Good Night, and Good Luck. - DivX Version (Normal Quality), iPod/iPhone Version, HD Ready:720p (Super Quality)
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IMDB rating: 7.80 Plot: In the early 1950’s, the threat of Communism created an air of paranoia in the United States and exploiting those fears was Senator ‘Joseph McCarthy (II)’ (qv) of Wisconsin. However, CBS reporter ‘Edward R. Murrow (I)’ (qv) and his producer ‘Fred W. Friendly’ (qv) decided to take a stand and challenge McCarthy and expose him for the fear monger he was. However, their actions took a great personal toll on both men, but they stood by their convictions and helped to bring down one of the most controversial senators in American history. |
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Actors: Strathairn David,Downey Jr. Robert,Wise Ray,Langella Frank,Daniels Jeff,Clooney George,Donovan Tate,McCarthy Thomas,Ross Matt,Diamond Reed,Burke Robert John,Heslov Grant,Drama,History,
New development, cat's and sleeping problems, not quite sure how to handle it?
Soooo… I have 2 cats. Dexter (m) and Deb (f). Both 1.5 years old, fixed, on a high quality wet food diet, non-declawed, and normally 2 freaking awesome cats. Lately (over the past month, since I have been unemployed actually) Dexter has been howling at night if he isn’t right up on top of me while I am trying to sleep. If I close him out of the door, he howls until I let him in. Once I let him in, he hops up on the bed and kneads so close to my face that I have gotten a tiny scratch before on my forehead (even when his nails are trimmed). If I toss him off the bed, he climbs under it and claws the mattress near my head on the ground. He will also knock everything off my nightstand until I put him back on the bed, at which point he proceeds to knead non-stop again. Here is what I have tried:
- Feliway diffuser, no luck
- keeping him awake for HOURS before I go to bed, playing and running around, you name it. No luck.
- locking him in the bathroom (too close to my bedroom) I can hear him from in there and he sounds so pitiful
- Sleeping on the couch (this works sometimes, for some reason he really only acts like this when I am sleeping in my bed)
- ignoring him (that doesn’t work, he does everything he can to wake me back up)
I am losing A LOT of sleep. Luckily, I am unemployed right now and don’t have to worry about being alert for work, but I have interviews coming up, and once I am back at work, I am running out of ideas to combat this. My vet is closed for the week of Thanksgiving, but we have an appointment the Monday they are back for a check up. Anyone have any ideas I haven’t tried yet?
(Sorry this is long btw, anyone who knows me knows I can talk and talk and talk and talk lol).
Thank you for all the suggestions so far. Inundated, you have no idea how persistant this cat is, and my walls are not the thickest in the world and I worry that my neighbors can hear him. Hell, I can hear them talking right now. He WILL meow all night, for 8 hours in a row, no joke. For the poster that suggested an elevated bed, that is something I haven’t tried, but its an interesting idea, thanks!! Everyone else thank you for replying and for your support!!
Ugh, my kitty likes to do the face romping at night too sometimes; what worked for me was putting an insanely cozy and fuzzy pillow at the end of the bed so he could be very near to me but be very comfortable at the same time. After a while he decided that wasn’t good enough. We happened to move a chair next to the bed one day that has a very soft seat, and since cats prefer to be elevated, now he tends to sleep there. If I’m sitting up we’re very close to eye level, and if I’m lying down I’m actually below his level, so he seems to feel very privileged up there.
Daphne | Nov 21, 2009
I have 5 cats, and have been where you are. The bad news is that I don’t have any suggestions for you…. you sound like a GREAT cat parent, and you are doing everything you can. The good news is that I think I can tell you why he is acting this way. When I stopped working (stress leave), I had a similar thing happen. One cat started knocking things off the night table in the middle of the night, and stepping on the button on my clock to turn on the music. I tried everything too, until I finally realized why she was doing it.
Cats, like people, have varying degrees of sensitivity to external influences. I realized that Elli was picking up on my psychological state, and was reacting to it. When I was stressed, anxious etc, she felt the same way, and she was desperate for comfort, much as I was too. When I realized this, I began to try to control my feelings. My life was still in turmoil, but I tried to be conscious of my emotional states and keep them below the ‘panic’ threshhold. It seemed to help alot. I spent more time with Elli, cuddling her and giving her comfort, while I also sought help for my problems. It worked. As I became more relaxed, so did she and the behavioural issues dropped off.
Hope this helps. I suspect your lovely little boy is just picking up on your emotional state, and desperate for comfort, as I suspect you are as well.
Best
Lyssa
Lyssa | Nov 21, 2009
This is easier said than done,but for the first several weeks after adopting the kittens I had to
alter my routine as my Norwegian Forest Cat,Bella, did the same thing.Loud purring and kneading.
I went to bed later or earlier.I had to sleep in an easy chair with an obnoxious snoring tortie on
my lap.
Like you,I’m unemployed;but I can get by on 4-5 hours of sleep.
