Training the Cat

Moshi is a whiner. She likes to get up early in the morning (between 4:30 and 5:30) and cry outside our door, frequently throwing herself against the door and scratching her claws on the way down. It's loud and impossible to sleep through.

But all she wants is attention, so getting up and punishing her (spraying her with water) only encourages her.

So how can you train a cat not to cry outside your door without getting up and opening the door? We figured it out!

We placed our vacuum outside the door, then ran the cord into the bedroom and attached it to a surge protector next to the bed. So I had a switch to turn on the vacuum cleaner.

Moshi sniffs the vacuum outside our bedroom

The next morning, Moshi started crying at 5:30. The second she threw herself into the door, I flipped the switch, the vacuum turned on, and Moshi shrieked. It must have scared the bejeezus out of her. From the bedroom we could hear her sprint out to the living room.

An hour later, she came back and cried again. I hit the switch again. She shrieked again.

But she learned the lesson. And for the last week she hasn't bothered us and we've been sleeping peacefully until we're ready to wake up.