Night Stalking

My cat, Maggie, was "born" on Good Friday. That is, I found her in a ditch while I was walking to the store one year on that day. She was muddy and freezing and a mess, half drowned on the edge of the canal that runs through town. I cleaner her up and spent some time with her before having to go on my way. I noticed a few minutes later that I heard mewling behind me. Looking over my shoulder, there she was following me home on the train tracks. She followed for the whole two miles and invited herself right in the door, where she has stayed ever since.

I know it's typical for cats to like string, but this cat LIKES string. As a person with long hair, this can be a bit of an issue. When she sleeps on my bed at night, she gets playful and I will often wake up to find her tangled in my hair, trying to eat it. When I move away, she takes this as a game and pounces. It makes me feel like prey.

 

Have you tried to tie your hair back while sleeping? I also have a no cats in the bedroom rule for at least 4 nights out of the week. I just need my sleep. They're cute and they love to cuddle, but they will find another place to sleep on the alternate days and you will not feel like prey anymore.

 

I do tie it back, but it's very long. Comes down to the small of my back. I feel really bad about it but I think I may have to try that approach and have a "no cats allowed" block of the week. She doesn't do it every night but it gets pretty disturbing when she is in a playful mood half way through my rest. She persistent, which is one of the things I love about her. But that also means she doesn't stop chasing me around the bed.

 

Awwwwh! Alice gets like this sometimes, but my hair isn't nearly as long, so it's not so much of an issue. If I were you, I would allow her in the room and just kick her out on nights when she gets too playful. That way she'll know why she's being kicked out (as opposed to having no idea why she's being punished) and maybe it'll help to get her to stop doing it. Then you can also sleep the rest of the night in peace!

 

I agree with blurinoctober, you should only put Maggie out when she messes with your hair. That way she'll start to figure out the cause and effect relationship between grabbing your hair and being punished and it'll discourage her from doing it.

 

I will give this a try! I hate to punish her for being playful because she clearly enjoys the game thoroughly. Truthfully, so do I, even though it keeps me up. But i have to be able to get sleep. She's scary too because she's not real careful with her claws and will swat kind of close to my face sometimes.