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#1
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Daisy's early morning meowing and curtain destroying
Hi,
Ive have a kitten Daisy who is about 7 months old and is driving my wife and I crazy by destroying our curtains, and meowing at the early hours of the morning. It all started a few months ago when daisy who used to sleep on our bed with us decided to attack our new curtains in the bedroom. As these are sheer curtains there are pulls and rips all throughout the curtains. Our solution to this was to place a barrier to our bedroom to restrict Daisy's access into the bedroom but letting her freely roam around the other parts of the house. This barrier has caused another problem. Daisy now gets up at 5:00-5:30am and stands at the door barrier meowing continuously until we let her in. Once she is in she goes straight for the curtains. The problem is that we live in an apartment where we are not supposed to have pets and eventually we may be found out by Daisy's meowing which can be heard my neighbours who may also not appreciate the early wake up calls. Once I get up and Im with Daisy she is fine. I think the meowing is wanting to be with us rather than wanting to attack the curtains. Occasionally she stands at the door while my wife is asleep meowing for her to get up as well so she can be with both of us. Daisy has numerous toys throughout the house and two scratching posts so I dont think she is bored, she also is fed premium kitten biscuits and wet food so her diet is fine. We have also tried ignoring her and spraying her with water which has not worked. I have also placed barriers to the curtains but she ends up finding a way to scale and rip the curtains. I know that cats are nocturnal animals who are most activate in the late evenings and early mornings, and I dont want to get rid of our curtains due to privacy reasons. My wife and I dont know what to do because as soon as the sun comes up she is meowing, in the sense that Im up now so you need to get up as well. We dont want to have to remove daisy due to apartment rules and we are getting really tired from the early wake ups. Input into a solution for this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Eyman |
#2
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"Eyman" writes:
Ive have a kitten Daisy who is about 7 months old and is driving my wife and I crazy by destroying our curtains, and meowing at the early hours of the morning. It all started a few months ago when daisy who used to sleep on our bed with us decided to attack our new curtains in the bedroom. As these are sheer curtains there are pulls and rips all throughout the curtains. Our solution to this was to place a barrier to our bedroom to restrict Daisy's access into the bedroom but letting her freely roam around the other parts of the house. It sounds like Daisy has *already* trashed the curtains, so isn't it rather too late to try putting the cat back into the bag, so to speak? You might as well let her into the bedroom like she wants. You're going to have to replace the ripped-up curtains eventually anyway, so does it matter if they get ripped up some more first? Is it possible that the attraction is just looking out the window and not the curtains themselves, BTW? That's certainly true for my cats. I have miniblinds rather than curtains; they're reasonably durable, but I still have had to replace them from time to time as my cats keep trying to climb *through* them to sit on the windowsill. So far I've had better luck with the wooden blinds than the plastic or metal ones. Anyway, you might be able to make the bedroom window less of a target by making windows in other rooms more accessible or attractive for hanging out in (by providing a window perch, for instance). Generally, I've found that living with cats requires some adjustments on my part, cat-proofing my house being one of the obvious ones. Sometimes it's easier to let the cat train you than to tear your hair out trying to train the cat to do something they just won't do. Daisy has numerous toys throughout the house and two scratching posts so I dont think she is bored, she also is fed premium kitten biscuits and wet food so her diet is fine. We have also tried ignoring her and spraying her with water which has not worked. I have also placed barriers to the curtains but she ends up finding a way to scale and rip the curtains. I know that cats are nocturnal animals who are most activate in the late evenings and early mornings, and I dont want to get rid of our curtains due to privacy reasons. You can encourage your cat to sleep later in the morning by feeding her right before you go to bed at night, instead of first thing in the morning. Here's another suggestion. One of my cats has occasional bouts of morning "crazies" -- dashing all over the house chasing imaginary critters, acting like she's a kitten again instead of a 15-year-old senior citizen cat. It's worst in the spring and early summer when the sun is up early. If I can't just roll over and ignore her and go back to sleep, one thing that sometimes works to calm her down is to catch her and bring her back to bed with me and cuddle with her a bit while physically restraining her to prevent her from tearing off again on another wild jag. Sometimes she isn't too happy about this treatment, but when I let her go she usually just stalks off quietly to recover her dignity. -Sandra |
#3
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"Eyman" writes:
