Need sleep - buy a cat cage !!!

[Susan]

My cats Tasha & Sparky used to wake me up in the early hours of each morning and I was becoming exhausted then I found my solution...... a large dog cage with a lockable door.....

The cage has a choice of beds, a cat cube with a Whiskas bed on top and a padded lounger at the front.

Every night the cats are told it's bedtime and get up from wherever they are lounging and walk to their cat cage and choose their bed for the night ...... then I go to bed and sleep !!!

They are always pleased to see me in the morning and will often go in the cage at other times to sleep in peace so I know that feel quite comfortable there.

If you are getting woken up give this a try .

[Dean Dwyer]

Hey Susan,

I know we just talked about this, but great post. As I mentioned I too have a cat/alarm clock that wakes me up once a night, somewhere between 3 to 4:30 am. You have inspired me...when I get back home (I am currently away n Poland for another week) I am going to get a large dog cage and give this a shot.

And of course if I have no luck then I can always go with plan B...I will sleep in the cage!!

DD.

[Susan]

Like your style Dean

[Klevftorp's Katteri]

Hunting time ..no matter cage or what. Natural for cats. Cage ?????

[Susan]

dont worry, they actually do sleep at night as they are both indoor cats from birth ( their mother was also an indoor cat ). They wake up when we come into the room in the morning and even their toilet habits work fine with this ( they have never had an accident in their beds or the cage ). They often go in there for a nap during day or early evening and as for hunting .... a baby bird once got into our kitchen through a loose air brick, we arrived home from shopping to find 2 young cats sitting watching the baby bird hopping around and hiding when it went towards them, I am afraid the only hunting instinct they have is to hide and pounce on each other in play. And it is a big cage !!!

[David]

Why not do the obvious and close your bedroom door? God forbid you ever had a problem with gas, fire or carbon monoxide, an animals senses are sharper than ours and your cats could save your life. If CO or gas renders you unconscious you can't help them and they can't help themselves. Our cat will wait until the alarm goes off, then touch her nose to the brass portion of the lamp and turn the nightstand lights on. If we don't get up she licks our arm and meows.

[Susan]

Unfortunately my cats can open the kitchen, lounge and bedroom doors .... they have found various ways of doing this, jumping on the handles and pulling the bottom of the doors until they come unlatched etc
I hope we are never unlucky enough to have a problem with gas etc but all my appliances are checked annually so I do my best to ensure against this. We could think up lots of scenarios where the worst could happen , they are indoor cats and I work .... how would they escape the fire etc
All I can do is try my best to keep us all safe and well and hope like anyone the worst never happens to us.
Great that you have such a well behaved cat who understands alarms and wakes you so delicately though

[David]

Sometimes I think she understands too well. Now if she could differentiate between weekdays & and weekends It would be great...LOL
To answer your question:
"they are indoor cats and I work .... how would they escape the fire etc" - the first window to break or the first wall breached and they would be out.

[Donna]

I came up with a solution that has worked very well with 13 cats. Since I live alone and do not entertain that often and my house is small, I have put up screen doors on my bedroom doors. That way I can leave the bedroom doors open and have the screen door closed to keep out cats. This way the air still circulates through the house and you can hear and smell anything throughout the house. I do have two cats and my two dogs in the bedroom with me at night. My house does have a fire and CO detector. I am able to sleep well that way. Some cats do scratch at the wood on the screen door but the door serves its purpose.

[Susan]

Now that would be a clever feline lol

[Dean Dwyer]

Sadly I have concluded that I have cat 1.0 and not the latest cat3.0 that you both have. Mine neither has the dexterity or opposable thumbs needed to open or close doors or turn lights and appliances off or on. And to my knowledge he has not been trained (at least formally) in first aid, CPR or emergency techniques so i if I encounter CO leaks I am pretty sure I am on my own. Clearly I am in need to the latest updates or implants for my cat!!

Is it possible you both have circus cats? Check and see if they can ride a bicycle? If they can you definitely have a circus fugitive.

David it sounds like your cat could probably work a fire extinguisher so you should be fine if a fire does break out. Susan might I suggest you give your cats a key to the house. That way when they sneak out at night they can at least lock the door behind them.

DD

[David]

CPR or emergency techniques...No, Wake you...Yes. Animals sense things long before they become an immediate threat to our health & safety. If your alert you have time to get out safely. We all know how easily a cat can wake us under normal situations, now amplify that in an emergency situation. This is applies to being alerted by your pet not treated to put it in proper context.

[Susan]

Oh Dean, your message really gave me a giggle.......I don't think I would class them as circus cats but they are very devious and work as a pair to out fox their parents. They are just so determined sometime and short of actually locking them into a room I as a mere human have no chance !!!! And as for giving them a key .... they would probably learn how to use it ... ha ha

Will let you know if a chip for version 3 ever becomes available x