Expert: Dear Tabbi - 11/11/2009

Question
Hello, I have a 4(ish) month old female kitten that we adopted on the first from our local shelter.  The first night we brought he home she of course whined all night at our bedroom door, we just assumed that since it was her first night here she was a little scared (as with any newly adopted animal).She is very much a lap animal. If I'm not holding her or petting her she whines at your face and tried to groom my face(and she occasionally nibbles) After that night she didnt whine for almost a week. She picked back up on the whining about last weekend and has continued every night since. We have locked her in the bathroom (with food, water and her litterbox) and she still whines. Last night we decided to leave the door open and it was working fine till about 1 in the morning both our 2 month old, Titan (a feral abandoned by his mom, who we rescued)and Sage (our 4month old kitten)both decided to get on the bed, which was fine except Sage started clawing at me for no reason. She is tearing up our carpet in our apartment and we dont want to replce it. I'm about to buy some Sticky Paws and try it out to see if it might work. I don't want to give her back Sage and Titan get along well and I would hate to give her back.

What can I do to stop this whining at night?

Answer
Alayna,

Play with her before you go to bed. A pet laser light is an excellent interactive toy (you can get them at PetSmart, Petco, etc.). A good play session before bedtime will tire her out, which is essential for a good nights sleep for you both, and she is getting the attention that she is trying to get from you early in the morning.

Give the cat a can of catfood after you play with her, just before you go to bed. That way her tummy is full, she is tired, and you have more of a chance of her sleeping through the night. Leaving a bowl of dry food out at night will help too. If she gets the munchies, she won't have to try to wake you and it will tide her over until morning.

Regarding her attention getting behavior:

Ignoring her will be difficult and annoying to do, but habits are hard to break and that is what you need to do. You cannot acknowledge her actions in ANY way. She will EVENTUALLY stop when she doesn't get any reaction or attention from you. You MUST be consistant though. If you react even once to her behavior, then it won't work, and it will be worse because the cat will know if she does it long enough eventually you WILL react, so she will keep it up (she hasn't got anything else to do).

I hope this helps.

Tabbi