# My cat wakes me up for attention!



## ck14 (Jun 16, 2008)

About a month and a half ago I took in a male stray that was living in my alley. We've gotten along great and he's mostly well behaved. I live in a fairly large studio apartment so thankfully he has a lot of room to play (and a lot of toys!).

I work eight hours a day but I always make sure to spend some quality time with him every morning before I leave (10-15 minutes talking to him and petting him) and when I get home. He's fairly independent but he's very affectionate and loves when I give him attention.

The problem is that he wakes me up so he can get attention! About two weeks or so ago he started waking me up at 3am and again at 6am (I get up at 7:30am). I know he's not too bored because he plays almost all night and he's not hungry because I usually get up and check to see if his food or water dish is empty.

He's normally a gentle cat but he wakes me up twice a night by scratching my face or digging with both front paws into my side or armpit. Once I'm awake he'll start purring and headbutting. He will scratch me over and over again until I start petting him and if I stop out come the claws. He usually wanders off after 5-10 minutes so I can sometimes get back to sleep. 

He started this behavior because I used to ignore him when he'd jump in bed next to me and meow for attention. I can't ignore his claws and several times he's scratched my eyelids. 

How can I change his behavior? I've tried giving him extra attention before bed, ignoring him, raising my voice, and pushing his paws away when he goes to bat my nose. 

I've considered closing him up in my large bathroom while I sleep but I want him to have as much room as possible. He does like to sleep next to me sometimes and I don't want to deprive him of that contact but I don't want him to wake me up with his claws anymore!


----------



## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

Studio apartment means you don't have a door to close, correct? Then you'll have to redouble your efforts at ignoring him. Even getting up to check the water dish gives him some attention because he sees that his disturbing you works. If you've given the ignoring the best shot and that didn't work for you, then try some "tough love." Shove him off the bed every time he disturbs you. Hopefully, he'll learn that if he wants to be on the bed, he's going to have to not disturb you. But you have to be consistent about it. This worked for me.


----------



## nanook (Jun 12, 2005)

Yea, those claws can be quite a shock at 3 am.
Every cat I've ever had has done this. The only thing that has worked for me (and it always has) is to COMPLETELY ignore them. No matter how annoying. Just pull the covers over your head so he doesn't go for your eye lids. If he really keeps it up and gets too feisty, then unceremoniously (don't talk to him) dump him off the bed. But I would really try to avoid it if you can as that, in itself, can become a fun game. 
Just be prepared to not get a decent nights sleep for awhile but, I promise, if you stick with it, he'll figure it out and stop bothering you.
Also, as you mentioned, a really good play session right before bed and then a snack can help a lot.
Good luck!


----------



## Rain13 (May 21, 2008)

The best way to extinguish behavior is called Operant Extinction, which basically consists of no longer responding to the given undesired behavior in any way. That means no rewarding it (which you are doing in getting up to feed him and change his water) but also no punishing it. 

So, in your case, the thing to do would be to simply do your best to give him no response at all. When he wakes you up, don't acknowledge him but instead simply cover your face so you don't get scratched and try your best to sleep. If you can't sleep, pretend to sleep. After a certain amount of time goes by and your cat learns that performing this behavior no longer results in being fed or cared to, he will eventually stop.


----------



## ck14 (Jun 16, 2008)

I tried ignoring him last night but he's a persistent little guy. He really did a number on me, I have injured ribs and he kept walking all over me. I did manage to sleep until 5am thankfully, and I'm going to keep ignoring him. He usually picks up on stuff fairly quickly. When I first adopted him he'd bite a lot and I'd turn by back on him and ignore him for a few minutes and after 2-3 days he stopped biting. He also learned to stay away from a chair after getting sprayed with water twice and he knows if I raise my voice that means he'd better get off the kitchen counter. I guess I was just hoping that this issue could be solved just as quickly but I need to modify my behavior too.


----------



## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

It takes about a week or two if the behavior isn't established. If it's been reinforced and well-established, it's going to take correspondingly longer.


----------



## Frenchy (May 12, 2006)

My cat does the same thing. She always wants to get under the covers. Will stay under there for five minutes then leave, then wants to get back under the covers. She pats at my face, but luckily hasn't taken to scratching me. All that I can handle and sleep through. But when she meows it annoys the crap out of me. Good luck.


----------



## Rain13 (May 21, 2008)

ck14 said:


> When I first adopted him he'd bite a lot and I'd turn by back on him and ignore him for a few minutes and after 2-3 days he stopped biting. He also learned to stay away from a chair after getting sprayed with water twice and he knows if I raise my voice that means he'd better get off the kitchen counter. I guess I was just hoping that this issue could be solved just as quickly but I need to modify my behavior too.


Responding to your cat by spraying him with water is called Aversive Punishment, whereas simply ignoring him is called Operant Extinction. In some cases, Aversive Punishment works, like in your chair example. In other cases, however, it will only serve to reinforce the behavior. When your cat bites and scratches you early in the morning he is trying to get your attention, and while yelling at him or spraying him may be unpleasant to him, it *is* a form of attention from you. The only way to truly get him to stop is by enforcing Operant Conditioning in stopping all responses to him when he does this behavior. It may take a long time, but nothing else will work.


----------



## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

That's interesting Rain, I've known about those techniques for some time, but never knew there was a name attached. There's another technique called "time-out" where the offender is separated from the group for a period of time. I was just wondering if that has a name attached to it also.


----------



## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

100% agree with the "ignore him" advice, but want to add one thing...If you haven't clipped his nails, then that will help with the scratching. He may only be trying to pat your face and not inflict injury, but if the nails are overly long they'll extend too far and you'll be scratched. It will give you more stamina to ignore him if you know the scratching danger has been minimized.


----------



## carolsclan (Jun 28, 2006)

I have chronic sinus , and dear Max who has loooooong fur decided to head butt me most of the night .. 

Now im hijacking the thread


----------

