Pulling my cat back to bed

Question

My cat has troubles at night. She doesn't go to bed easily. Sometimes I carry her to her bed, and she tries to run off. I then pick her up again and bring her back, at which point she tries to run off again. I grab her mid-body and pull her back. She just stops and looks at me really upset. She then starts to scratch her bed before lying down.

I feel really bad about pulling her back. I hope I'm not hurting her. It saddens me when she stops trying to run off and just stares at me or looks down.

Please advise me on the best way to get her into bed without forcing her (she sleeps in a closed room with me).

Answer 1

Stop trying to force your cat to go to bed.

Cats sleep a lot more than us humans do. According to Wikipedia up to 20 hours a day. And they sleep differently as well in that they are prey animals in the wild and will sleep lightly. And you cannot tell you cat when to sleep. Or where to sleep. They have mind of their own.

Same with food and toilet needs, they do their own thing. They need to do their own thing, as they are not herd animals.

This leads to: let your cat sleep when it wants, not when you want it. And keep in mind that she will need to use the cat litter and would like to drink a bit and eat a little mid night snack as well. So if you want your cat to sleep in the same room as you, make sure she has access to the things she needs: cat litter, water & food.

Answer 2

I second the advice of the answer from Flummox - you can't control when or where a cat sleeps. It is simply not possible.

Why can't you let her roam the house and sleep when and where she wants?

If this is a case of you wanting your cat to sleep with you in your bed, she will do so if she wants to - not because you want her to.

The key to getting a cat to regard you as a large part of his or her life and to spend time with you, come when you call (or most of the time), sleep next to you, etc. is to give the cat a reason to be near you.

If you provide warmth, comfort, pleasant physical contact, and show that you can be trusted, a cat will do all the things most people want them to do.

All of our cats (we have quite a few) sleep on the bed without us. CeeCee usually sleeps under the covers with my wife. Murphy often sleeps on my arm (I sleep on my left side). Jenny often spends part of the night next to me and most of the other cats sleep on the bed, usually quite close to us.

There are always at least two cats between my wife and myself, and sometimes three or four - we have a queen sized bed, but it still gets rather crowded at times.

Most of our cats come when called, most of the time, and some will come to me if I simply motion for them to do so. Murphy will often come to me if I lock eyes with him and raise my eyebrows two or three times - I'm not kidding, that's the sort of close relationship I have with Murphy.

Why do our cats spend time with us, because we provide something that they want, something they need - it really all comes down to TLC.

There should be no reason for you not allowing your cat (what is her name?) to roam the house and sleep wherever she wants, whenever she wants.

You can't force a cat to sleep somewhere, even if you think they are getting sleepy.

It won't happen.

Answer 3

There is something you can do: play with your cat before bedtime, and after the play, feed your cat. This will make your cat sleepy and easier to get to bed with you.

This is about using your cat's natural behaviour, hunting / play / eating / food / resting/ sleep. This is what cats normally do in nature.