I got home late, around 9 and Leo was chilling in the hall. The door to the entry-way had been closed, prior to my arrival, to prevent any scratching of the piano. I went to bed around 10 with my door open, so he could come and go as he please. I woke up to him meowing around 12, I believe trying to get someone to open the door to the entry-way. His meowing is super loud, especially in the hall. Feeling bad for Ryan, who is involuntarily in this cat-situation, I got up and shooed him into my room to try to prevent him from waking everyone up. I left the door open, so he ended up going back into the hall and meowing more. This time I shooed him into my room and closed the door. This seemed to shut him up for a bit. Until he started meowing an hour later. I told him to hop on the bed, so he decided to lie down next to my pillow (the previous owner said he used to snuggle next to their grandson, who would put his arm around him). This was cute because he wants you to put your arm around him, however the only problem was that I had a cat about 3" from my face and was breathing in cat hair, plus my arm was a bit twisted. This seemed to work intermitently, and he would get up and meow every few hours near my door, to which I would respond by hitting my bed and he would again climb next to my head. Around 5 I finally broke down, and thinking that maybe he needs to go to the bathroom, I let him out and closed my door. This, of course, was a terrible idea as he started meowing again in the hall. So it was back to my room, where I ingnored him until 7:30, when I finally opened the door. I was also coughing the entire morning on my way to work :-(.
Basically, my thoughts are that he needs discipline, and so I'm working on setting up a pattern of behavior that he recognizes as "the law". This means that everyone needs to be on the same page about things such as:
* Not letting him in the front room, for now
* [This is more for Boris and myself] If keeping him in your room, not letting him out when he starts meowing, otherwise he'll just be encouraged to meow. He will shut up if ignored for a few minutes.
Questions to the experts:
1. I'm also assuming that he was on a different schedule at his previous house, so he will eventually adjust to the fact that we sleep at night and shut up.
2. What are your thoughts on declawing? We don't want him scratching the piano.
3. Is he meowing because he wants to go in the front room, and will he eventually shut up?
More thoughts?
1 comment:
here are my thoughts from my experience with cats, which is living with 2 quite bitchy and stupid ones for 10 years. so, caveat, my understanding of kitties may not be representative of any universal truths.
i think leo is meowing because he is confused and alarmed by his new digs. when cats feel this way, they seem to comfort themselves by exploring - checking out the territory, sniffing everything. this is what makes them become comfortable. i don't think it's about schedules, as cats don't really have them (nor are they particularly attuned to those of humans). basically, cats don't like closed doors, especially in places that are unfamiliar to them. i think they feel trapped and imprisoned. question - was leo ever an outside cat? i assume you guys asked about this, but if not, it could obviously have some serious implications. either way, kitty will either eventually get used to it, or you'll have to keep the apartment doors open. cats are not as content to be locked in somewhere as dogs are.
re declawing, this is my view: pet ownership in and of itself takes away what is innately feral about animals. they are not free to roam, hunt, or mate. by having a pet you are sacrificing its animal-ness to your desires as a pet owner. while declawing is cruel and emotionally painful for cats, the bottom line is that you got this cat because you want it to make you happy. and part of that includes it not tearing your shit up. while my cats were obviously traumatized by declawing, i think the harsh treatment we could have inflicted on them (smacking, punishment) if they were clawing our furniture would have been equally unfortunate.
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