Help! We're being attacked in our sleep...

[Elocin]

by the bloody kittens.......

It's actaully quite amusing writing this down, although it's not funny when it's happening

We leave our bedroom door open at night and the kittens (nearly 7 months old) come and go as they please.

Up until about a fortnight ago, they would start playing and meowing at me for food around about 5am which would wake me up - I didn't have a problem with it, as I would feed them and go to the loo and get to go back to bed for an hour or so.

However, it's now more like 4am that they are waking up, sitting on my pillow and meowing in my ear. It's ridiculous, but I have been feeding them at that time just so they'll leave me alone...

I can't even think about locking them out of our room either because they just sit at the door and meow and meow and meow and meow...

So last night, I got woken up at 2am by DH yelling '*expletive* stupid cats' and the boys being unceremoniously pushed off the bed... one of the cats had scratched him while he was asleep and he now has a big red mark down his forehead.

They are going in to get desexed on Friday, do you think this will calm them down a bit?

They are starting to get a bit cheeky too when we eat dinner, by jumping up on the table and even trying to climb the kitchen drawers when I'm preparing dinner / breakfast...

Will the desexing process calm them down at all?

Am I not feeding them enough?

Please help me (and the little furballs )

[Jakabella]

I would get a water spray bottle and give them a spray when they do the wrong thing - they will learn very fast that its not on!

Can you lock them in the laundry at night till they are bigger??

[Elocin]

Ooohhh, water spray bottle!! That's a great idea...

The only room upstairs we could lock them in would be the bathroom and I don't feel overly comfortable doing that. We have a 2 story house but underneath where the laundy is, is not closed in at all.

I'm hoping the 'snip' will calm them down a little bit...

[PumpkinZulu]

sounds like DH got pwned by the kitties

I all seriousness though, yes they will probably calm down a fair bit once they have the snip (ouch lol) BUT, do the water bottle thing, and be strict with it. My first kitty, Pumpkin, I treated like a baby (mind you I only got her 3 years ago). I'd cradle her like a bub, feed her bits of food, talk to her until she started talkin g back. Even though she is a *beautiful* cat now, she is a spoilt little princess too (who now Mum has to put up with...oops ) So yeah, get them trained not to meow at night, especially not in your ear, and to behave. Do they have a regular feeding time? I've found with cats that if they have a routine to their feeds, they don't get all stressed out wondering when it will come, their internal body clocks adjust and they only 'talk' when their dinner time is near. Otherwise I find that they stress out, like 'when will my food come today? will it come at all? OMGGGG!!!' I feed Bluebelle in the mornings and evenings (only cos it's DF's cat and that's what he did, I used to let my two graze on a small amount of dry food all day and then a bit of wet at night...but they were domestic crosses, whereas Bluebelle is a British and super greedy lol)

Anywho, I'm just blabbing about cats now

[Elocin]

sounds like DH got pwned by the kitties

It was actually quite hard not to laugh But I thought I would too be unceremoniously removed from the bed if I giggled!!

Alright, the water bottle thing it is. I'll pick one up on the way home and start with it tonight.

They have always had a regular meal time - when I get home from work (anytime from 4.10pm to 6pm) and in the morning (be it 4am or whenever I'm sick of getting bitten / meowed at). It's always been the same since the day they got home.

We have started introducing a bit of raw chicken or steak every now and then (maybe 2-3 times a week) which I know is good for them, but a total PITA now because everytime I get something out of the fridge, they are at my feet meowing and trying to climb the kitchen drawers or worse still... trying to climb my leg I have lost count of how many little claw marks I have on my upper thigh from when one of them has launched themself at me.

Oh these 2 are very much spoilt little boys, but it's just getting a bit ridiculous atm. Even when DH and I sit on the couch and eat dinner, they are trying to jump on your lap to get at your food or on the coffee table trying to inch closer and closer to your plate.

Thanks honey xo

[Elocin]

I just emailed DH and informed him that I'd be buying a spray bottle on the way home... his reponse?

For while we eat? BRING IT ON!! - I am gonna set mine to the fire hose setting!!! Just joking... you know I love the little pain in the a***

[Kazbah]

Are they orientals by any chance? Gorgeous little things ... hehehe

Ummmmm yeah good luck with that. Mine would just sleep across my neck, now they snuggle under the covers with me.

[PumpkinZulu]

I just emailed DH and informed him that I'd be buying a spray bottle on the way home... his reponse?

LOL!

[Elocin]

Are they orientals by any chance? Gorgeous little things ... hehehe

The last time I took them to the vet, she pointed to the ginger one and said 'Oh, he's got Oriental in him'... obviously they both do as they are brothers, but the ginger one defintely has a lot more Oriental features than the tortoiseshell.

I normally have one cuddled under my arm when I sleep on my back and the other either on my chest / neck or pressed up against my face on the pillow

Did your Oriental do the same / similar things?

[Kazbah]

Orientals are very "vocal" and "personable" cats. Just sounded like the actions my part-russian blue used to do ... Great cats.

[sunshine_sieben]

Lol, I know this is an old thread, but I just had a giggle at the mental picture of your cats jumping up on the bed, you getting the spray bottle out and.... spraying your sleeping DH in the face...
ROFL

[njon2]

I had the same issue with my kitten - he was full on diving and grabbing at my face! When he was snipped he calmed down straight away.

I also had issues with the cats jumping onto tables and the bathroom bench. You have to be consistent - pick them up and put the on the ground straight away with a firm No. If they keeping jumping up, a little tap on the head and a firm NO can help. If this also doesn't work, put them on the ground, hold them down near the neck (not strangling them or hitting them) and again with the firm NO.

I'm not sure if you have ever seen 2 cats play fighting (or even fighting), but they always aim for the back of the neck. This puts the cat into a 'submissive' position and lets them know who is boss. Another trick, is when saying NO, look them in the eyes and do not back down - again you want to show that you are the dominant person in the house.

To see if the cats are getting the message, look at their poo in the kitty litter - a cat who thinks he is boss won't cover his business.

good luck