How do we settle our attention seeking kitten?

Bubs99

Hi,

My boyfriend and I rescued a 5 month old kitten from the vets a few days ago. He is neutered etc. He settled in straight away, trained and all, goes straight to the tray to go to the toilet, is eating perfectly and adores cuddles, a true and true lap cat!

The problem is when we're going to bed he follows and I had to push him out the door last night, after a bit of crying he stopped but we were woken up to whining and scratching on the door at 7am this morning.

I had to get up, now hes wide awake just looking out at the birds etc but if I try go again, he's follow and cry again.

What do we do?

Any advice and tips appreciated, thank you.

Bullseye1

Normally our indoor cat is quite at night but occassionally he has one of those bark at the moon nights. We just lock him in the kitchen.

zyndacyclone

'Attention seeking'? It sounds as if he's just lonley. He's only a baby. He probably also gets bored at night.

In my experience, cats like rituals. Give him a treat before you go to bed. Make sure that he has lots of things to play with and a scratching board. Some people find that leaving a TV or radio on works. When you get up in the morning make a fuss of him and play with him for a bit.

I know that some people don't like cats in their bedroom but mine likes to come in and check on me regularly, she doesn't disturb me, just hops up on the table beside me, checks I'm okay then goes back to leaf hunting. She has a bed in the corner of the room if she wants to sleep there.

He's young, give the little guy a break.

MaryK666

Totally agree with zyndacyclone. The poor little boy is probably just lonely.
If he's a rescue, he's probably had a tough start to life and from the sounds of things, he's bonded with you pretty quickly with all the cuddles and lap sitting.

Would it be such a bad thing to let him into your room at night? I know some people don't like pets sleeping with them but I, personally, have never had a problem with it. They're members of the family and we treat them as well as we do ourselves. We have four rescue cats and all of them have free run of the house, including our bedroom, as they're indoor cats.
One of them will come up when we're going to bed, have a cuddle and then wander off to do her own thing. One of our boys waits till we're asleep and then jumps up on the bed and snuggles down between us for most of the night. The other two just wander in to see if there's anything happening and then wander off again. Then all four appear in the morning when the alarm goes off to say good morning and make sure we're up and about. It works perfectly for us.

If you really can't cope with your little man sleeping in your bedroom then you have to make sure that he has enough to amuse him at night time. He'll need things to climb, places to scratch, places to hide, toys, food, water and a warm comfy bed.
It sometimes helps to wrap a ticking clock in a blanket and place it in the bed as it mimics the mothers heartbeat. Another thing that works is to wrap a bottle of hot water (hot water bottles are too easy to puncture) in a blanket or towel and place it in one corner of the bed so that there's warmth there in case he feels the need. You could put something in his bed that smells of you so he has your scent to cuddle up with.
Or maybe you could let him into your bedroom in the morning for a cuddle just before you get up so that it becomes part of his routine and he has something to look forward to.
Failing that, you could adopt a little pal for him so he has company of his own at night.
Hopefully you'll find something that works for all of you and you'll have many happy years together.

Bubs99

Oh no, dont get me wrong! I ADORE him and Im not complaining, I was just wondering how to calm him when he's whining at the door at night.

I have always allowed my pets to sleep with me (dogs) and I brought Euler (name of the the kitten) straight in to the room last night but my OH wasn't too happy so i got up and played with him for an hour.

Infact he's asleep on my lap now. He has loads of toys and the whole house to himself all day and night (kitten proof ofcourse- cables away, sockets off etc).

We play with him alot, and we have also built a giant scratch post for him out of wood, a big pipe and rope and carpet. He loves it.

I guess he's like any puppy or baby infact, they wake up every so often and get hyper then they sleep again.

MaryK666

Maybe you should move Euler into the bedroom and make OH sleep in a basket in the kitchen - lol.

Failing that you can just decamp to the sofa when he gets restless and whingy and wrap both of you in a blanket and off to sleep. I'm sure Eular would love that although OH might not be so happy. But that's just going to encourage him to do it more in order to get your attention. Just wait until you have kids who want to come sleep in the bed with you. At that stage he'll be wishing it was just one tiny kitten instead of a child who sleeps star-shaped in the bed with it's foot on his head.

Has he been neutered yet? (Eular that is - not the OH)
This can also help to calm him down and will stop him spraying in the house and curb his tendency to fight.
If you can get your hands on some Feliway, either the spray or the plug-in, I've found that it works a treat with cats and kittens. It mimics cat pheremones and helps to calm their fears and settle in - works well when introducing new cats/kittens to an existing cat. The spray is great for bedding to help them settle and works in the carrier to calm them when going to the vet. The plug-in just does it's thing in the house to help promote a happy atmosphere.

Sometimes the best toys are the simplest and although I'm sure he loves his scratching post, he'll love a couple of upturned boxes with a Eular-sized hole cut in the side for him to hide out in. Loo roll inner cardboard tubes make great prey as does scrunched up paper or shopping receipts. The lids off plastic milk bottles are great for chasing across tiled, wooden or lino floors although they do have a habit of hiding under furniture. And if you can get your hands on a simple laser pointer they can provide endless hours of fun. Have a look on zooplus online - we use them for food, litter and toys and find them great.

If he's being moody or fretful or even hyper it's worth looking at what your feeding him as some foods are more processed and contain more junk that others. With some foods, it can be like feeding a child a McDonalds and Coke for every meal. My advice is to feed the very best that you can afford and once you find something that works and that he's happy with - stick with it.

Looks like he's lucky to have ended up with you.

Bubs99

Hi MaryK666,

All is gotten, by nurses orders and from what Ive learnt, we are feeding him Hills kitten kibbles. He's eating away, no problem.

He was very good in the carrier when we were bringing him home, also in the car...on my lap at the time was my Dads dog (im co-owner) and Euler wasn't intimidated at all, no hissing etc. He had been in the vets for weeks waiting for a home so I take it he's used to dogs barking, crying, growling etc.

But Buster (the dog) on the other hand was a bit aggitated, he hates feral cats so our next thing to do is try bond them. Any tips for that are appreciated also.

He loves boxes (Euler) and getting in to sports bags, climbing, hiding and chasing flies which is great and he has no problem getting in or out of the carrier thankfully. No shyness at all.

Im so happy we rescued him.