Ive have a kitten Daisy who is about 7 months old and is driving my wife and I crazy by destroying our curtains, and meowing at the early hours of the morning. It all started a few months ago when daisy who used to sleep on our bed with us decided to attack our new curtains in the bedroom. As these are sheer curtains there are pulls and rips all throughout the curtains. Our solution to this was to place a barrier to our bedroom to restrict Daisy's access into the bedroom but letting her freely roam around the other parts of the house. It sounds like Daisy has *already* trashed the curtains, so isn't it rather too late to try putting the cat back into the bag, so to speak? You might as well let her into the bedroom like she wants. You're going to have to replace the ripped-up curtains eventually anyway, so does it matter if they get ripped up some more first? Is it possible that the attraction is just looking out the window and not the curtains themselves, BTW? That's certainly true for my cats. I have miniblinds rather than curtains; they're reasonably durable, but I still have had to replace them from time to time as my cats keep trying to climb *through* them to sit on the windowsill. So far I've had better luck with the wooden blinds than the plastic or metal ones. Anyway, you might be able to make the bedroom window less of a target by making windows in other rooms more accessible or attractive for hanging out in (by providing a window perch, for instance). Generally, I've found that living with cats requires some adjustments on my part, cat-proofing my house being one of the obvious ones. Sometimes it's easier to let the cat train you than to tear your hair out trying to train the cat to do something they just won't do. Daisy has numerous toys throughout the house and two scratching posts so I dont think she is bored, she also is fed premium kitten biscuits and wet food so her diet is fine. We have also tried ignoring her and spraying her with water which has not worked. I have also placed barriers to the curtains but she ends up finding a way to scale and rip the curtains. I know that cats are nocturnal animals who are most activate in the late evenings and early mornings, and I dont want to get rid of our curtains due to privacy reasons. You can encourage your cat to sleep later in the morning by feeding her right before you go to bed at night, instead of first thing in the morning. Here's another suggestion. One of my cats has occasional bouts of morning "crazies" -- dashing all over the house chasing imaginary critters, acting like she's a kitten again instead of a 15-year-old senior citizen cat. It's worst in the spring and early summer when the sun is up early. If I can't just roll over and ignore her and go back to sleep, one thing that sometimes works to calm her down is to catch her and bring her back to bed with me and cuddle with her a bit while physically restraining her to prevent her from tearing off again on another wild jag. Sometimes she isn't too happy about this treatment, but when I let her go she usually just stalks off quietly to recover her dignity. -Sandra |
#4
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"Eyman" writes:
Ive have a kitten Daisy who is about 7 months old and is driving my wife and I crazy by destroying our curtains, and meowing at the early hours of the morning. It all started a few months ago when daisy who used to sleep on our bed with us decided to attack our new curtains in the bedroom. As these are sheer curtains there are pulls and rips all throughout the curtains. Our solution to this was to place a barrier to our bedroom to restrict Daisy's access into the bedroom but letting her freely roam around the other parts of the house. It sounds like Daisy has *already* trashed the curtains, so isn't it rather too late to try putting the cat back into the bag, so to speak? You might as well let her into the bedroom like she wants. You're going to have to replace the ripped-up curtains eventually anyway, so does it matter if they get ripped up some more first? Is it possible that the attraction is just looking out the window and not the curtains themselves, BTW? That's certainly true for my cats. I have miniblinds rather than curtains; they're reasonably durable, but I still have had to replace them from time to time as my cats keep trying to climb *through* them to sit on the windowsill. So far I've had better luck with the wooden blinds than the plastic or metal ones. Anyway, you might be able to make the bedroom window less of a target by making windows in other rooms more accessible or attractive for hanging out in (by providing a window perch, for instance). Generally, I've found that living with cats requires some adjustments on my part, cat-proofing my house being one of the obvious ones. Sometimes it's easier to let the cat train you than to tear your hair out trying to train the cat to do something they just won't do. Daisy has numerous toys throughout the house and two scratching posts so I dont think she is bored, she also is fed premium kitten biscuits and wet food so her diet is fine. We have also tried ignoring her and spraying her with water which has not worked. I have also placed barriers to the curtains but she ends up finding a way to scale and rip the curtains. I know that cats are nocturnal animals who are most activate in the late evenings and early mornings, and I dont want to get rid of our curtains due to privacy reasons. You can encourage your cat to sleep later in the morning by feeding her right before you go to bed at night, instead of first thing in the morning. Here's another suggestion. One of my cats has occasional bouts of morning "crazies" -- dashing all over the house chasing imaginary critters, acting like she's a kitten again instead of a 15-year-old senior citizen cat. It's worst in the spring and early summer when the sun is up early. If I can't just roll over and ignore her and go back to sleep, one thing that sometimes works to calm her down is to catch her and bring her back to bed with me and cuddle with her a bit while physically restraining her to prevent her from tearing off again on another wild jag. Sometimes she isn't too happy about this treatment, but when I let her go she usually just stalks off quietly to recover her dignity. -Sandra |
#6
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In article ,
