by M & M.
Member since:
June 24, 2007

I need your help, if you understand cats. Please read.

February 15, 2009 09:37 PM EST
views: 114 | rating: 10/10 (16 votes) | comments: 34

I have two cats.  But, one of them is driving me nuts.  Every morning in bed, she gets on my face and starts to kneed on it. Och...she has all her claws.  She is being sweet, so I can not yell or spray water on her. ( I actually tried that in the beginning.)  It seems like she wants me to get up.  If I cover my face, she starts to pull out my hair. That hurts too.  Anyone know why she does this?  Or how to stop her?  She is 3 years old.  She is an adopted cat, got her when she was around 6 or 7 months old. She is the sweetest animal, great personality and affectionate.

Thanks my friens. Appreciate any comments you can make.

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Comments: 34

Lee P. Feb 15, 2009, 9:39pm EST
I have no idea why a cat does anything. I would close the door to my room at night if I were you. Or better yet, get a new cat. But I think you must love this peskie cat or you wouldn't put up with it.
Maurice K. Feb 15, 2009, 9:49pm EST
I would do something to keep the cat at least away from your face in the morning. Sweet or not, claws in your face isn't exactly endearing. Closing the door to your room at night sounds like a good suggestion to me; the cat may protest, but that will pass with time.
M & M. Feb 15, 2009, 9:55pm EST
Thank you so much for your comments MC, Maurice, and Lee. I know she is strange, but such a love. But, it is really starting to hurt.
Kimberly L. Feb 15, 2009, 10:01pm EST
Okay, there are a couple of things I would suggest. First of all, if you can shut her out of the bedroom at night, that would be the best. I've never heard of the idea of holding their paws together. If you don't have a separate room, I'd suggest putting her in a carrier at night. I have to do this with one of mine who likes to wake me up at either 4 or 5 in the morning. If you put her in the carrier every time she behaves this way, it may get the point across but I don't know because Cinnamon doesn't seem to get the idea that I don't want her to scratch on the boxes next to me every morning and wake me up.

Cats can be challenging sometimes. You may want to look on the internet at a site called www.petplace.com and email the vet and ask him what you can do. I hope that helps.
Lin B. Feb 15, 2009, 10:06pm EST
your own alarm clock...the dogs do it too.....
Larry H. Feb 15, 2009, 10:12pm EST
I GOT THIS A WHILE BACK.........

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?memberId=470828&articleId=281474977507960&nav=Namespace
Larry H. Feb 15, 2009, 10:14pm EST
SIMBA DOSE THAT ALL THE TIME.. DON' T KNOW HOW TO STOP HIM. I TELL HIM TO STOP AND HE DOES FOR A WHILE.....
Chris L Feb 15, 2009, 10:15pm EST
She loves you. One of mine does this too. Yes, she wakes me up, she never actually used her nails on my face, but she does get rough with my hair. She is showing affection, and while I don't know what to do about it, I just tolerate it. I will pull her down to me and just caress her. She is such a love.
Dorothy H. Feb 15, 2009, 10:20pm EST
When she's too aggresive in her display of affections (playful) just pick her up and put her on the floor, and move on to something else. She'll eventually realize that she has to tone it down some, when she's feeling affectionate.
Tamara L~will view, may comment~ S. Feb 15, 2009, 10:28pm EST
Chris is right. She loves you. If it bothers you too much, keeping her out of the room or using a crate would be the best idea. We have a crate and my cat absolutely loves it. He'll go in it without us making him. He does also climb all over me. He has his claws too. I think sharpening the claws may provide a little bit of relief.
Lucky Stars Feb 15, 2009, 10:30pm EST
My cat learned in a hurry to not wake me up before I open my eyes. He will come up to me and look to see if I'm sleeping and quietly go away if my eyes are shut. I blow in his face an say no! if he bugs me. He is very smart.

Once I heard him approach me when my eyes were still closed. I could tell he came around and looked at my eyes and he actually sighed as he turned back around and jumped off the bed. LOL!

The reason cats knead on their people is it's an instinct from when they were kittens and they kneaded their mother to get the milk flowing. All my cats have done this. It's a sign of contentment.

Be persistant and mean it or lock her out. Some cats can be very stubborn.
Nancy * Feb 15, 2009, 10:38pm EST
I don't know why she's doing it. All our cats have acted differently over time. That is Casey didn't do the things that Sebastian did and Pixie hasn't done anything that Casey did etc. Even now they all have different personalities. Casey at one time would try to eat my hair, and pixie was just totally annoying at one point and both were in the mornings. I just got to the point where I would just keep putting them on the floor until they left us alone. after about a week they stopped the behaviors. (they didn't do these things at the same time.) It may not work for your cat... but that's what I did.
Debra (Gather SiteWarrior Extraordinaire) Feb 15, 2009, 10:55pm EST
There are a few reasons why your cat does this.

it is instinctual.
it's comforting
and it marks territory.

Your cat is seeking comfort from you. If you don't want her to knead your face, bunch up the blanket below your face and guide her to it. (my cat kneads my stomach, just before laying on my lap). They have scent glands on their paws... which produces a "feel good" pheromone for them... it also lets other cats know that you belong to her.

