Cats on Nightstand, it has to stop

[irisblue]

I have had many cats over the years; Dixie & Shaw are the worst for knocking things off the nightstand at night. Last summer, Dixie, knocked my glasses off the stand onto the floor, I spent 30 minutes patting around the floor till I could find them and see again. I was crying I was so frustrated and angry. This early morning, Shaw decided to do it as well. I've learned the lesson and now keep the glasses in a case.

This only seems to happen at night and the only solution I can think of is a squirt bottle. Anyone else got advice? I need my glasses, that is not an option to not have them close to hand. Thank you.

[apcalc]

1. Does your nightstand have a drawer? If so, put them in the case inside the drawer?

[irisblue]

3. No, it's just a tabletop.

I just picked up the bottle and pointed it at Dixie, she walked over to the foot of the bed and is now curled up to her sister. They are figuring out that getting on the night stand gets a big reaction from me, I don't understand ~why~it can go months w/o them on the stand, then spend a week practising gravity.

[pansypoo53219]

2. i only got my 1st cat that does this on my 6th cat, but i already use the too much shit for a cat

to get up on high surfaces. only one place they dare to walk on, not full as others.
she also decided the cable box was awesome. shoved her hard off last time, then added a booby trap(metal mostquito). bed table not high enough i bet, but you could try, + a loud NO!

[irisblue]

4. They are knocking off stuff while I'm sleeping.

I'm going to leave the squirt bottle on the stand for the next while.

[Laffy Kat]

18. Cats are naturally arboreal critters.

They feel safe up high and should have plenty of elevated places to sit. If they don't have a place to climb up to they may become neurotic. I have cat trees on each level. For no-no's, like when mine jumps on my head in the middle of the night, I use bottled air like you buy to clean your computer keyboard. I've only had to use it once and now all I have to do is pick up the bottle and she KNOWS. The puff of air and sound are scary.

[PJMcK]

5. I keep my glasses, my phone and a coffee cup of water on the nightstand

Our cat will knock my glasses behind the nightstand making them difficult to retrieve. Worse, she does this on the way to my water which she'll happily drink.

Lately, I lock her out of our bedroom because in addition to the above crimes against humanity, she'll start screaming for breakfast at 5:00 am.

Wonderful pets, cats.

[Silver Gaia]

11. LOL

[Deb]

6. My solution was to make a hanging hand towel pouch. Fold up the bottom third of a hand towel,

sew the folded side edges together and tuck the top between the mattresses by my pillow. Safety pins or glue would work too.

[alfie]

7. My cousin coveed a chair back with tin foil...

and said that kept the cat off of it. Try covering the top of the table with a sheet of tin foil, tucking it under the edges so it won't accidently blow off. See if that keeps him away, maybe???

[procon]

8. Surrender. You can't outwit our feline overlords.

Admit defeat, clear off all your stuff and give them the nightstand.

[JayhawkSD]

21. YOU ARE A CAT PERSON.

You are my kind of person. If you are female, will you marry me?

Just kidding, I'm already happily married. In order for her to say yes, her cat had to approve of me. Then there was a problem when he started hanging out in my lap instead of hers. But it has all worked out for more than 25 years of teamwork at being cat slaves together now.

[procon]

24. You're my kinda guy... LOL

We love our kitties and would do anything for them, and they know it all too well, the cunning little tyrants.

[JayhawkSD]

26. Yes, I was thinking, "You can't control what cats do."

And then I thought, "Why would you want to?"

[avebury]

9. Is the glasses case hard and

durable? If so, put the glass case under your pillow. I often have a kindle reader under one of the pillows in case I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep.

[Silver Gaia]

10. I think a squirt bottle is about the best you can do for this.

I have one who thinks my nightstand is part of her personal freeway - to her food bowl on a shelf she can jump to from there, and to the windowsill, which is also close for her. Sometimes she gets what I call the zoomies in the middle of the night, zooming back and forth between the bed and these places. I become part of the freeway, too - an obstacle to leap over, or sometimes a springboard to the nightstand. She drives me crazy some nights!

The best thing I've figured out is to just leave a clear pathway for her. I have to keep my glasses there, too, and she does sometimes knock them off, but they usually don't go far.

I know it could be expensive, but could you get an extra pair of glasses for use in times like this? There are lots of cheap frames out there these days, and sometimes there are BOGO deals. That's how I first got a second pair. I am so glad I did! They have often come in handy. Just a thought!

Another idea... Could you use stick on velcro to attach the glasses case to the side of the nightstand or your bed frame? Better yet might be those 3M velcro picture hanging strips. (Love those things! So many uses!)

I hope you find some way to alleviate this problem. Good luck!

[TreasonousBastard]

12. If your glasses are the only thing the cats knock off the table...

they may have identified them with you and think maybe it will wake you up. Or, more likely, it's just one more weird thing cats do.

