Cats - nocturnal activities
Discussion
Good morning all,
In April we re-homed a male cat, aged 4. He's always been a house-cat I believe - he's very friendly, and loves attention and cuddles. From that respect, he's settled in fine, and seems to like us (which can often be a battle with cats).
However, he's driving us mad with his nocturnal activities, which are waking us up almost every night.
Basically, he seems to roam the house looking for doors. If he finds a door that's shut, he scratches at it and miaows. We tried leaving all the internal doors open in the house, and found that he will then go in to a room and find a cupboard door, and scratch at that (or, he will try to hook it open with his paw).
If we shut him in a room downstairs when we go to bed, he will just scratch at the door and miaow (so still wakes us up).
I had thought that if we let him out, he'd probably spend most of the night outdoors and burn off some energy. However, our last cat was killed by a car outside the house, so we're not ready to let him out unless we're there to supervise (and having been a house cat for 4 years, he's no doubt completely unaware of the dangers of being outside).
Just wondered if anyone had any thoughts or tips on how to dissuade him from this activity
Is it something he'll get bored of after a while, or am I going to need to invest in some ear plugs?
In April we re-homed a male cat, aged 4. He's always been a house-cat I believe - he's very friendly, and loves attention and cuddles. From that respect, he's settled in fine, and seems to like us (which can often be a battle with cats).
However, he's driving us mad with his nocturnal activities, which are waking us up almost every night.
Basically, he seems to roam the house looking for doors. If he finds a door that's shut, he scratches at it and miaows. We tried leaving all the internal doors open in the house, and found that he will then go in to a room and find a cupboard door, and scratch at that (or, he will try to hook it open with his paw).
If we shut him in a room downstairs when we go to bed, he will just scratch at the door and miaow (so still wakes us up).
I had thought that if we let him out, he'd probably spend most of the night outdoors and burn off some energy. However, our last cat was killed by a car outside the house, so we're not ready to let him out unless we're there to supervise (and having been a house cat for 4 years, he's no doubt completely unaware of the dangers of being outside).
Just wondered if anyone had any thoughts or tips on how to dissuade him from this activity
Is it something he'll get bored of after a while, or am I going to need to invest in some ear plugs?It's a real problem. My two young cats were both killed last year, run over during the night. I would love to get another cat but until I move away from the road there's no point and I wouldn't want to keep them locked indoors. I guess you could potentially enclose a section of your garden with chicken wire if suitable?
Cats are programmed to go out and explore at dusk. He knows the Great Outdoors is out there, and behind a door, and he wants to get out to fulfil his natural instincts. And he's got fours years of imprisonment to make up for. That will be his logic; how you fit that into what's safe for him I'm not sure. Can you make the garden safe, is stop him from getting onto the road?
I took my current cat on when she was seven, and had always been a house cat. After a week or two she was acclimatised to the outside and loves it. Luckily though I live in a cul-de sac so any traffic is slow, and she runs away from sudden noises which is a good survival instinct.
I took my current cat on when she was seven, and had always been a house cat. After a week or two she was acclimatised to the outside and loves it. Luckily though I live in a cul-de sac so any traffic is slow, and she runs away from sudden noises which is a good survival instinct.
Thanks for the replies.
The cat flap is at the rear of the house, and it leads on to a fairly large/enclosed garden.
We found with our last cat, the first few days they tend to stay in the garden. But, as they get braver, they roam further and further away. And that's my main worry - it doesn't matter if you live on a quiet road yourself, it's more about the roads they cross when they're out exploring.
Building a "Catio" is on my list of jobs to look at. We bought some chicken wire already. I'm just trying to figure out how to fix it to the door (UPVC patio door) where his cat flap is (and without ending up with the view of the back garden being obscured by a bunch of chicken wire and wood).
He does have supervised time in the garden - I just like to make sure I know where he is.
Not being happy with his food may be a good shout - we're not sure we've found something he really likes yet. But, he does this scratching/searching between 3:00AM and 5:00AM most nights - not at any other time. When he does it, he has plenty of food and water available (upstairs and downstairs). It's like he's trying to fully explore the house - but I wish he wouldn't do it in the middle of the night.
The cat flap is at the rear of the house, and it leads on to a fairly large/enclosed garden.
We found with our last cat, the first few days they tend to stay in the garden. But, as they get braver, they roam further and further away. And that's my main worry - it doesn't matter if you live on a quiet road yourself, it's more about the roads they cross when they're out exploring.