enlightened us with... Hi, Ive have a kitten Daisy who is about 7 months old and is driving my wife and I crazy by destroying our curtains, and meowing at the early hours of the morning. Get blinds. She's lonely. Let Daisy be with you. If she goes for the curtains, make her leave you. Go get her from them, scold her, then lock her out of the room. Praise her if she doesn't go for the curtains and let her be in the room. Do not give in and let her back in when she cries. This will take a week or so for her to "get it". When she realizes that she gets to be with you if she behaves and she has to be alone if she doesn't, she'll choose to behave. This also rquires much patience on your part for that week. Also, making the curtains unappealing by putting some citrus-scented spray (room freshener, etc) on them may help deter her. Make sure a scratching post is in your room, too. Oh, you can also play some soft music in the other room to help keep her comforted when she's not with you as well as to help hide the meowing from the neighbors. ------------------------------------------------- ~kaeli~ All I ask for is the chance to prove that money cannot make me happy. http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace ------------------------------------------------- |
#7
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In article ,
enlightened us with... Hi, Ive have a kitten Daisy who is about 7 months old and is driving my wife and I crazy by destroying our curtains, and meowing at the early hours of the morning. Get blinds. She's lonely. Let Daisy be with you. If she goes for the curtains, make her leave you. Go get her from them, scold her, then lock her out of the room. Praise her if she doesn't go for the curtains and let her be in the room. Do not give in and let her back in when she cries. This will take a week or so for her to "get it". When she realizes that she gets to be with you if she behaves and she has to be alone if she doesn't, she'll choose to behave. This also rquires much patience on your part for that week. Also, making the curtains unappealing by putting some citrus-scented spray (room freshener, etc) on them may help deter her. Make sure a scratching post is in your room, too. Oh, you can also play some soft music in the other room to help keep her comforted when she's not with you as well as to help hide the meowing from the neighbors. ------------------------------------------------- ~kaeli~ All I ask for is the chance to prove that money cannot make me happy. http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace ------------------------------------------------- |
#8
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Daisy might be needing something to scratch - do you have a scratching
post for her? Cats need to scratch to 1) exercise 2) trim their nails and 3) leave their scent to show that they 'own' the place. Daisy may be trying to do these things - she doesn't know that she's destroying something valuable! Also, at 7 months old, she's still extremely active and needs a way to exercise. I had kittens that climbed curtains also, but when they were older - somewhere over a year old, they settled down quite a bit. So, this is a phase she'll hopefully be outgrowing! I agree with the previous message that she's lonely! She's up early and wanting companionship. Or perhaps food. It's real hard to train cats to have their needs met at different times than is natural for them. Usually, us humans are the ones being trained! But, once you settle into a routine, it'll be well worth the effort. Daisy will offer you unconditional love and affection for years to come! Michelle "Eyman" wrote in message ... Hi, Ive have a kitten Daisy who is about 7 months old and is driving my wife and I crazy by destroying our curtains, and meowing at the early hours of the morning. It all started a few months ago when daisy who used to sleep on our bed with us decided to attack our new curtains in the bedroom. As these are sheer curtains there are pulls and rips all throughout the curtains. Our solution to this was to place a barrier to our bedroom to restrict Daisy's access into the bedroom but letting her freely roam around the other parts of the house. This barrier has caused another problem. Daisy now gets up at 5:00-5:30am and stands at the door barrier meowing continuously until we let her in. Once she is in she goes straight for the curtains. The problem is that we live in an apartment where we are not supposed to have pets and eventually we may be found out by Daisy's meowing which can be heard my neighbours who may also not appreciate the early wake up calls. Once I get up and Im with Daisy she is fine. I think the meowing is wanting to be with us rather than wanting to attack the curtains. Occasionally she stands at the door while my wife is asleep meowing for her to get up as well so she can be with both of us. Daisy has numerous toys throughout the house and two scratching posts so I dont think she is bored, she also is fed premium kitten biscuits and wet food so her diet is fine. We have also tried ignoring her and spraying her with water which has not worked. I have also placed barriers to the curtains but she ends up finding a way to scale and rip the curtains. I know that cats are nocturnal animals who are most activate in the late evenings and early mornings, and I dont want to get rid of our curtains due to privacy reasons. My wife and I dont know what to do because as soon as the sun comes up she is meowing, in the sense that Im up now so you need to get up as well. We dont want to have to remove daisy due to apartment rules and we are getting really tired from the early wake ups. Input into a solution for this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Eyman |
#9
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Daisy might be needing something to scratch - do you have a scratching
