Hey /an/
Coming to you for advice on my cat.
She's approx. 18mths old, black DSH. Desexed, wormed, got all her shots etc.
Here's my problem:
She keeps scratching at my/my housemates' door at night and early in the morning.
If I keep her in my room overnight she scratches to get out in the morning, and if she's locked out of my/my housemates' rooms then she scratches at the door to be let in. Then, will sometimes scratch to bet let out again a few minutes later. All this would tell me she's doing this for attention. It wakes me and my housemate up early and it's annoying the shit out of me, but more my housemates.
I've tried negative reinforcement (water spray bottle, telling her no firmly, picking her up by the scruff and firmly telling her 'no' and placing her away from the door) but this has not worked. If she's at the door scratching she just runs away as soon as you approach her and then resumes scratching a few minutes later. I tried sticky tape on the door as a deterrent but she just sticks her paws to it which causes the door to bang constantly.
My housemates want to build a makeshift wall across a door further back in the house to stop her from reaching our doors, but I feel like this is ridiculous and doesn't address the behaviour it just makes it so we don't have to deal with it.
I've suggested that we just ignore the behaviour and eventually she'll realise scratching achieves nothing and give it up. But my housemates are faggots and don't want to put up with the scratching until it self-corrects. The housemates also do not want the cat in their rooms overnight.
Please give me some advice /an/ it's stressing meowt. I don't want to give up my kitty but these faggots are making it hard to live with her.
>>2122023
>>2122028
>>2122028
My cat has a scratching post.
It also has free run of the couches, outside and my bed base. It isn't longing for scratching surfaces. It's a different scratching anyway - it isn't a stretching or claw maintenance kinda thing, it's a quick tap-tap-tap. Like she's trying to get through to door. She also tries to stick her face underneath and put her paws under.
It's a cat. It doesn't want to be trapped. Cats are largely nocturnal and don't sleep on your schedule.
There are exceptions, like one of my two. She has full range of the house but hardly leaves my room(door is always open, she isn't skittish or fat, just doest care) and sleeps on my time to the point where she will meow nonstop to let me know its time to get the fuck to bed. Then again, she is also 26 years old at this point.
Not all pets will be convenient for you and you will have to work around them. Your cat is unlikely to stop, but you can try playing with her more and tiring her out during the day to see if she settles at night.
>>2122031
>She also tries to stick her face underneath and put her paws under.
could there something under the door?
>>2122035
She goes to bed when I do and sleeps through the night.
The main issue is when I stay over at my gf's house, then she scratches at my housemate's doors at night and in the morning, presumably because she doesn't want to be alone while she sleeps and in the morning I guess because she realises she's trapped and cracks the shits. Sounds like I need to train my housemates to accept the fact she's a cat.
They were so into having a cat when I suggested it. Gave them full veto power. But no, they were cool with it. Now push comes to shove and they're being fuckheads.
This has become a whinge thread now. Fuck it. Thanks /an/, I'll tell them to suck it up and if not I'll just kick them out. They shit me anyway.
>>2122035
16 years old*
That's be nuts if I had a cat older than me.
Is there a need on your parts to keep the doors closed? there are sponge wedges (normally for childsafe) you can install on your doors to keep them ajar.
Another alternative is to put something that is off-putting fory our cat to scratch, like aluminium foil or double sided tape, on the areas she scratches. But she'll resort to just scrabbling at the floor or carpet because the fundamental issue of her wanting to check in on everyone is there.
No issue for me re door but housemates don't want her in their rooms while they're sleeping so they keep theirs closed. If I leave mine open she leaves my room to scratch their doors.
Double sided tape did not work - see OP.
Eat the cat
try aluminum foil
you're using the term "negative reinforcement" incorrectly. it's called positive punishment
but what you can do is try the tape again, and buy a small three ring binder and slip it snugly under the door. will keep it from banging around.
is there anything she's trying to get to, like water or food or her litterbox?
Cats dont like shut doors. Just keep her in your room when you're gone and cant watch her
you cant train cats the way you train dogs. Give her something else to go for in the morning. Spray lemon juice at the base of your roomies door and start giving her treats in an area away from your rooms first thing in the morning. She'll start going there instead.
Also consider getting another cat for her to mess around with so she has someone else to bother
