Cat mews from 4 in the morning

[Elouie]

We moved house just before Christmas our cat (8 years old) seemed to settle ok. But now she's getting worse. She's not allowed to roam free through the house as she's not allowed in the beds so in an evening she sleeps in the dining room

Our house is a bungalow and our bedroom is off the dining room. From about 4am (it's getting earlier and earlier) she starts to mew and scratch at the door.

If we were to let her out of there she would just scratch at our bedroom door so there's no benefit in that.

Before we moved she had a cat flap and and spent a lot of her time outside freely coming and going as she pleased. We had a 2 storey house there and kept the stair door shut so again she couldn't get on the bed.

Although we haven't got round to getting a cat flap yet she won't go outside at all. If we put her out she either sits at the back door crying or under our bedroom window.

She's on a light diet, James Welbelloved which she has always been on. And I've bought a felliway plug in but that doesn't work either.

Please help. We're at our wits end with her.

I think you need to get a cat flap ASAP but also be aware that this could be the start of a dementia (hopefully not)
It’s more likely just anxiety brought on by the move - lots of reassurance and choices to go in and out required

Cats like closed doors and will always want to get through them!

Can you leave her in a room that's two doors away from your bedroom overnight? So she can't scratch at your door?

She knows you're in there and wants to go in too!

Thank you. We'll get the cat flap put in and see.

She could go in the conservatory but that's only 2 thin walls away and I don't think it'll be warm enough.

I'm going back to dry food in a morning too so it's available to her as I think she also pesters for her wet food.

Can't you let her in to your bedroom. There is nothing better that a purring kitty snuggling up with you.

I'd say get a cat flap put in. I appreciate she's on a diet, but she could be hungry as probably a long time for her since her last feed, so perhaps set a timer to open in the night or put half a pouch down in her room at bedtime.

We give the cats the run of the house at night but they don't choose to sleep on human beds. One likes to sleep under the clothes airer and the other tends to sleep in the upstairs hall at the banister. They dont like closed doors but don't want to actually go through them!

Thank you all.

Giving her the run of the house is a no go she's not allowed on the beds. And she was always shut downstairs in the old house so never has been allowed in the bedrooms.

Anyway after posting I thought through all the things we did and didn't do in the old house and I only used to give wet food as a treat every now and again but when we moved I compensated by feeding wet food twice daily. I cut this out on Friday and both Sat and Sunday she was still in bed at 7.30am when we got up.

She has access to dry biscuits constantly so should never be hungry but had started to ignore them in favour of her wet food.

Fingers crossed I've cracked it.

She's not allowed on beds?! How on earth do you manage that!

Toddlerteaplease we keep bedroom doors shut and also the dining room door that leads to the bedrooms (bungalow)

In the previous house there was a door to the stairs that was always kept shut so she didn't go upstairs at all.