post for her? Cats need to scratch to 1) exercise 2) trim their nails and 3) leave their scent to show that they 'own' the place. Daisy may be trying to do these things - she doesn't know that she's destroying something valuable! Also, at 7 months old, she's still extremely active and needs a way to exercise. I had kittens that climbed curtains also, but when they were older - somewhere over a year old, they settled down quite a bit. So, this is a phase she'll hopefully be outgrowing! I agree with the previous message that she's lonely! She's up early and wanting companionship. Or perhaps food. It's real hard to train cats to have their needs met at different times than is natural for them. Usually, us humans are the ones being trained! But, once you settle into a routine, it'll be well worth the effort. Daisy will offer you unconditional love and affection for years to come! Michelle "Eyman" wrote in message ... Hi, Ive have a kitten Daisy who is about 7 months old and is driving my wife and I crazy by destroying our curtains, and meowing at the early hours of the morning. It all started a few months ago when daisy who used to sleep on our bed with us decided to attack our new curtains in the bedroom. As these are sheer curtains there are pulls and rips all throughout the curtains. Our solution to this was to place a barrier to our bedroom to restrict Daisy's access into the bedroom but letting her freely roam around the other parts of the house. This barrier has caused another problem. Daisy now gets up at 5:00-5:30am and stands at the door barrier meowing continuously until we let her in. Once she is in she goes straight for the curtains. The problem is that we live in an apartment where we are not supposed to have pets and eventually we may be found out by Daisy's meowing which can be heard my neighbours who may also not appreciate the early wake up calls. Once I get up and Im with Daisy she is fine. I think the meowing is wanting to be with us rather than wanting to attack the curtains. Occasionally she stands at the door while my wife is asleep meowing for her to get up as well so she can be with both of us. Daisy has numerous toys throughout the house and two scratching posts so I dont think she is bored, she also is fed premium kitten biscuits and wet food so her diet is fine. We have also tried ignoring her and spraying her with water which has not worked. I have also placed barriers to the curtains but she ends up finding a way to scale and rip the curtains. I know that cats are nocturnal animals who are most activate in the late evenings and early mornings, and I dont want to get rid of our curtains due to privacy reasons. My wife and I dont know what to do because as soon as the sun comes up she is meowing, in the sense that Im up now so you need to get up as well. We dont want to have to remove daisy due to apartment rules and we are getting really tired from the early wake ups. Input into a solution for this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Eyman |
#10
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Daisy might be needing something to scratch - do you have a scratching
post for her? Cats need to scratch to 1) exercise 2) trim their nails and 3) leave their scent to show that they 'own' the place. Daisy may be trying to do these things - she doesn't know that she's destroying something valuable! Also, at 7 months old, she's still extremely active and needs a way to exercise. I had kittens that climbed curtains also, but when they were older - somewhere over a year old, they settled down quite a bit. So, this is a phase she'll hopefully be outgrowing! I agree with the previous message that she's lonely! She's up early and wanting companionship. Or perhaps food. It's real hard to train cats to have their needs met at different times than is natural for them. Usually, us humans are the ones being trained! But, once you settle into a routine, it'll be well worth the effort. Daisy will offer you unconditional love and affection for years to come! Michelle "Eyman" wrote in message ... Hi, Ive have a kitten Daisy who is about 7 months old and is driving my wife and I crazy by destroying our curtains, and meowing at the early hours of the morning. It all started a few months ago when daisy who used to sleep on our bed with us decided to attack our new curtains in the bedroom. As these are sheer curtains there are pulls and rips all throughout the curtains. Our solution to this was to place a barrier to our bedroom to restrict Daisy's access into the bedroom but letting her freely roam around the other parts of the house. This barrier has caused another problem. Daisy now gets up at 5:00-5:30am and stands at the door barrier meowing continuously until we let her in. Once she is in she goes straight for the curtains. The problem is that we live in an apartment where we are not supposed to have pets and eventually we may be found out by Daisy's meowing which can be heard my neighbours who may also not appreciate the early wake up calls. Once I get up and Im with Daisy she is fine. I think the meowing is wanting to be with us rather than wanting to attack the curtains. Occasionally she stands at the door while my wife is asleep meowing for her to get up as well so she can be with both of us. Daisy has numerous toys throughout the house and two scratching posts so I dont think she is bored, she also is fed premium kitten biscuits and wet food so her diet is fine. We have also tried ignoring her and spraying her with water which has not worked. I have also placed barriers to the curtains but she ends up finding a way to scale and rip the curtains. I know that cats are nocturnal animals who are most activate in the late evenings and early mornings, and I dont want to get rid of our curtains due to privacy reasons. My wife and I dont know what to do because as soon as the sun comes up she is meowing, in the sense that Im up now so you need to get up as well. We dont want to have to remove daisy due to apartment rules and we are getting really tired from the early wake ups. Input into a solution for this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Eyman |
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