How do we stop Decker from swatting/turning door knob?

[jazzcat]

We've had to start closing our bedroom door at night to get some sleep otherwise it's a cat circus all night long. Since then Decker has learned to reach up to the door knob and swat it or try to turn it. He does this at the crack of dawn every morning and we are tired of getting woke up by this startling sound. Sometimes in my sleepy state I think someone is breaking in. He doesn't just hit it once or twice, he swats and turns it a dozen or more times with each attack and he will keep doing it till he gets his breakfast. I don't feed them until around 8-9 am so he drives us crazy for a long time.

What can we do to stop this? We've tried putting a large loud floor fan at the door thinking the wind and noise will keep the cats away but Decker doesn't care, he will stand in front of it anyway. I don't know what else to do. Richard had a rough night last night and when he finally was sleeping well Decker started that racket. I just talked to him at work and he's still fuming over it. Help!

Also, I don't have any where to shut Decker up for the night so I need ideas on breaking the door knob swatting habit.

[Catty1]

Smart Decker - he's been watching!

Can the doorknob be removed from the outside, and still be okay for the inside? Even if you just took the bulb-shaped part off, it would mess with Decker's technique.

I was going to suggest wrapping a small pillow or something around it - but he would think that is FUN!

Or....let him in?

Good luck!

[jazzcat]

Okay, I think I just thought of something that might work. He does this because he wants to eat so maybe we could try a feeder on a timer to dispense his food at 6:30 am. What do you think? Do those feeders work well?

Catty - I think Decker can still make a lot of noise with the knob off. He's amazing like that, lol. Thanks for the idea though.

[rg_girlca]

Awwww Decker, you are one little devil aren't you sweetie.

Lori, have you tried just letting him in the room with you at night?

If that doesn't work, maybe putting some sticky tape on the knob might help or spraying it with a citrus smelling spray and on the floor in front of the door.

I've been having some sleepness nights with a certain little girl who decides she wants to go into hyper mode around 1-2 in the morning, so she gets locked in my room at night now, until she learns to settle down.

[Barbara]

Don't try to feed him- you will create a monster. Siegmar gets now up up to three times per night because he tried to keep them quiet with feeding.
To my experience the only thing that works is ignoring him completely. When S. is away I normally get them within 3 nights to leaving me alone. But the first night the ignoring is hard work

[jazzcat]

Barbara - we've been trying to ignore him for months now and it doesn't work. He is the most food driven cat I've ever seen. We've also tried cracking the door and spraying him with a water bottle. He just stands there and takes it.

Lorraine - I can't put him in the room with us because he sits at the door and does the same thing to get out. On top of that he has a set of lungs that would shame a fire alarm. I'll have to tape his morning yell that he does when he sees us come out of the bedroom to feed them. It's amazing!

We can't use sticky tape on the knob because Rocky will pick it off and eat it. He's done that to every piece of Sticky Paws we've used on furniture to stop the scratching. It's always something around here...

Also - citrus and bitter apple doesn't even phase Decker. In fact I've watched him lick it.

[Medusa]

Boy, you've got a dilemma there. Everything I was going to suggest, you've already tried. All my cats sleep in the basement; all their beds, food, toys, litter boxes, etc. are there and it's like they have their own apartment. I don't allow them upstairs at night because then they want to play and make noise and I need my rest. If there's no way you can put them in a different part of the house, can you cage them at night in a really large cage w/food, water and litter pan?