Any Cat Owners Here?

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CROWNVIC4LIFE

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In March I become owner of a 9 year indoor declawed cat after the owner died..He is overall a good cat..The only issue I have with him is as soon as I go to sleep [everynight] he starts crying..He gets on the bed then jumps off and continues crying..I have to lock him out of the bedroom everynight..He cries outside the door for a few minutes then blunders off..I am worried about neighbors complaining as he cries loud at times.

He has fresh food and water 24/7..His box is kept nice and clean and the house is a cool 72 degress..He has run of the house.

If does not stop crying I am thinking of finding another home for him or putting him in a shelter..I do not like the idea of any of those things.
During the day he is overall quiet but sometimes likes to talk a little.

He is happy when I get home in the afternoon as his tail is up the air bulk of time when I am there..Especially when I give him his daily back massage..

Any help to keep him quiet at night would be great.

Thanks in advance.
 
I have 2 cats and have had cats my entire life. They need 4 things (like most guys!): 1) food and water, 2) a nice place to go to the bathroom, 3) a nesting place to sleep, and 4) the ability to excersize and kill prey. It sounds like you have 1 and 2 covered. For 3 and 4, I'd try getting him a cat bed. Try feeding him near the bed in the evenings so he gets used to it. As for 4, cats need to play often and providing them toys to play with will solve many of the problems you have. Try buying a laser light. I bet 10 minutes of play with a laser in the evening before you go to bed will wear him out and he'll go to sleep.

Don't even mess with expensive cat toys (except the laser light). I've found the best cat toy is a rolled up piece of paper! My cats will bat them around like crazy but they ignore all the store bought toys. You might try some catnip filled toy mice though; my cats somewhat like them.
 
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I have two cats as well. I've had cats my entire life too. I'm just not a dog person at all, but I don't mind being around dogs. What kind of cat did you get? Don't be so quick to give him up, they need time to adjusted new surroundings.
 
I've had cats all my life and just recently "adopted" a spry 2 year old.

It does sound like he wants to play. Remember, you are his "family." The laser might work or I just have yarn on a stick that my cat goes after. The cat may be "lonely" and looking for you.

The other thing you can do is nothing. Once the cat realizes that you aren't going to do anything, including getting up and closing the door, the faster it should stop meowing. By getting up, you are reinforcing its behavior.

Please don't bring him back to the shelter. Give him some time to adjust. With the economy as bad as it is the shelters are getting full.
 
Originally Posted By: CROWNVIC4LIFE
In March I become owner of a 9 year indoor declawed cat after the owner died..


I've had cats most of my life. They often become very attached to "their people." The crying may be the cat mourning his loss.

Two of our cats gets really mopey when I go out of town on business. When I get back, they are mad and then forgiving. It's wild - if I had not experienced it myself, I'd never believe it.

thanks,
ben
 
I'm guessing that his previus people had some sort of routine at bedtime and he misses it.

Meet Rex. I got him used from the pound. His original use was to be a mouser but he's afraid of mice! He does not like it when I take a shower. he sits at the door and screams bloody murder until I come out.

If he wants to go out side or eat you get 2 warnings. The first one is that he will walk up to you, go MAAAWWWRRRR, then turn and go to his dish or the door.

His 2nd warning: He walks up to you and bats you with his paw, then walks off to the door or dish.

If you don't do what he wants this time he will walk up to you, grab your leg with his teeth and try to drag you to the door or food dish!

0526001743.jpg


1208111802a.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: BrownBox88
I have two cats as well. I've had cats my entire life too. I'm just not a dog person at all, but I don't mind being around dogs. What kind of cat did you get? Don't be so quick to give him up, they need time to adjusted new surroundings.


This.

We adopted a rescue cat about 6 months ago. When we first got her she was very skiddish and it took her about a week to even warm up to us. At night we would all go to bed and it would be quiet. She would get lonely and do the same as you describe, just cry all night long. At first I shut her in my room with me. She was quiet when in the same room as me. Gradually I started letting her out at night and now she lays in the kitchen most of the time and never makes any noise.

Cats are very alert and like to know what is happening, including where you are. Try shutting him in the room with you so he knows where you are.

Also, like said above the shelters are getting full. If you give him to a shelter he will likely be put down if he isn't adopted soon.
 
He's probably a bit spoiled. Use the miracle of modern technology to provide some background noise so you can ignore the meowing. Eventually he'll learn the new way of things.

Get a nerf dart gun. Blast him mercilessly for a half hour before you go to bed and after that with any luck he'll just be so happy and proud of himself for living through it conquering you that he decides to make a quick patrol and then nod off himself.

You could also get a small dog with with a furry tail. Dog tails are the most captivating cat toy ever invented. I suspect one of the reasons god gave dogs tails is so that cats will never be able to team up and annihilate the human population.

A frolicat might work as well as a dog tail for a few days and without the long term commitment, but it gets old fast unless you're lucky enough to have a stupid cat.
 
Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
skiddish


Is this what happens when cats don't have traction control?
grin.gif


Most of ours are rescues. They were all very skittish when we first got them, but they get used to you and you get used to them.
smile.gif


thanks,
ben
 
A cat bed does not have to be anything special, could be a towel or something like that.

I just had to pay big $$ to have an eye removed from one cat that adopted my cat food about 6 months ago. It had major trauma from outside animals or my other cat or my dog that loves to pull the cat across the floor by his fur.

The now pirate cat seems more annoyed by the collar so he cannot touch his face than by the fact he has only one eye.

My cats are outdoor cats when its nice out. I think that is a big part of what a cat needs.
 
Originally Posted By: AandPDan
I've had cats all my life and just recently "adopted" a spry 2 year old.

It does sound like he wants to play. Remember, you are his "family." The laser might work or I just have yarn on a stick that my cat goes after. The cat may be "lonely" and looking for you.

The other thing you can do is nothing. Once the cat realizes that you aren't going to do anything, including getting up and closing the door, the faster it should stop meowing. By getting up, you are reinforcing its behavior.

Please don't bring him back to the shelter. Give him some time to adjust. With the economy as bad as it is the shelters are getting full.




Good suggestions, along with Drew's suggestions for a bed and cheap toys.

Make some sort of spot that's just for him. You don't need anything expensive. Cats like blankets, especially fleece. Put a folded up fleece blanket on the floor or the back of the couch, and I bet you that will become his spot.

Paper is a very popular toy for cats. They seem to prefer it to a lot of other things. Feather toys are also good, along with the laser suggestion. While some cats prefer to be mostly sedentary, many of them like to play a fair amount and they can only entertain themselves so much. Playing with the cat right before you go to bed will probably help a lot, but don't do it after the crying starts since that would reinforce it.

Closing the door probably won't fix the problem in the long term. Cats don't like being closed off from a room, especially if you are in it.

Cats are surprisingly complex animals and they need time to adapt to new surroundings. Give him a little more time and try some new things. Even though you are definitely providing him with a good quality of life, his life is still completely different from what he was used to for the previous 9 years and he will need time to adjust to the change.
 
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Cats are surprisingly complex animals and they need time to adapt to new surroundings.

Boy you aren't kidding!!!!! I think they're even more complex than a woman - and we all know how hard to figure out women are!
 
Originally Posted By: yonyon
Get a nerf dart gun. Blast him mercilessly for a half hour before you go to bed and after that with any luck he'll just be so happy and proud of himself for living through it conquering you that he decides to make a quick patrol and then nod off himself.

I can't think of any worse advice. Hitting the cat with projectiles will turn a good cat into a ferocious beast in short order. If you even contemplate doing that, you have no business owning pets.
33.gif


The OP's cat probably just needs some hard playtime, some attention and snuggling, and nothing else if he's already as well adjusted as he is.
 
Hey, my mother's cat loves the Nerf dart gun! Just pick it up and she'll move to the open area near the door to play.
 
I totally agree on the exercise thing, see it with our cat.

She was rescued from a barn as a young cat. She is good, loving, very smart, etc. But if she has not been given enough play time, she will tend to pounce on women (my wife or my mother if we take her to visit the parents). Kind of weird, but directly correlated to how much attention and play she has gotten.

Our cat loves to be with us, and will scratch at the door sometimes when we close it at night. We would love to have her in the room, but she goes exploring at around 3am, waking us up because of that and/or her attempt to let us know that she wants more food/attention.

We give her access and have her in with us until we actually are ready for lights out. This gives her enough time that she feels OK, and afterwards, it is quiet anyway, so she just goes to sleep.

If youre watching TV or making noise in your room with the door closed and the cat realizes that you are active in there, it may get upset/noisy. We have established "bedtime" for us and the cat, and she goes along with it.

Good luck!
 
Originally Posted By: CROWNVIC4LIFE

Any help to keep him quiet at night would be great.


Your cat needs a pet. I highly recommend sponge balls. They're the same size as golf balls,
but they're made out of low density sponge rubber. Cats like to knock them around and
carry them in their mouths. The balls are absolutely silent and can't hurt anything.
Your pet store should have them.

pPETS-7101403t300x300.jpg


372493.jpg
 
To answer some replies.

The laser light like Drew said sounds like a awesome idea..I got a cat bed for him but he refuses to go in it although he is always sniffing it..He got him some toys that he tosses up and chases around but he does not do it for long..I will have to get more toys for him..I try keeping him awake till I go to bed.

Like JHZR2 said I going to start excercising him more in the evening.

No worry everyone..As of now I have no plans to get rid of him..He has a favorite spot in every room of the house..
He is always at the door when I come home..He does even try to make a dash to get out the door..When the door is open he walks away from it.

When there is loud construction in the building [it makes him very nervous] I leave the TV on all day..He likes to look at the Speed Channel every now and then.

I have not a clue what kind of cat he his.

Thanks again..You all have been a big help.
 
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