Sorry I can’t give you a better suggestion.
john | Nov 21, 2009
Cats are nocturnal. Your cat has gotten used to having you to himself at night. Before you get a new job, you need to retrain him to (a) sleep elsewhere or at least not be in the bedroom at night and (b) leave you alone at night. You need to lock him out of your bedroom when you go to bed. Don’t talk to him through the door, ignore him. He’s going to make an awful lot of noise, bashing against the door, scratching at the door, meowing loud and long. But ignore him, and try not to make a sound (and they hear really really well). If he knows you’re still awake, and especially if he gets some reaction from you, he’s going to continue to try to get into your bedroom. After a few weeks (yes, it’s going to be long time) of this, he’ll eventually figure out nothing he does is going to get him entrance into the bedroom at night and he’ll get used to it (although he’ll probably continue to test it out every now and then). Try to get him some toy that he can play with elsewhere that you only take out at night. Make sure he has a comfy bed for himself somewhere. You gotta figure he’s got nothing else to do all night except try to get into your room; you just have to outlast him. Or make it so horrible when he’s on you bed that he no longer sees it as a warm, wonderful place (like every times he’s in your bed, he gets sprayed with water or some loud ugly noise goes off or something). My cats are not allowed to sleep with us at night, ever. We do take afternoon naps sometimes together in the bed but at night, they are shooed out of the bedroom (and they’ve both been taught that "come out" means they have to come out of the room, for which they get praised). The male cat patrols the apartment at night (if you wake up and have to go to the bathroom, he’s up and it’s better to ignore him rather than to recognize he’s there or he’ll pester you) and if he hears you talk to him through the door or if he hears you rattling book pages, he meows and wants to come in. He will bash into the door to the point where I get a little worried he might hurt himself (and luckily he doesn’t scratch the door–they have stuff you can buy to discourage scratching furniture). But don’t give in so he learns no matter what, he’s not coming in to sleep with you.
Inundated in SF | Nov 21, 2009
So, you don’t care for the acupuncture head massage?
I have a silly idea, but maybe it would work. Try putting an extra pillow on your bed (near, but not too close to your head). Tuck it under the blankets a little. Maybe he’ll lay on that and knead instead of on your head. Or instead of a pillow, maybe a big stuffed animal would work.
Good luck!
Delilah | Nov 22, 2009
Oh the joy of the night! I have every idea how persistent a cat can be - it’s hell.
Some great suggestions. Get those Feliway diffusers back up and in your bedroom, they only treat 70sqm and most rooms are bigger than that. Use the Feliway spray all over your pillow, your headboard and around the edges of the bed.
A really high protein meal for him just before bedtime may help him get sleep himself - cat milk is another possibility due to the triptophan in it which may make him sleepy.
I know it’s hard to ignore a war zone of ornaments and bedroom ephemera being hurled around your head by the persistent cat, but every single time you respond to him you are rewarding him and teaching him persistence. Have you tried some heavy duty earplugs? Bose make some very good noise cancelling headphones!
New product (a food supplement) on the market, not sure if it’s available outside of Europe - Zylkene, it’s made from Casein (milk protein) which is the calming ingredient of mammalian breastmilk - after a milk feed most infant mammals have a good old kip, it’s marketed to calm cats/dogs/horses down during stressful events - for some cats it works very well to induce a feeling of well being and calmness, for some cats, no response whatsoever. It takes about 4 days to work and can be stopped at anytime. Probably a better idea than shoving SSRIs into cats which results in horrible problems such as psychogenic vomiting et al. SSRIs don’t address the behaviour just suppress the emotion/motivation causing it. Dexter is doing a seeking behaviour, it’s a case of finding out what he is seeking. Suppressing it will frustrate him in the long term
A small night light on in the room may help him feel less anxious. What does he do when you wake up and respond to him? Is he consoled? Does he go to sleep? It sounds to me as if he is very anxious around the bed and you being asleep. Are you a sleep talker/walker? It’s interesting that he has started doing this since you stopped working, he may well be picking up on your stresses and this is affecting him. Have a think about any other things that have changed since you have been at home. Being unemployed is stressful, any change is to a certain degree.
What is Deb doing when Dexter is on his nightime rampage? Try encouraging her to sleep on the bed with you, it might show Dexter that there is nothing to worry about. Does he do this to wake you or just when you are trying to sleep?
Try wearing a T Shirt for a few days without deodorant, getting it really stinky. Put this by your pillow (mmm I know, yum!) and when Dexter gets up on the bed next to you, encourage him onto it. Let him knead it for a night or two, then start moving it away from you, each night a little bit at a time. The theory being that he will head for the stinky T shirt and associate that with you and comfort. I’ve used this to stop a serial suckler/kneader before now, though not at night, she’d be on you suckling and kneading every time a person sat down. It worked well, though took about a week before she’d accept being more than a few inches away - a few inches is the difference between having your face kneaded or not though, so maybe worth a go.
A bedtime ritual can really work for cats that are anxious, you could try various combinations, that culminate in Dexter coming to bed with you as the main reward?
I think shutting him in another room is only going to make him worse.
Another thought, has anything changed in the relationship between Dexter and Deb? Tiny changes in that ever fluid cat dynamic could have brought on his needyness. Be watchful, are they behaving together in the same way they behaved before you were at home all day? Tiny changes in how you respond to both of them could be read by him as something to be anxious about.
Hope something works!
Everycat | Nov 22, 2009
Tags: 2005, Burke Robert John, Clooney George, Daniels Jeff, Diamond Reed, Donovan Tate, Downey Jr. Robert, Drama, Heslov Grant, History, Langella Frank, McCarthy Thomas, Ross Matt, Strathairn David, Wise Ray
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