Indoor rescue cat help

[DogualCat]

Dougal has been with me for nearly 7 weeks now. He had been in the shelter for 3 months after being found as a very underweight stray so no idea about his background. He is FIV+ so is an indoor cat.

He hid for the first week then decided he wanted attention. At weekends and when I get in from work he loves curling up on my lap and being fussed but is also a big fan of playing. He has a lot of toys and I would say I play with him for a good 2-3 hours an day.

About three weeks in he decided he would sleep in my bed. All was going well, he’d either sleep until 4 then cry but I’d give him a tiny bit of dry food and he’d leave me alone until I fed him just before 7 or he didn’t bother me at all until breakfast. Some weekends he’d even let me lie In until 8 then would curl up in bed with me until I got up.

This week though there has been a sudden change and I’m so sleep deprived and at a loss what to do. He’s wide awake at 4am and straight away starts jumping all over me to get up. When I do feed him, instead of settling he then gets on the bed and keeps ‘attacking’ me until I get up. He launched himself at me off the windowsill at half 4 this morning and the jolt made a trapped nerve in my neck flare up which left me in agony. I shut him out of the bedroom but he just howled so I had to feed him at 5.

Has anyone got any tips? I live in a flat so it’s not fair on my neighbours to have him wailing when I ignore him. I can’t leave any food out because he is food obsessed and will eat it all instantly and I thought he was getting more than enough play to tire him out. I love him but I’m seriously sleep deprived.

Of course, as I’m wide awake writing this and it’s time for me to get up for work he’s just climbed up onto his pillow and decided to go back to sleep!

I sympathise. My indoor cat does this sometimes, but if we put her in another room she doesn't do it the following night. I'm not sure what to suggest if that isn't working for you. Maybe have an active period before you go to bed so that he's more tired?

Hopefully someone will be along with more useful advice.

That's cats I'm afraid. They're arseholes and get a spurt of energy at sunrise as that's good hunting time.

Maybe put him in another room with some toys at that time?

I've become very good as just sleeping through all of that. The trick is never to move so they get bored quicker.

Have you tried putting a Feliway diffuser in your room - it might calm him down a bit?

Also, could you feed him just before you go to bed?

He gets a good play before bed chasing feathers on sticks and jumping up and down off furniture. He has wet food at 6 and before I go to bed at 10-10.30 I put a small amount of dry food into a puzzle toy for him but that’s gone in seconds.

I wonder if he’s getting enough food, he gets two pouches of grain free food and a big handful of dry food a day. He would eat all day if I let him but I worry about his weight being an indoor cat.

He’s currently curled up on my lap purring away before I leave for work as calm as anything but I might give the feilway a go.

Maybe a timed automatic feeder? You could set it so it dispenses a bit of dry food at 4am, which hopefully will satisfy him.

My indoor cats get 1.5 pouches a day of Felix AGAIL (they won't touch any other wet food) and have good quality dry ad lib. Most cats self-regulate anyway, so once yours has realised that he doesn't have to scavenge for food he may well settle down if you do that?

My dry is also out all the time.

Meant to add - mine have put on no weight since their initial growth spurt in the first 6 months, and in fact last year's MoT showed both had lost a little. Both are in great condition, not fat at all.

Could you get a timed feeder?

Is he at his ideal weight if he was underweight before. One of mine sleeps with me and does the same I just get up and let her out into the dress of the flat. She eats the dry that is out and goes back to bed on the chair. I shut my door and go back to sleep. I’m used to it now.

I would get a timer bowl you can set to open for him early in the morning - this way the food is not associated with you getting up. Don't react to his attempts at waking you up at all - if you do, you're training him to keep doing it if he knows it works.

Thanks all, I’ll have a look into an automatic feeder to see if it helps. I can’t leave dry food out overnight because it is gone in seconds.

I try my hardest not to get up or respond to him but the past couple of mornings he’s responded by ‘attacking’ my hands and feet as well as launching himself at my body from a height. Shut him out of the room at 5 but he was so noisy I worried about the neighbours so got up at half 5 and fed him. Normally he’d be happy with that and do his own thing until I got up or gone back to sleep on the bed but the past few days nothing settled him until I get up.

He was still a bit on the skinny side when he moved in but he’s filled out a lot since. He’s between 3-4 years old and was an outdoor cat until last summer so I do wonder if he is still missing being able to get out in the early hours.

He's a beautiful boy - what a lovely expression he's wearing!