I have a 10 month old kitten. For some reason at night while we are in bed. He cries like crazy and wants to get in my closet. I don't know what to do
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I'm so sorry to hear that your sleep is being disrupted! Unfortunately, this is normal behavior for a cat, as they are nocturnal creatures who like to explore their territories. They prowl and check things out to make sure everything's okay in their worlds. If you restrict access, they can loudly complain.
My cats like to scratch and yowl at the bathroom door at 3am because we close the door.
It is possible to dissuade them from this behavior. "Training" a cat to avoid problem behaviors is a little more in-depth than can be covered in the limited space of the forum. If you would like to participate in our consultation service, I'd be happy to speak with you about several things you can try at home, and that will allow me to ask question about his environment, etc.
Alternatively, you can ask your vet to recommend a cat behaviorist who can come to your home and give you some ideas on how to redirect his attention to other places in the household.
In the meantime, you will want to avoid punishing him. Cats are smart enough to know the squirt bottle is coming from your hand, so they relate the negative reaction to you. This means they learn to fear you, not fear scratching at the door. The same goes for yelling, spanking him, making loud sounds, or other types of negative reinforcement.
Since this is natural behavior for a cat, he will not understand why you've chosen to scare him because he doesn't see the behavior as "bad", but he will grow more and more frightened and distrust you. He'll also keep returning to the door when he thinks you're not paying attention to him.
Either ignore the behavior (which is really difficult, I know), or lure him into another area of the house with a toy or a treat. This will help him to be distracted, and to give him a positive reward for leaving the room. While this won't stop him in the long-term, it may help keep him from doing it all night.
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