I'm keeping my friend's cat company HELP!

[Marthe48]

My friend has been ill and in and out of the hospital lately, currently in rehab. I live about 2 1/2 hours away. My friend has an elderly cat, that I've known since my friend has had her. Her neighbor has been feeding the cat through the week, and I've been going to my friend's Friday-Monday or longer, to give the neighbor a break, keep the kitty company and visit my friend. The cat gets 3 small cans of special diet food daily and I give her some before I go to bed.

When I sleep, the cat gets on the bed. When I first started going to stay, the cat slept on the bed and didn't bother me. The last 3 times I've stayed, the cat wakes up around 1 or 2 am and starts bothering me. She walks up my body, she walks across the pillow, she puts her face in my face. This goes on until I finally get out of bed around 6 am. I am not getting enough sleep. I got back to my house today, and I can't wait for bed.

I have tried turning away from the cat. I put her on the floor and moved the little bench she uses to jump up to the bed. Turns out, she doesn't need the bench! I try to cover my head, but I can't do the for long. I'm sleeping in the big bed, because I knew from other visits that the day bed isn't big enough for the cat and me. I moved to the far side of the big bed in case I was taking her spot. I tried to shut her out of the room, but the latch isn't tight, and she came right back in. I have to get up once or twice a night to use the bathroom, so I tried giving her a spoonful of food each time. None of this is settling her down, or keeping her from bothering me. I don't want to stress the cat, but I need to be rested.

Does anyone have suggestions?

When I go back up this weekend, I'm going to block the door shut. Or sleep in my car.

[Ocelot II]

1. Can you play with the cat for awhile to tire her out before you go to bed?

If she's an older cat she might not play much, but a little play might be enough. Maybe some catnip. It's clear that she's lonely and wants your attention - but you do need to sleep.

[Marthe48]

9. She doesn't play much

and I think my friend said the kitty doesn't like catnip. I tried playing with her yesterday and she wasn't interested.

For years, my friend has kept an odd schedule, mainly due to her health. She stays up late, sleeps a couple hours, gets up for awhile, goes back to bed, gets up, runs errands or walks, goes back to bed. So she and the kitty are used to a broken up day. I get up, stay up till bedtime, and go to bed. I imagine the kitty thinks I should get on the right schedule if I'm going to be there. lol

[slightlv]

13. If she doesn't like catnip,

try Valerian. You can get it in capsules for us to take as a sleep aid. Open up the capsules, dump the contents into an old sock and watch the kitty go wild. Even those cats that don't care about catnip go crazy for Valerian. Note of warning for you, tho: Valerian smells like dirty gym socks to us!!!!

[Marthe48]

15. That's new to me

We tried Valerian years ago for sleeping. Didn't know cats were affected by the smell.

[slightlv]

16. Mine go absolutely bonkers for it!

We did have a friends cat who had to have her time with it watched and measured, tho... that calico got a little too aggressive after rolling all over the sock for a while.

I used to make these things I called "kickers" for cats. They were just 6" long tubes that help catnip, cat mint, and valerian. My cats loved them so much. But then my eyesight got so bad, I couldn't see the eye of the needle to thread it anymore! (sigh).... Found my passion too late in life (LOL).

[Deuxcents]

2. Cats are nocturnal..sleep all day n up at night, mostly.

My cat is getting older n has learned the art of acting like she’s starving so be careful about too much food. The good advice from the poster about trying to play with her to tire her out but that rarely works for me. This I do know..cats know exactly how to manipulate and pretty much rule the place. Dogs have masters n cats have servants! So very sweet of you to help your friend.

[Marthe48]

8. Every cat is a bum

She tries to fool me, but if I don't fall for it, she goes back to the couch.

[magicarpet]

3. Block the bedroom door.

Use a larger plastic laundry detergent bottle or two. Or find gallon plastic bottles with lids - milk, vinegar, anything. Fill with water and keep by the bedroom door. Once you go to bed prop the bottle(s) against the door so she can't push them out of the way and gain entry to your sleeping room.

[Marthe48]

7. Good idea

I was going to put a strip of duct tape down low. lol

[FullySupportDems]

4. It is so sweet of you to cat sit

If there are any shirts or things in the laundry hamper that have your friend's scent on them, and if she doesn't mind, you could try making a little cat nest with them on the bed, where it leaves you enough room too. Sometimes cats appreciate it when we make them their own spot.

Bless you and I hope you get some rest!

[Marthe48]

6. I'm doing chores while I'm there

so all of my friend's clothes are clean. I let the kitty have shirts I've worn, and she sleeps on those.

We've been friends about 67 years, so this is what we do If it doesn't end well for my friend, I'll bring the kitty home with me.

[FullySupportDems]

10. Good friends like you are awesome!

It's good to hear her cat will be okay. I sure hope your friend pulls through.
Best wishes to you both.

[Marthe48]

12. Thanks

Hoping for the best

[elleng]

5. So nice and brave of you.

[bamagal62]

11. When my cat does that, she is trying to tell

Me something. Most of the time it’s that she wants to get under the covers. One thing I also do for our cat is put wet food on the night table next to my bed for the night. She usually leaves me alone if I do that. Another thing Ive always done is putting a heating pad at the end of my bed. I set it at low. She curls up and sleeps like a baby. Many times they are just cold and want warmth or food.

[Marthe48]

14. My friend's kitty wants you!

Because you sound so nice! I'll try a couple of your suggestions.

Last weekend, I ended up throwing the blanket over her and laying in my clothes. She got out from under, got off the bed and left me alone the rest of the night. I thought I found a solution, but it didn't work this weekend.

[PikaBlue]

17. My cat does that when he's hungry.

Some days, he goes off his feed so to speak. Then he bullies me awake in the middle of the night because the food he didn't eat is "contaminated" and he wants fresh food. He started this after his brother died and I suspect it's due to anxiety.

[Blue Owl]

18. Kitty loves you!

Cats wouldn’t do that unless they trust you, so you should feel honored. And like the others have posted, it’s possible Kitty wants to be fed — my cat wakes me up when the food dish gets empty!

[Ocelot II]

20. If you find her sleeping, wake her up, don't let her sleep.

Even if she won't play with you, just keep pestering her so she doesn't sleep (tit for tat, right?). Maybe by the time you go to bed she'll want to sleep, too.