Odd change in behavior

Question
Hello, I have a question about my kitten. She is approximately 4 months old, and has recently (within the past week) started acting differently. She and her brother are not allowed in our bedroom since there is too much stuff for them to get into trouble with in there. They have never been bothered by that, unless we have gone to bed for the night, in which case they used to cry for us to let them in. But now, all she does is "whine" at the door to our bedroom all day, even though no one is in there. She never used to whine at all, except while I was fixing her dinner, or for our attention. What could be causing her to want to be in an empty room? She seems almost desperate to get in there, clawing underneath the door and everything. I don't want her going in there, as there is just too much stuff that could harm her in there, but if this is indicative of a certain need that is not being met, I would like to figure out what it is so that I can satisfy it another way. I don't think its that she wants to be alone, because there are plenty of other rooms in the house that they have free access to that are usually unoccupied, so it must be something specifically with the bedroom. Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance,
Jodi

Answer
Hello Jodi!

This can be attributed to a very funny behaviour cats tend to have.  Picture it this way: a cat can have a huge mansion, many rooms, many places to hide and play, but WILL DEFINITELY scratch at the ONE DOOR that is closed and they are not allowed in.  They can have all the space in the world, but if that ONE DOOR is closed, their curiousity at what they're being "denied" drives them BONKERS!!

Now, I'm not saying to go ahead and open the door...that she's being tortured or hurt by this in any way.  She just needs to learn to chill out and that not every space is hers.  This is a very difficult thing for a kitty to learn, though, so be prepared for a bit of a long run here.

One thing I recommend, to save your carpet, is getting a chair mat (the thing that offices use on their carpet that's a plastic mat with teeth on the bottom to hold it in place on carpet).  Put it under that door so that there's about a foot of it inside your room (and maybe even place something heavy on it, out of the way), and the rest of it outside the room.  This will keep her from being able to tear at your carpet.  

If you find her clawing at your door, you can take some painter's tape, and tape on some aluminum foil (which cats more than likely won't claw at...they don't like the texture) where she's scratching on the door.  Make sure it has a bit of crumple to it.

So, give those things a shot, and let me know how it goes.  If she cries at your door a lot at night, DO NOT open the door to her or try to communicate to her AT ALL (even to tell her to hush up), as that will encourage her to continue trying to get your attention.  Instead, get some good white noise going in your room (like a fan, or some such), and that will go a long way in drowing out the noise she's making.

Bottom line, she has someone to play with, and has plenty of other space, she just has to learn to utilize it, and to stop trying to get the ONE thing she can't have.  It's a VERY common problem with cats, so don't worry.  Try to have patience, and this will get handled if you remain stubborn in teaching her this.  

So, try those things out, let me know how things go or if you need any other help, okay?

Hugs to you all!

Rosie*