I would suggest making the glasses less available. You might try storing them in a heavy box on the table. Or, you might try attaching them to a chain or string so that if they are knocked off, it's easy to find them.

[getagrip_already]

13. simple solution.....

Just keep your glasses on the floor.

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[50 Shades Of Blue]

19. Rofl!!!!

[Auggie]

14. Kick them out of the bedroom

[3Hotdogs]

16. Yes. Night time is cats' fun time.

Either close the door to your room or lock them in another room.

[Boomer]

15. Get a nightstand with a drawer

At least your cats only knock them off the table. My hound plucked them off the nightstand and chewed them into pieces. I could have replaced the frame, but there were toothmarks on the lens, too.

I now have to put them on a high shelf or in a case.

[IcyPeas]

31. Boomer, yes, this the best solution. I was going to post just this.

I personally don't like squirting cats with water or air. They don't really understand why you are squirting them. They sometimes knock things off because they are bored. Get them plenty of toys and try to distract them.

[WePurrsevere]

17. I had the same problem, my glasses are now in a glasses case tucked into...

a cardboard 8x8 (or so) box on top of my bedside stand that also has my bottle of water, asprin, lotion and Ben Gay in it. All of that is enough weight so our cats don't bother playing hockey puck with it.

If you don't need a lot of 'stuff' like I do, find a nice heavy small rock to add weight to the box. I plan on making myself a nicer heavy wood one with a lid as soon as my other Xmas gift projects are done. The cardboard is serviceable but not exactly pretty.

With some cats if it slides easily, it's a toy. If it doesn't slide easily and is where they want to plop their curry butts, it's gone. We're in the process of adding a 'decorative rail' or lip to areas where our cats think they belong. Spray bottles can work for most, not all and you probably don't want to grab it and accidentally shoot water at them while around anything electronic (not me but a friend did this... oops. )

[phylny]

20. If you have a bit of money to spend, this turned out to be a great investment for us.

Our newest rescue dog, Blake, is quite a mountain goat. He learned to jump from the top of the sofa to the "bar" top of the counter to the kitchen counter. A water spray bottle was only around when I was around and awake. We got this. Scared the hell out of us several times because it would go off when we came near it, but one spray from this can scared the hell out of him and he hasn't been back.

https://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Deterrent-Activated-Repellent-Environmentally/dp/B0721735K9/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1545576474&sr=8-2&keywords=ssscat

[catbyte]

22. This was my solution. The light I have anchors the caddy to the nightstand.

https://smile.amazon.com/Fasthomegoods-Armrest-Caddy-Pocket-Organizer/dp/B01AAWRWDK/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1545576934&sr=8-8&keywords=armchair+caddy

[TEB]

23. Cover top nightstand

In aluminum foil

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

25. I started keeping my glasses in a hard case at night

because they were one of the things that the cats liked to knock off the nightstand (a low table without drawers), along with books, pens, etc. I also had to get a lamp with a heavier base because that got tipped over, too. Also, one of the cats likes to walk on the clock radio which has its buttons on a horizontal surface, so he screws that all up. I have purchased a nightstand with a drawer from IKEA and one of these days I'll get around to putting it together.

[irisblue]

27. I want to thank everyone. Not being able to see scares the heck out of me.

On the stand is a water bottle, lamp, CD player, a book or 3 under the lamp and a mug of pens. I have a surge protector for cell phone charger, lamp & the CD player. The idea of the water bottle hitting the electronics, ot the metal water bottle landing on the glasses, even in the hard shell case is worrying.

I wound up using a squirt bottle once each time on each cat. I can ratchet it up if needs be.

Thank you all for the input.

[Anniem60]

28. Some very funny cat pictures

http://livestly.com/these-cats-reign-supreme-in-their-homes-and-its-hilariously-cute/?utm_content=53e716&utm_source=revcontent&utm_medium=5933&utm_term&utm_campaign=LIV2_TBLT_HilariousCats_530_CPA&ss=1&rc_click=fe84a18e379aea7dc54fdc7bb85492ccbd0f729c32cedd5b5c546216ea52bd7a

[irisblue]

29. ::update::

Some cat I was mostly asleep, started to walk over me towards the nightstand, I picked up the squirtbottle and then heard a thump as some cat jumped off the bed. So, so far so good.

[yardwork]

30. I had this problem.

Glasses, books, anything - she knocked them off on purpose in the middle of the night. And she banged on the blinds early in the morning to get us up.

When she started knocking my cell phone off my nightstand we decided that they couldn't sleep with us anymore.

When it's time for lights out we usher the cats out and close the door. In the morning they come back in.

I know it sounds extreme! It's worked really well, though. We sleep much better.