I'm Crashing

[elizabethann]

I'm looking for suggestions.

Cosmo keeps me up all night. Last night was the last straw. I'm crashing at work right now. I'm totally exhausted. Cosmo wakes me up every 2 hours to either eat or be patted. The last time I had an complete 8 hour sleep was when I went on vacation....3.5 weeks ago. I don't know what to do.

I can't close the bedroom door because that would freak Fenway out and Cosmo would just sit there and meow & scratch on it.

I can't use baby gates because again, that would freak Fenway out and Cosmo would probably try to climb it and meow & meow and then the thing would probably fall on him as he tried to climb it...and he's pretty frail.

Does anybody have any suggestions? He's got kidney disease and he's 11 years old. Should I bring him to the vets? What do you think? I use nightlights for him so he can see at night. He used to howl until I got the nightlights.

I'm at a loss as to what to do.

Please help me.

[emily_the_spoiled]

Can you put Cosmo is a spare room with a night light (and close the door)? That way Fenway would still have access and you might get a little more sleep.

[CathyBogart]

You might call and ask the vet if he can prescribe him an anti-anxiety medication. Poor guy,and poor you!!

[elizabethann]

You might call and ask the vet if he can prescribe him an anti-anxiety medication. Poor guy,and poor you!!

That's a good idea.

Emily, I don't have a spare room (but I appreciate the idea). I live in a 3 room apartment and the only doors I have are to my bedroom & the bathroom. Thanks anyhow.

[lvpets2002]

Been down that road with my first babies.. First I just learned to get in as much sleep every two hours & for sure when the babies were asleep.. I also put night lights in every room.. I also made sure all had full tummys before bed time & that helped.. Last but least if needed I went to the garage to sleep & gave the house to the babies..

[Kirsten]

I also think you should contact your vet about this. Could it be he's losing his sense of hearing?

Kirsten

[jazzcat]

I'm right there with you. Five of my seven want to sleep with me and the other two come and go on the bed. I am getting sick from lack of sleep so last night we had enough and shut the bedroom door. We sleep with an air purifier running that makes noise so I didn't hear the pawing at the door but Richard did. He said he got up and sprayed outside the door with the water bottle to make them stop. I feel much better today after finally getting about 7 hours of undisturbed sleep.

All is not great though. Ripley decided to let us know how he felt about the closed door and pooped in the dining room. Figures!!! There was no reason to do it except to show he is mad. He has big time behavioral problems.

[catmandu]

I have never really had this problem since I had the Found Cat Hotel but I can remember when Pouncer was a clingy Kitten and she used to MEEEEOOOW when I left the apartment and wanted to play all the time too.
I think that getting Mr Scrappy solved that.
You may have to put aside an hour before bed time and wear down Cosmos energy level , although if hes that ill that might not be a good idea.

[Taz_Zoee]

I hate to bring this up, but has this only been since Maxie is gone?
But I would suggest the vet as well. Good luck! I hope you can get sleep soon.

[Medusa]

Try earplugs. Seriously. They work.

[Freedom]

Ruffles was like this when her thyriod started overdrive.

I put her in the spare bedroom with a huge dish of food. She has a soft place to sit in there and a few toys, and that worked.

I know, you said no extra bedroom. What about
- play time before you got to bed.
- you and Fenway in your room, kitty in the rest of the space with food and toys; you keep a squirt bottle to stop the meowing and scratching
- OR kitty in the bathroom with the food and door closed, night light on
- OR kitty in the bedroom and you on the sofa
-OR get a garage like someone else suggested.

Will be curious to hear if the vet had any suggestions.

[elizabethann]

I hate to bring this up, but has this only been since Maxie is gone?
But I would suggest the vet as well. Good luck! I hope you can get sleep soon.

It's actually gotten worse since then. I think because Maxie wore the pants in the family, Cosmo thought twice about disturbing me while I slept (because Maxie always slept with me). Cosmo has come out of his shell since Maxie's death and I think now he thinks he wears the pants in the family and can wake me up whenever he feels like it.

Last night I gave him some tuna before I went to bed. I woke up at 11:10pm (because Fenway shook and I could hear his tags clinking) and then Fenway woke me up at 2am because he had to pee (he's on medication that makes him pee). Cosmo actually woke me up at 5am. So last night it was Fenway that woke me up - not Cosmo.

I give up.

[Sonia59]

Peppito did the same for years and I could not put him in a separate room as my apartment was too small by that time.
Two things that helped: giving plenty of food, as the others said; and use water spray. Peppito is really conditionned to it now: he stops being naughty just by seeing the bottle In the middle of the night it helps calming him from meowing and trying to get us up, but the problem is that aftewards he needs some cuddling to be sure we still love him, so he sits on my partner's chest (7 kg) and starts licking his face and purring like an engine A nightmare!

He is improving with years though. Now he tries to wake us up only in the morning, at 5:00 at the soonest, or 7:00. And most of the time it's because he is hungry.

Jasmine is the opposite: she gives only a very cute "meow?" just after we wake up During the night she plays downstairs alone.