My cat has decided that nighttime is not for sleeping.

[violetcat]

I've had my cat Stewie since August of 2005, and overall he is a great cat. Goofy, affectionate, and I have to say just a bit dumb :P. In August of 2008 we moved from New York to Virginia and initially everything was fine. We had a bit of an adjustment period because my house mate also has a cat and both of our cats were the dominant ones. With her cat winning the " who's superior" award we settled here fairly well. December though we started to have issues with Stewie scratching and meowing in the middle of the night, usually starting about 3 am. Being cranky we would throw pillows or even just pretend to throw things at him ( again he's not bright) and he would run away, but no sooner would we settle he starts back up again. We both invested in spray bottles and would spritz him with water and he would run away, but he always comes back. Now he knows when we roll over in bed its to get the spray bottle, and he  runs away in advance of the spraying.

But he still comes back and starts all over again. We get up to feed the cats, and it only stops as long as it takes him to eat. On my days off i try to take naps during the day and as soon as i doze he starts up. Anything that i have that he could scratch at is covered with blankets, i bought him a scratch pad, and he digs under the blankets and ignores the scratch pad, and scratches at the walls and the furniture. And the meowing! He has toys, and a kitty condo, and fresh water at all times.We are both exhausted all the time, and i no longer have any idea what to do. I have no money to buy anything that can help.

This only happens when we are trying to sleep, any other time he is happy go lucky.  He never did this when we lived in New York and I know that the move is the connection somehow, but if I don't get a full night of sleep soon...I'm nearly at my wits end. :(

[marissposa]

Maybe try rescue remedy a homeopathic anti-anxiety thing.  you can get it at most schmancy hippy food pet stores.  Maybe your kitty is just stressed out

[violetcat]

I wish that I could, but I quite literally have no money :(

I want to know so badly how to make this right, its so frustrating...

[Jester2005]

If I were in this situation, I'd say time to go to the vet now... one who specializes in behaviours... maybe even a cat whisperer? poor thing. I'm sure he's trying to say something   :(

[violetcat]

With some early minor success, he's gone back to the same old behavior. He's gone back to scratching and yowling starting at three in the morning. I've come to realize that its not me that he's doing this to, its always in my roommates room, with her stuff.

As far as blackout curtains, she's had those in her windows since shortly after we moved in so I'm fairly sure they have no effect whatsoever on what he does in there... :(

I tried one of those pheromone collars, and some calming cat treats. In both cases they worked fine the first night and then he developed some superhuman immunity or something and now they don't affect him.

Im pretty frustrated about this, and its just causing stress for everyone involved... :(

[Savas]

Another thought; should the issue arise again, you can put up some blackout curtains in the bedroom. Cats can see in the dark, but they need some residual light to see. Blacking out the room totally tends to make a cat go to sleep. :-)

[Jester2005]

I'm so glad to read that things are better already. That's wonderful  : )
Especially you being able to take a nap again, hehe ; )

[marissposa]

Sounds like an epiphany!  Good for you =) Have fun!

[violetcat]

I had some bonding time with him all day yesterday, he even laid on the couch with me when i took a nap. Yes, I was allowed to take a nap! He still woke me up at 6 in the morning, but he was ok after I fed him and was able to go back to sleep for a couple more hours. So something must be working :)

I never really thought the amount of time I spent with him is an issue, he is pretty aloof most of the time with me. But as I thought about it more, in NY he had my mom and my little brother and sister to give him attention and he probably got used to that. Here its just me and my friend and a very dominant (and very large) female cat named Turtle ( shes a pastel tortoiseshell). So he's not getting the attention that he'd been getting the first 3 years of his life. And he no longer has a 14 year old pushover of a cat( sparky) to mess with. I guess now I have to find time and ways to spend more time with him and see what works. He doesn't like to be held, but he does like to cuddle. And I can give him some outside " roll around and scratch the concrete porch time" as well :)

[Jester2005]

Marissposa brings up a good point. If he got to go outside sometimes in NY then he probably misses that, too. Leashes aren't too expensive, but they're deceiving. Talk to a vet or groomer about the "real" size that you'll need.

