New routines and staying in at night times

[psmithaitchison]

Hello eveyone. My five year old male (neutered, chipped & vaccinated) cat has always been allowed to come in and out as he pleases ( no cat flap though) and we've been guilty of free feeding. i.e., re-filling his bowl whenever it's empty!)
We moved house to near quite a busy road, in February, plus there are building works going on, in our building, going on nearly a year, now. This has resulted in him going out before bed time, when it's quiet, and not wanting to come in again until it quietened down, the next evening. I'm worried about him being out all night, especially now it's colder so we've done some research and decided to implement a proper feeding schedule, to facilitate him going out in the evening,and coming in before bed time and then staying in all night. We're half way through the recommended two week programme of playing with him, feeding him and then letting him sleep but he STILL wakes about 3 / 4 am, wanting to go out. He'll use his tray if he needs the loo but he yowls and scratches the furniture for attention. We've had a week of sleepless nights and we're exhausted.
I just wondered if anyone had any successful stories of similar situations, or advice. We're totally ignoring his night-time scratching and miaowing but I'm just not sure it's going to get us anywhere
We've also checked and he has no underlying health issues, so it's purely behavioural.
r

[Crewella]

I had to do the same with my gang when I decided to lock them in at night, only one really had a problem with it. We let him out for a bit of the evening and feed them late, so we call them in then lock the doors. We had two or three weeks of wailing (and growling, as he's a grumpy little git) at the back door, we said "No, it's bedtime Merrick" once and then ignored him. We very occasionally have him go to the door now, but he did get the hang of it and if he does try he soon gives up now. Keep doing what you're doing, and stick to your guns - give in once and you undo several nights of doing it right, you WILL get there! It's worth a couple of sleepless weeks if you know you're not going to have them in the future.

It's a good time of year to be doing it - for the last three nights I've had to push Merrick out the door for a pee just before dinner time and he's been shouting to get back in!

[Alice]

Hi, you don't say what type of furniture your puss scratches during the night, but to reduce/prevent damage you could try putting lengths of double sided tape on the relevant areas - cats hate the feel of the sticky tape under their paws. I've found it very effective in the past. If he doesn't already have a scratch post, it might be useful to give him one now that he hasn't as much opportunity to scratch out of doors. There's plenty of choice in pet shops and here.....

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/scra ... osts/small" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regarding the noise - well done for ignoring him - it's hard to do, but worth it - he'll soon learn that it doesn't achieve anything, and hopefully stop doing it. In the meantime, could you sleep with a low radio playing to (hopefully) drown out the noise of the scratching? Otherwise you might consider ear plugs!

[psmithaitchison]

He's scratching the ikea wardrobe, mostly, which luckily is fairly indestructible so I'm not worried about damage. He has a scratching post but has never used it, despite us trying for years!
My husband can't sleep with any background noise and I can't wear earplugs, they're too uncomfortable and I'm worried we won't hear the alarm.
Old fashioned perseverance it is, then!
Thank you!

[Fran_ki]

Well done in persevering with this. It sounds great advice you're getting there too. I've not had to do anything like this so can't help I'm afraid.
If the wee one doesn't like using a scratching post have you tried this ?
My Kenzie loved these. Some cats prefer to scratch horizontally rather than upright .

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Catit-Jungle-St ... +scratcher" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[JulieJulie]

Very wise of you to keep your cat in cat night.
Is there any way you could add a cat run to the back of your house? I've always kept mine in at night, even when I've taken in new adult rescues who have been allowed out all night, but they are much happier and more settled now they can at least be 'outdoors'. During the day the cat run door is left open so they can have total free run of the garden, wider world. In the evening I put the cat flat to IN ONLY until they are all home (doesn't usually take long if they are hungry except on a balmy summers night) and then I close the cat run door.
I always also leave my shed door open with some suitable cat bedding in, just in case I accidentally mis count and leave one out (I'm fortunate to have electricity in the shed so heated pad in there too - often find a neighbouring cat enjoying this.)

[psmithaitchison]

This made me laugh because where we used to live, my cat would often be found in our neighbour's cat's heated igloo!
We live in a ground floor flat, now, and although he has direct access to the communal grounds, we're not able to build a catio.
As a update, though, aside from a few nights when my husband just couldn't stand the disturbance, we've kept him in most nights, since New Year. He usually just sleeps on our bed, wakes about 6am,scratches a bit, uses his tray then goes to sleep under the bed. A few nights a week, he sleeps right through.
We're letting him out at tea time and he always come back before we go to bed.
We've bought him new toys and I'm really enjoying spending more time with him.
It's not perfect yet but my mind is very much more at ease and he's adjusted brilliantly.
I'm very proud of him.