within six feet of it. And you could up the ante by running the cord under the door and plugging it in a few times:D!

[JumpQH]

[QUOTE=chestnutmarebeware;7708644]
What about putting you vacuum right outside the door? Mine won’t go within six feet of it. And you could up the ante by running the cord under the door and plugging it in a few times:D![/QUOTE]

:lol:

I tried to find a scat mat locally, but they didn’t have the right size. I ordered one on line.

BigHorseLittleHorse-that’s pretty much the way it has gotten, since we each sleep at a different time. Problem is convenience - I have to go into the bedroom/bathroom/closet a million times a day (you’d never think you would, but I sure seem to!), and trying to watch for dashing cats is hard! They know all my tricks, jump my legs/feet, and seem to run in EXACTLY when I’m making a break for it!

[Canaqua]

I gave up too. Yowling, tearing up the carpet outside the door, and, we had one who could open door knobs. Even the one from the basement…she’d climb up on the railing to reach it. She slept where ever she wanted…otherwise she’d trash the house. She only weighed 9 pounds, but she had a special super gravity thing she turned on at night in bed, so she’d suddenly weigh 300 pounds and keep me from being able to roll over ;). It was be pinned on the edge of the bed or have her wreck the house.

[BigHorseLittleHorse]

[QUOTE=JumpQH;7708780]
:lol:

I tried to find a scat mat locally, but they didn’t have the right size. I ordered one on line.

BigHorseLittleHorse-that’s pretty much the way it has gotten, since we each sleep at a different time. Problem is convenience - I have to go into the bedroom/bathroom/closet a million times a day (you’d never think you would, but I sure seem to!), and trying to watch for dashing cats is hard! They know all my tricks, jump my legs/feet, and seem to run in EXACTLY when I’m making a break for it![/QUOTE]

haha I hear you! When my SO first moved it with me, the codependent cat took it really hard, because he was used to coming in the bedroom. Lots of whining and scratching. It was much easier when we moved to a new house and could make the bedroom off-limits from day one. Hopefully the scat mat will help you!

[JumpQH]

[QUOTE=BigHorseLittleHorse;7709944]
haha I hear you! When my SO first moved it with me, the codependent cat took it really hard, because he was used to coming in the bedroom. Lots of whining and scratching. It was much easier when we moved to a new house and could make the bedroom off-limits from day one. Hopefully the scat mat will help you![/QUOTE]

Scheduled to arrive Saturday! Yes, my cats are not happy about being evicted since SO moved in, either. SO is also allergic, so it doesn’t help that he lives in a household of cats! They were there first, though!