There is a difference between your mom's cat and your mate's cat. Your mom's cat was obviously less dominant so Stewie got along with her/him. Now your mate's cat is more dominant and Stewie doesn't know what to do, so he meows and scratches. Just let him know that you still care about him. You might want to grab a small blanket or a clothing of yours that has your scent on it to put on the couch so he has his own spot there. It also helps with that shedding hair, lol. Since there is such a big deal with dominance, it would be a good idea to invest in a second litter box. You can try to put them together, but Stewie might want his own spot to do his business. Over time, they'll probably share the boxes and then you know for sure that they're getting along  :)  As for the spray bottles, I understand that people get frustrated and use it as a last resort (I'm guilty of that, too), but from all the animal shows I watch I learnt that it's really not effective.

Any who, hope all works out... let me know (as I'm curious)

[marissposa]

Maybe he misses his time on the porch?  I'm assuming that was outdoors.  If he doesn't get outdoor time anymore he might be bored and be acting out because of that.  Maybe you could try some supervised or on leash outdoor time.

[violetcat]

Thanks for your response:)

I lived with my family In New York so my room mates cat is completely new to him. When I lived with my family though my mom had a cat and they shared the same food bowls, water, etc without too much incident. As long as stewie got to use everything first of course! As far as excitement we were outside of NYC on Long Island, about 45 minutes from the Hamptons so it was fairly remote by Long Island standards. Climate and weather conditions are about the same, if a bit drier as we're in mountains. An exciting day for him was if he got to hang out on the porch ( he's an indoor cat).

I've been on the line of thinking that its a dominance issue for awhile now , myself. But what you said about giving them some personal time makes some sense to me, i'm home with him alot but where I spend my time isn't really where he spends his ( the couch, which was my room mates, is pretty much her cats territory).

I never would have thought of having a second litter box for just two cats, my grandmother had 6 cats at one point and we had two large LitterMaids that we checked daily, and the litter we have right now is pretty large. And as far as the spray bottle goes, that was more of an " out of my mind with exhaustion" thing as opposed to daily practice. I love my cat - every silly, crazy , goofy hair on his body. I don't like being upset with him,

[Jester2005]

P.S.

I found this site which might be a little helpful. Apparently, cats only meow to humans. They don't meow to other cats. I didn't know that.


http://www.catsplay.com/thedailycat/2003-10-06/mind_communication/meaning_meow/meaning_meow.html

[Jester2005]

Is your roommate in Virginia the same one from New York? I'm thinking that if this is a new cat and it made itself the dominant cat, maybe your cat hasn't accepted that and is still trying to be the dominant cat... especially if he's still scratching furniture (that's how they mark their territories). As for the meowing, he might be/probably is trying to tell you something. If you've been really busy lately, try to make some alone time for him. I have to do that with my 3 cats. I rescued Princess in 2005 and now she meows at me all the time. I've never heard a squeak from her until recently. For her, 20min of brushing makes her happy. Her daughter Jester (the first and fav :P ) likes to bug me when I'm getting ready to go out, so I make sure to have an extra 20min for cuddle time, just in case. Sometimes she only wants 5-10, sometimes it's longer. Then there's Gracie and I haven't figured her out yet, lol. She was also rescued in 2005 and she bugs me when I eat supper or right after. OH!! How many litter boxes do you have? If you only have 1 box for both cats, I strongly recommend getting a second one. I have 2 and would have 3 if I had the room. I read cats need their own box. I'm sorry to say, but I'm against spray bottles, but that's only my opinion. I think he's trying to tell you something, and by you spraying him or throwing things at him, it makes him fearful. When he cries at night, I would try to cuddle with him (like a baby cries and needs to be re-assured) to calm him down. He could just be lonely. I've noticed from your post that he only does this when you're trying to sleep. I can't figure out what this means but I'm sure it means something. I'm Canadian and suck at geography and the likes. How is Virginia compared to NY? Is it quieter? Darker? Maybe he misses the chaos of the big city. I remember reading once of a family that moved from the city to the country and their dog was afraid of the dark. I can't think of anything else right now, but I hope I was of some help; let me know how things work out for you and Stewie  : )