Do you want to stop your cat from scratching the door at night? Everyone should be able to enjoy a healthy, undisturbed sleep at night. Yet as soon as you close the door, your cat starts to scratch and meow with an unbelievable intensity.
Eventually, it ruins your night, not to mention the scratches and damage to your door. More than likely, you let your cat usually in anyway. Is there a way to stop this? Yes, absolutely!
This article will teach you how to stop your cat from scratching the bedroom door at night, which will help you sleep better.
#1 Don’t reward your cat’s tries
What do you do when your cat is scratching at the door? Do you let him or her in? Do you yell at them or punish in some other way? Do you open a can of their favorite food? Whatever it is: Don’t do it!
Your cat is not trying to enter the room because he has to be everywhere. (Well, actually he or she does, but that’s beside the point.) Your cat wants your attention. Even if you yell at your cat, or even if you punish them, it’s still attention. If your cat wants attention and gets it, they will repeat what they did to get it. Even if you didn’t mean to, you just taught your cat that their behavior will be rewarded.
Which leads us to a conclusion: If you provide any attention, your cat will scratch at the door more.
Therefore, you should ignore your cat completely. Within several days, provided you also follow the advice below, your cat may learn that their tries lead to no results, at which point they will try it less and less.
#2 Feed your cat in meals and play before them if you can
There are several benefits to feed your cat in meals. The beauty is in the fact that you actually play, for at least (but more is recommended) several minutes before every meal. One of the biggest benefits of playing with your cat (find out about others here) is that they will expend energy during the activity. Less energy means less scratching.
Wild cats naturally hunt before meals, which the playing sort-of replicates. After a meal, cats have to regain the energy spent during the hunt, so they usually go for a nap.
If you play with your cat before every meal, they will understand how the day works and will be less troublesome at night.
An additional tip: serve the final meal of the day minutes before you go to sleep. It is best if your cat finishes only when you are in bed and pretend to be asleep.
#3 Make bedroom entrance less appealing for your cat
One of the simplest way to stop your cat scratching the door at night is to close the door and place a device called “sssCat” on the floor in front of it. What is it? sssCat is a motion-activated pet deterrent that releases a burst of air every time anyone comes closer.
Your cat comes to a bedroom door, tries to scratch at it, but sssCat lets loose a burst of air. Your cat will not try scratching again very soon, and even if he does, sssCat will do its dirty job again… and again. What this device provides is consistency, and in any training, consistency is key. Pretty soon your cat will understand that the door is not a very friendly location at night, and will not even try to approach it. You can buy sssCat here on Amazon.
Another thing that many cats don’t like is a runner mat placed with pins up next to a door, and/or double-sided tape stuck to the door. Cats don’t like putting their paws on either of them and if the door is covered with sticky tape, he will not want to scratch at it.
You can find more ways to keep your cat out of the bedroom here.
#4 Enrich your cat’s environment
Even as you try to scare your cat out of the bedroom, make sure you do not make him miserable and stressed. Make sure he has something to appreciate in his part of the house available at night. What about a cat tree? Get more than one, and install some shelves on the walls so that your cat can climb, jump, and perch. Add some opportunities for solo play by tossing fake mice and other cat toys around. This Cat Ball Puzzle with 3 levels keeps our cats entertained.
Click here to find other ways to “catify” your home.
How soon should you expect results and stop your cat from scratching the bedroom door at night? In most cases, you will see some improvement within a few days. Barring that, if you stick to the above advice, your cat’s behavior should change after two weeks. Of course, even after that, you will still need to play with your cat a lot, to prevent him from waking you up at night again.
