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Conference misery::feline

Title:Meower Power - Where Differing Opinions are Respected
Notice:purrrrr...
Moderator:JULIET::CORDES_JA
Created:Wed Nov 13 1991
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1079
Total number of notes:28858

155.0. "Internal alarm clock" by FSOA::DHALL (Just another day in the jungle) Fri Jan 24 1992 08:12

    	Hi,

	I have a question about training a kitten.  I have a 6 month
	old kitten named Tallin.

	She loves to pick at the furniture and we have squirted her with
	water and that does stop her for that time.  She knows that she
	is not supposed to do that.  When we catch her in the act, she
	looks up at us knowing she has done something wrong.

	My husband and I used to let her sleep in the same room as us.
	She likes to be in the same room as us.  A couple of months ago, 
	she started picking at the head of the bed between 3 and 4 in 
	the morning.  She does this every morning that she stays with us.  
	Needless to say, this does not go over very well with us.  I have 
	tried squirting her with water, but she still does it.   She 
	has access to food and her litter box from our room so I do not
	not think it is because she is hungry.

	For the time being, we put her out of our room and then close the
	door on her so we can get a good night's sleep.

	Do they have some kind of internal clock?  Is there a way I can
	break her of this habit?  When we put her out of the room before
	we go to sleep, she looks up at us asking what she is doing wrong
	and I feel guilty.

	I appreciate all suggestions.

	Thanks,
	Donna
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155.1Clear tapeRLAV::BARRETTIs it safe?Fri Jan 24 1992 09:3812
    Hi, 
    
    Sounds like you have a cute and normal kitten on your hands...
    
    A friend told me something about stopping scratching on furniture,
    and I didn't believe her until I tried it.  Try putting clear tape
    (packing tape or something stronger than scotch) on the areas of the
    furniture your kitten is scratching.  It doesn't look fantastic, but it 
    is pretty hard to see, and it helped with my three monsters.  They just
    don't like to scratch it.
    
    Sue B., Smokey, Spike & Trouble
155.2Some suggestionsSELECT::FEASEAndrea Midtmoen FeaseFri Jan 24 1992 11:2429
    Hi Donna,
    
         Since kitties are nocturnal, and usually sleep during the day,
    it's only natural that they're rev'ed up and ready to go around 3:00 or
    4:00 AM.  Here are some suggestions; they've worked for us, but I can't
    guarantee that they will work for you ;-) :
    
         1). Try playing with her before going to bed.  Make her use up
             at least some of her energy; maybe you'll be able to postpone
             her scratching for an hour or two.
    
         2). Try a second cat.  They will keep each other busy, and maybe
             she will go to play with her companion rather than waking up
             Mom and Dad.  Of course, this may backfire and they'll both
             play kitty-Indy500 on the bed ;-) .
    
         3). Try a scratching post.  There is a note somewhere either here
             or in the old notesfile about getting kitties to use them, but
             what I'm thinking here is that if she has an "okay" place to
             scratch, she might not mind using it instead of the "not-okay"
             place (the bed).
    
         4). Spay your kitten.  I found with my female kitten, even more so
             than my male, that she calmed down and has had a lot less
             crazy energy since she's been spayed.
    
         Hope these help!
    
    					- Andrea
155.3put him out when he does thisTEGAN::LACORTIFri Jan 24 1992 13:119
    Chief usually waits until 6ish to wake me up.  Sometimes though he
    is a big pain the middle of night, running around, dropping things,
    etc.  I will try a firm no for a while and if that does not work I
    will then, at that point, lock him out. I will wait until I think
    he has calmed down and let him back in.  If he acts up again he is
    out for good for the night.  He knows better now that an sleeping
    mom who gets angry is no fun.
    
    						Sandy
155.4Will try...FSOA::DHALLJust another day in the jungleFri Jan 24 1992 13:1217
    Hi there,
    
    	Thanks for the replies.  We will try some of your suggestions.
    
    	The cutest thing about this is before she starts scratching the
    	bed at 4am, she comes and licks our hands or faces.  What a way
    	to wake up!  ;-)
    
    	In fact, I just sent away for the spay certificate from the
    	Friends of Animals this week.  I learned about that in this
    	conference and it was a great help.  My local vet was charging
    	$75 for spaying.
    
    	I have not had a kitten for a long time (like 10 years) so I 
    	relearning some stuff.  
    
        Donna
155.5sleepless nights!CSSE32::PANTO"STRIKE A POSE"Tue Jan 28 1992 15:4515
    
    Hi!  We have two kittens, Max and Zorro.  They're 10 months old now.
    When we first got them, (they're brothers), they would sleep with us
    and wake us up at 3:00 am licking our faces.  We finally put them
    outside our bedroom door so we could sleep.  When they were about
    8 months old and nuetered, we let them sleep with us again to see
    if they changed.  They woke us up at 5 am.  They've gotten better,
    but they still wake up us during the night.  Usually it's just me.
    Either they play together on the bed, or if we shut the bedroom door,
    they sit there and scratch at the door.  We started letting them go
    outside when they were 9 months old and they've been sleeping until
    at least 6 or 7 am.  
    
    Good Luck!
    Melissa