How do you keep your cat off the bed at night? I don’t! Each has their own preferences. But cats love beds. That’s a starting point. Here are my thoughts about keeping your cat off your bed at night. If this tip works (and it might not) I think you should at least let your cat sleep in your bedroom at night because it’s a very attractive place for a domestic cat.
You want to make your cat happy and allowing them inside your bedroom at night will achieve that goal. I would advise trying to adapt to it but I can understand why cat owners want to keep their cat off the bed at night as they interrupt sleep. They stop natural adjustment movements by their owner which I think are essential to get to sleep.
I think it should be a two-pronged process.
First phase
You buy a throw for your bed which has an appearance and texture which your cat doesn’t like. I know my cat doesn’t like a polyester throw which has a thick texture. Visually the texture is silver on a darker colour. He doesn’t like it but that doesn’t mean that another cat won’t like it.
I don’t think I can specify with any certainty the type of throw/blanket that cats in general won’t like. I think you’ve got to suck and see; try things out which might be impractical. It’s got to be visually unsettling slightly which makes your cat think twice about sleeping on it.
Certainly, domestic cats have preferences for fabrics to sleep on. It’s finding one which they don’t like to sleep on and which looks acceptable to their owner when placed on the bed! I think such a fabric exists but I can’t specify it as it depends on the cat.
Second phase
In parallel, you should make an alternative available which is very acceptable and attractive. Once again, the attractiveness of a cat bed in an area where they sleep in your bedroom is partly down to the individual cat. But there are some general rules such as that it should be above ground, warm, cosy, quiet, perhaps heated (in the winter), fully enclosed such as an igloo type product because cats like to be protected from above and smell of both their owner and themselves (merged scents) which also is reassuring to a cat.
Combination
This combination of one area being highly attractive and the other area being unattractive might succeed in migrating your cat from your bed to their bed in the bedroom.
Bedroom should be in-bounds
I think it would be unfair to lock them out of the bedroom and in any case, I don’t think it works. You don’t have to look far on the Internet to find stories of cats meowing and scratching at the bedroom door because they been locked out. That’s not going to be conducive to a good night’s sleep.
Emotionally domestic cats need to be in the bedroom, on the bed ideally, and therefore keeping them off the bed is quite a big, negative step for the domestic cat which I think should be considered carefully. I know that it can take quite a lot of adjustment to sleep with your cat on the bed. It’s a compromise. It’s sacrificing some of your freedom and giving it to your cat to allow them the freedom to join you on the bed at night. Another one of those responsibilities which you can either discharge or reject. Some responsibilities you have to discharge because they are mandatory such as loving and respecting your cat.
