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I've been bested

kittyromeo Nov 13, 2007 12:45 PM

For nearly ten years big, fat Lizzy cat has tried one trick after another to get me to feed her snacks - from the kittenish climbing up my jeans to banging the kitchen cabinet doors or screaming meows at 3 a.m. to banging the empty dish on the floors to head bonking me in my sleep.

For nearly ten years I've eventually won these battles of will - I've peeled her off my jeans, locked her out of the bedroom, simply ignored the wailing cries, pulled the bowls off the floors, but she finally got me.

Lizzy has learned if she wants a snack in the middle of the night, she only has to threaten to wake the baby, I will fly out of bed every time. First it was making noise in the nursery, and when the door was shut to keep her out, she rattled the door so hard I could feel the vibrations in my toes when my feet hit the floor. I come running because if the baby cries, no one sleeps.

Who knew a few months of 2 a.m. feedings would lead to an endless cycle of 3 a.m. feedings for the cat?

Replies (5)

ttpurr4cat Nov 13, 2007 05:32 PM

Now that is a stubborn and very smart cat and yes, dear....you have been bested. Lizzy won and I am sure she is very proud of herself.
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Tessa Onyx, Foudini, Charlee, Spottie, ShyRaven, Buddy, Tuxie, Widdle Attila Sipowitz, Lizzie, Minnie, ET, Mylo, Penny (We be house cats at last), and Salem, Wicca and Marmalade (We iz also house cats, we guess)and the 5 porch kits also Riley da goggie and Buddha da baby hamster too
Tabitha and Samantha..always in our hearts
A house without cats is like a garden without flowers

cyclopsgrl Nov 13, 2007 06:14 PM

I am facing something similar and am almost at my wits end. Since the loss of Stanley not quite 3 months ago, Pookey has done OK. His eating ebbs and flows, pretty good, but he looses his appetite about every 3-4 days so I give him a 1/4 to 1/2 Cyproheptadine tablet to stimulate his appetite and it seems to hold for another 3-4 days...

But, now the problem. I have not had more than 4 continuous hours of sleep in almost 3 months. First the loss of Stanley kept me up for a while and my irregular sleep might have set off bad habits with Pookey, but now, every morning between 2 and 4 AM, he starte meowing loudly and continously, non-stop.

I am hesitant as to what to do to stop him. I say NO loudly, clap my hands, slap magazines loudly (loud pop) against my hands and even have resorted to the old method from when he was a youngster of spraying him with water. The loud pop/magazine against hand slaps and water will run him from the room (oftentimes he is sitting near my bed meowing non-stop). But, he'll start meowing in that room. If I get up and squirt/pop again, he'll go under furniture and meow. I don't do it as regular as I'd like as it throws him off balance and his eating and getting back in balance is important with such a loss.

He will stop meowing if he is in bed with me. So, at 2AM, after saying no and his non-stop meowing, I'll lift him on bed with me and he stops after a bit. I try not to pet him too much so he sees it as fun time. It lasts and hour or two and then it starts again. The best I do is sleep soundly for about 4 hours before it starts most nights...

He starts out in bed with me and then wanders around about 2-4AM.

I have a long pet session and play session an hour or two before bed to calm him and get rid of energy. I think the problem is that he was used to roaming and playing with Stanley late at nights as he sleeps soundly during the day (and the minute I get up in the morning, he gets in bed and goes soundly to sleep).

I have to weigh his getting his balance back (which he finally seems to be doing) with my not getting any sleep and it isn't working.

If I shout him out of my room, it sounds like a fire engine wailing outside my door, not an option.

I'll keep working on it... Yawn... I was so exhausted today at work -- and I have a pretty high energy/stress job...
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Tammy and Pookey
(Stanley 8/91 - 8/07)

kittyromeo Nov 13, 2007 07:18 PM

oh my! A grief compounded night stalker! You do have a problem. Is there any hope of giving him something to stay awake for during the day? A new birdfeeder? A 3 gallon fish tank with a goldfish? He will probably settle down into a more liveable routine after while regardless, but wow!

cyclopsgrl Nov 14, 2007 06:49 PM

I am trying everything I can think of and have heard of thru the years. I am being cautious, taking into account his age and the loss. He's eating and everything fairly well (with an occasional boost from low dose Cyproh once or twice a week).

It is driving me crazy. Hoping he grows out of it. I head to Iowa next week for Thanksgiving, have the cat sitter and a neighbor coming to check on him a couple times a day. It may shake up his routine to have me gone and when I get back, maybe he won't meow as much. Wishful thinking as he will be so happy to see me, he won't stop meowing for a couple days, LOL.
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Tammy and Pookey
(Stanley 8/91 - 8/07)

PHTessie Nov 18, 2007 06:46 PM

ROTFMMTO! WTG Lizzy! Sorry , I guess it really isn't funny to you. Gulp, snicker..
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PHTessie

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