She loves you!!
Elizabeth B. Feb 15, 2009, 11:36pm EST
she loves you! now, if she is waking you from a sound sleep way late or early, pay attention....my cat woke my mom when an electrical outlet started sparking....
chelsie t. Feb 16, 2009, 1:10am EST
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Elaine S. Feb 16, 2009, 5:51am EST
She wants you to get up......some cats are alarm clocks.
You should have snapped her claws everytime she put them out when she was a kitten.
I don't know if it will help now...but really she is showing love.
kimberly g. Feb 16, 2009, 7:18am EST
She have food and water? my cats will sit there and stare at me until I get up and check their food.
Also, she loves you and wants to play. She wants attention.
I suggest picking her up and putting her down off the bed and saying NO. with a stern voice. Closing the bedroom door is an option, but my cat opens the door.
Nana to Seven Cutiepies Feb 16, 2009, 11:20am EST
My Fuzzy does this Margieanne, every morning. He kneads the blankets and sucks on them, pulls my hair, tickles my face with his whiskers and nibbles little love bites on the fleshy part of my arm. He purrs real loud while all this is going on. I can't shut him out of the room because he and Missy will both bang on any closed door until it is opened. I just pull the covers all the way up to my nose and sort of around my head and tell him to go away, it's not time to get up. When he sees I'm not going to play with him he eventually goes away and I go back to sleep.
Amy just hangin' out M. Feb 16, 2009, 11:45am EST
This comment is to let you know that this content has reached at least 50 page views, and so it has been removed from the group, Views R Us. Congratulations, and thanks for posting to the group!
strongthrufight E. Feb 16, 2009, 12:57pm EST
She's telling you good morning...Tell her "No" and move her away from your face..Put her on the floor if you have to till she gets the hint...I had one kitten attack my eye lashes while I was sleeping and gave me cat scratch fever, very dangerous...You need to train her not to do that...hth
Sheri D. Feb 16, 2009, 2:09pm EST
I agree with the person who said just put her down each time she does it, she will get the idea.
Marian L Feb 16, 2009, 5:27pm EST
She wants you to get out of bed and feed her or pay attention to her. When she starts this behavior, the only way to stop her is to isolate her. Put her in another room until you get up. If you just close your bedroom door, you might get a lot of scratching and banging on that door.

Hopefully, she will get the idea after being confined in another room a few times. Don't count on it. My Marius get put away a few times a week. He doesn't seem to care.
Amanda "middle of nowhere" C. Feb 16, 2009, 8:33pm EST
I would think of having her declawed if you keep her inside. It is a lifetime commitment.
ewwwwww... The very idea sends shivers down my spine.
Abby N. Feb 17, 2009, 5:47am EST
Hi, thanks for posting to Abby's Friends! Have a nice day!
M & M. Feb 17, 2009, 3:45pm EST
Thanks for commenting my sweet friends.
Declawing a cat is cruel and painful. They have a difficult time using clay litter because it hurts.

I'd recommend plastic caps instead ONLY for indoor cats that are never let out. Soft Claws
Robert A. Feb 17, 2009, 6:54pm EST
D-E-F-I-N-I-T-E-L-Y Do Not declaw. Aside from leaving them defenseless, which might not matter if they are completely indoor, it has a number of other really bad consequences. Aside from what Debra mentioned with the litter, the cat needs to be able to use a scratching post and hook to stretch out their spine. Many cats develop serious behavioral problems after the procedure. And it's really painful for the cat -- why would anyone do that to a being they love or simply care about, or even if they don't care - its cruel. Imagine having the ends of your fingers removed to the first knuckle. That's basically what the cat declawing process is.
Robert A. Feb 17, 2009, 6:57pm EST
More to the point of the post, if the problem is too much, close the cat out of the room, or get out the spray bottle. A few days of conditioning an the cat will recognize the boundaries.
Thanks for the back up, Robert. I rescued a 6 year old Himalayan cat who was declawed a few years ago. He came with a lot of "behavorial" problems. We ended up having to buy soft (paper) litter because he refused to use the kitty litter, and we couldn't let him out at night because he couldn't defend himself out there.
Dale Darling Feb 18, 2009, 12:26pm EST
Get a dog to sleep by the bed.

Close the door.

I refuse to once again be outwitted by a cat. It just isn't fair - the cats always win, and want to rule, and kneed - Maybe you could teach the cat to make bread! What about that? Bread with cat scent.

It might attract the dog.

No help. Oh well; I'm a mess, and have a dog.
Paula C. Mar 17, 2009, 4:56pm EDT
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Gene P. Mar 26, 2009, 11:18pm EDT
Thanks for posting your content to the group Whatever!
Olive Rossi Nov 21, 2009, 2:32pm EST
Our cats do that when they want to go outside! It wakes me up when they are nearby, and I ask if they want to go out, and they do go out when I open the door. There are a few good books about cat communication, and let you know there are different sounds they make for different reasons.

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