Building a "Catio" is on my list of jobs to look at. We bought some chicken wire already. I'm just trying to figure out how to fix it to the door (UPVC patio door) where his cat flap is (and without ending up with the view of the back garden being obscured by a bunch of chicken wire and wood).
He does have supervised time in the garden - I just like to make sure I know where he is.
Not being happy with his food may be a good shout - we're not sure we've found something he really likes yet. But, he does this scratching/searching between 3:00AM and 5:00AM most nights - not at any other time. When he does it, he has plenty of food and water available (upstairs and downstairs). It's like he's trying to fully explore the house - but I wish he wouldn't do it in the middle of the night.
stevesuk said:
Thanks for the replies.
The cat flap is at the rear of the house, and it leads on to a fairly large/enclosed garden.
We found with our last cat, the first few days they tend to stay in the garden. But, as they get braver, they roam further and further away. And that's my main worry - it doesn't matter if you live on a quiet road yourself, it's more about the roads they cross when they're out exploring.
Building a "Catio" is on my list of jobs to look at. We bought some chicken wire already. I'm just trying to figure out how to fix it to the door (UPVC patio door) where his cat flap is (and without ending up with the view of the back garden being obscured by a bunch of chicken wire and wood).
He does have supervised time in the garden - I just like to make sure I know where he is.
Not being happy with his food may be a good shout - we're not sure we've found something he really likes yet. But, he does this scratching/searching between 3:00AM and 5:00AM most nights - not at any other time. When he does it, he has plenty of food and water available (upstairs and downstairs). It's like he's trying to fully explore the house - but I wish he wouldn't do it in the middle of the night.
Our Louis is just the same. Avid hunter. Desperate to go out at dawn. His sister couldn't care less.The cat flap is at the rear of the house, and it leads on to a fairly large/enclosed garden.
We found with our last cat, the first few days they tend to stay in the garden. But, as they get braver, they roam further and further away. And that's my main worry - it doesn't matter if you live on a quiet road yourself, it's more about the roads they cross when they're out exploring.
Building a "Catio" is on my list of jobs to look at. We bought some chicken wire already. I'm just trying to figure out how to fix it to the door (UPVC patio door) where his cat flap is (and without ending up with the view of the back garden being obscured by a bunch of chicken wire and wood).
He does have supervised time in the garden - I just like to make sure I know where he is.
Not being happy with his food may be a good shout - we're not sure we've found something he really likes yet. But, he does this scratching/searching between 3:00AM and 5:00AM most nights - not at any other time. When he does it, he has plenty of food and water available (upstairs and downstairs). It's like he's trying to fully explore the house - but I wish he wouldn't do it in the middle of the night.
paintman said:
Only mice we get in ours are the ones they bring in & release.
And then sit back & watch the fun as I try to catch it.
I get this odd feeling that they are holding up scorecards to rate my efforts....
Much the same when I try to get mine to play with a toy mouse. I crouch down on the floor and knock it about the room while the cat watches...And then sit back & watch the fun as I try to catch it.
I get this odd feeling that they are holding up scorecards to rate my efforts....
paintman said:
Only mice we get in ours are the ones they bring in & release.
And then sit back & watch the fun as I try to catch it.
I get this odd feeling that they are holding up scorecards to rate my efforts....
Just wait until they do it with an Adder, which then hides behind a 180 litre fish tank.And then sit back & watch the fun as I try to catch it.
I get this odd feeling that they are holding up scorecards to rate my efforts....
Or a bird, which perches on a curtain rail and craps down your curtains.
Been there. Done that.
To the OP, have you tried those plug-in cat calmer things?
Simpo Two said:
paintman said:
Only mice we get in ours are the ones they bring in & release.
And then sit back & watch the fun as I try to catch it.
I get this odd feeling that they are holding up scorecards to rate my efforts....
Much the same when I try to get mine to play with a toy mouse. I crouch down on the floor and knock it about the room while the cat watches...And then sit back & watch the fun as I try to catch it.
I get this odd feeling that they are holding up scorecards to rate my efforts....
We get the odd small bird in, but the worst was a flipping pigeon! How the heck they got it through the cat flap i don’t know, but I’d been doing something upstairs and i heard a noise looked out to the staircase and there was a pigeon sat there looking a bit worse for wear, initially thought it had flown in somehow but then saw the bite marks on its neck, thankfully didn’t take much to get it out of the house, but i was finding blood spots for weeks. Love my cats, but sometimes i do despair.
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