HELP PLEASE! Cat is causing a strain on my marriage (crazy-but true!)

We moved to a new apt on July 1. In our OLD place, Pedro (cat) was not allowed in our room, but he had the kitchen, LONG carpeted hallway, livingroom, bathroom and office to linger in.

In our new place, we've taken measures to keep him out of our room, but now- the past 3 days, he has been meowing with a random howl thrown in anywhere from 4-6am almost NON-STOP.

This is causing a strain on my marriage b/c it wakes up my husband and he gets mad for a # of reasons, but mainly 1-his sleep was disrupted and 2-he's afraid the cat's meowing will wake up our 14 month old son.

I have NO idea why he is doing this. I make sure he has fresh food and water before we goto bed-I've also put out a blankie for him to mush on, also left the blind up so he can look outside.

ANY thoughts/ideas/suggestions??
We cannot have him sleep in our room at night, as that would cause MORE tension in my marriage-the 1st night this happened, DH let Pedro in and DH said "Just keep him away from me" Hi, then I wouldn't get any sleep.

Re: HELP PLEASE! Cat is causing a strain on my marriage (crazy-but true!)

It sounds to me like Pedro is still not used to his new surroundings. As for fixing this problem, I'm not sure what to tell you as I've never had cats before, only dogs. But some behaviors are transferable.

Is Pedro "your" cat? As in did you have him before you met and married your husband?

I'm asking b/c it seems from your post that he doesn't really care for the cat. But now b/c you're living together (obviously!) he's "stuck" living with the cat.

I don't understant why won't he "let" the cat come into your bedroom? If it stops the meowing and moaning I would think he'd welcome it.

Message edited 7/25/2008 9:52:51 AM.

Re: HELP PLEASE! Cat is causing a strain on my marriage (crazy-but true!)

Sometimes one of my cats does this. We ignore her and she stops.

Are you getting up and telling him to be quiet, or going out to pet him try to get him to stop?

Re: HELP PLEASE! Cat is causing a strain on my marriage (crazy-but true!)

I think you have to ignore it and it will stop. or yell at him to stop, but with a baby in the house that may not be an option.


haha - unfortunately i have a cat that meows like crazy to be fed as soon as he sees movement from me in the morning. This morning at 5am it started, my husband screamed at him and the cat continued his furry. my husband got up and chased him around the house, then it stopped.

Re: HELP PLEASE! Cat is causing a strain on my marriage (crazy-but true!)

My cat does this, but mainly on the weekends because I sleep later. She will cry and scratch at the door and as long as I ignore her it only lasts a few minutes.

We also have to keep her out of the bedroom, because she will come in very early in the morning and meow and scratch at my side of the bed.

Re: HELP PLEASE! Cat is causing a strain on my marriage (crazy-but true!)

To answer some questions...

Yes, Pedro is "my" cat. If it were up to my DH, we wouldn't have ANY pets. We were married (and started living together) just over 2 yrs ago.

DH let Pedro in one or two times. His issues with Pedro is the hair on EVERYTHING, remnants of cat litter, the litter box (I clean it every 1-2 days), Pedro scratching/bitting-esp our son (DS does provoke it), and when Pedro lays on him (DH).

This morning we ignored it, or at least tried to. After a bit Pedro did stop, but only to start up again. It started around 5:30 and went on and off until DS got up just after 8am!

Our son was getting up between 6-7am, but is now sleeping a little later (7-8am), but Pedro is doing this meowing thing before that, as early as 5:00am!

I do admit I forgot to leave the blind up, so Pedro could look outside, which he loves.

I just am afraid that DH will try and "make" me get rid of Pedro--I am SOOOOooooo not for that!

Re: HELP PLEASE! Cat is causing a strain on my marriage (crazy-but true!)

my cat did that when he was a kitten and we brought him home for the first time... He did it for months straight and would even BANG on the door.

The reason why we HAD the door closed was because when he WOULD come in our room he would bite our feet...

He eventually stopped crying at the door and banging on it...

still bites our feet every now & then though,..

If you ignore it, I'm sure he'll get used to the place.

Re: HELP PLEASE! Cat is causing a strain on my marriage (crazy-but true!)

Our cat started this little treat a few weeks ago. She waits till were in bed then starts her howl, our door is open, she just wants us up...........
We ignore it and it stops.....

Just like a rug rat, dont get up and reward her action.
She should get tired of it.
Mine only howls for a minute now and stops.......

By next week she should will look for a new way to get my attention.

Message edited 7/25/2008 2:57:19 PM.

Re: HELP PLEASE! Cat is causing a strain on my marriage (crazy-but true!)

Re: HELP PLEASE! Cat is causing a strain on my marriage (crazy-but true!)

He may hear/see another cat outside. My cat used to howl during the night whenever he saw or heard a neighborhood cat outside.

Re: HELP PLEASE! Cat is causing a strain on my marriage (crazy-but true!)

DH and i went thru this too, (almost) exact same situation

what helped was cranking the AC so we couldn't hear the cat cry. he eventually stopped. he's looking for attention (they are way too smart ) and when he doesn't get it he'll find something else to do around that time.