Help! Cat wakes me up at 4am.

[DiscoStusMoonboots]

Good (if early!) morning all,

I have a 12 year old cat who - in the past 6 months - won't let my partner and I sleep past 4 or 5am. She either howls in the hallway or comes into our room, finds plastic to chew, scrambles at our mirror or tries to get into out wardrobe by pushing at the sliding doors. I haven't had a full night's sleep in about 6 months and I don't know what to do!

We recently changed her food, which we've noticed has led to her begging a lot more for it - so that's the first thing we are changing as of today.

Does anyone else have any other tips/deterrents? To make it worse, she's a cat-in-a-flat, so space is very limited.

I love her so much but she's driving me round the bend! Tips and advice welcome.

Thank you!

Ours are outdoor cats but are kept in when it's dark. It's taken a while to train them not to keep us up all night! They're not perfect but certainly much, much better.

Things that might help, based on our experience:

• Have kittycat playtime close to bedtime, try and wear your cat out!

• We feed them a small meal in the evening and then leave some dry food out overnight, it stops them waking us up for food

• Does your cat have dedicated places it can sleep? Our girl cat was always trying to break into cupboards, drawers etc so she could sleep somewhere safe for the night hiding away. We got them some boxes with blankets in them, now she sleeps in one of those and is less likely to prowl around trying to break into things.

• Our cats really like routine, e.g. Boycat likes to get in my lap for 20 mins in the evening, then he nods off to sleep until the morning. If I'm not around for this routine he struggles to settle down. Maybe think about what routine works best for you and your cats, routine can help to signal to you cat that it's bedtime

OP you are not alone, I just came on here to write similar, except my DCat's hour of choice is 1.30am, when she gets cold and tries to get inside my pyjamas with me. From last night, we shut her in the conservatory when she first started shouting at us for being in bed (11.30pm) until 5.15am when we get up anyway. She has litter tray, sofa and catflap to outside. She isn't happy about it and has to be tempted there with dreamies, but I need to sleep. I had been going to bed before 9pm in anticipation of being up again in the night. Ridiculous.

Food.

I agree that you should leave a bowl of dry food out overnight, and water, and make sure your cat has somewhere nice to sleep.

4.45am start The Song.
5 am smash up landing.
5.15 am clear bathroom of upright bottles. Plant the seed that toilet lid is UP!
5.30 am zoomies.
5.45 am joyful chorus of The Song.

1. am break into back bedroom and wake pensioner up.

Every Day.
Every Single Day.

You have my sympathy. My cat jumps on the bed at 4am each day and wakes me up by sticking her whiskers up my nose

I haven't had a full nights sleep since we got him nearly two years ago. He doesn't stop. Scratching the carpet is his new favourite.

My 19 year old cat now sadly RIP would only go to sleep in the wardrobe. She felt safe in there. Leave the sliding door slightly open so she can go and settle in there. She may need an enosed safe space. Buns would go nuts if the wardrobe door was shut. She may also need a change of scenery. Id take her outside on a harness everyday to let her eat grass and have a wander about. Feel the wind on her fur. My cat loved to sit in the garden everyday for a bit no matter what the weather.

Can you not shut him in the kitchen? Our dog sleeps in the kitchen with a lovely warm bed and settles fine, you can leave biscuits out if that helps?

We cut down dawn awakening by about 90% by placing a bowl of dried food in front of our bedroom door. Most of the time he has forgotten what he came up for once he's finished eating. But he's a bit stupid. The other cat just locks DH's beard and that doesn't disturb me I always make sure they have a pouch for overnight whether or not they are asking for it when I go to bed.

We've shut the door on our kitchen at night from day one. Lovely cosy bed left in there with water and dry food, plus the cat flap to come and go as please. We also give last meal about 7pm. Tends to go off outside for the evening exploring then back home for the night. If we hadn't shut in the kitchen they'd be all over the house causing mayhem and keeping us awake. They have free reign of the house in the day. Could you try to do similar now? Although imagine trickier as they are not used to being contained.

I leave extra food at night which does help. I have 3 cats though..
My best boy (RIP) was awful for waking me up. He used to announce his arrival at 3 or 4am and then snuggle up for a sleep with me.
Current cat co-sleeper is a dream. I wake up in the morning to find her cuddled up with me, but she doesn't wake me, just sneaks in like a ninja.
I also sometimes set up new toys in the kitchen if they're a bit giddy at bedtime. Cardboard boxes, rustly paper, etc. Keeps them amused.

I didn't get a full nights sleep for 8 months when I got Cheddar. She just wants cuddles all
The time!

Food in a timer bowl set to go off shortly before he wakes you.

When my cat did this, I started giving him an extra half pouch before bed, which worked.

We use this - with two small servings spaced out during the wee hours. It has worked a charm!

Cat Mate C20 Automatic Feeder

Ours are shut downstairs overnight. If they make noise, we certainly don't hear it. They have free access to water, dry food and their litter trays, as well as sofas and blankets to lie on.

I have to admit I'm always confused by these threads where people let their cats have free roam of the house all night, and then complain that they're being woken up at 4am.

From day one, all of ours have been shut downstairs overnight. They don't need to have access to your room so stop being soft

Could she be (or becoming) deaf? One of the symptoms is noisiness at night.

Well in response to @sunflowersandbuttercups , we don't have anywhere to shut our cat! Downstairs is open plan and the only place is the hall but noise travels so much that we can hear him scratching at the door!

Going to try some of the ideas here!

@ploofs

Well in response to *@sunflowersandbuttercups* , we don't have anywhere to shut our cat! Downstairs is open plan and the only place is the hall but noise travels so much that we can hear him scratching at the door!

Going to try some of the ideas here!

I'm more referring to people who have living rooms or kitchens to shut the cat into, and refuse to use them for some reason.

Though I do suspect in the vast majority of houses, it's possible to shut the stairs off in some way, either using baby gates or installing a door somehow.

I don't think my cat would consider a baby gate much of a challenge

@sunflowersandbuttercups

Ours are shut downstairs overnight. If they make noise, we certainly don't hear it. They have free access to water, dry food and their litter trays, as well as sofas and blankets to lie on.

I have to admit I'm always confused by these threads where people let their cats have free roam of the house all night, and then complain that they're being woken up at 4am.

From day one, all of ours have been shut downstairs overnight. They don't need to have access to your room so stop being soft

It's not necessarily being soft, more the fact that there are no doors to shut between downstairs and upstairs!

@ploofs

I don't think my cat would consider a baby gate much of a challenge

You can get mesh ones so they can't squeeze through. Or, just buy two. Hang one normally and hang the other upside down above it, so they cover the entire doorway.

It's a pretty inexpensive solution to being woken up at 4am everyday for eighteen years.

It's not necessarily being soft, more the fact that there are no doors to shut between downstairs and upstairs!

Okay, but you could get a baby gate for the bottom of the stairs? You can buy extra tall pet gates, or just use two standard ones and put them on top of each other. It's what lots of dog owners do to stop the dogs getting upstairs,

I think it's so bizarre how some cat owners tolerate being woken in the middle of the night, every night. No way would I ever accept that from a pet (except a puppy or elderly animal) - I need my sleep!

I actually had an internal door fitted between my kitchen and the rest of my house before getting a cat, for exactly this reason. In fact the cat sleeps on my bed all night without a whimper, but it has come in useful when I have had workmen in etc and don't want to worry about her escaping into the road out front.

If it’s food related either feed her before you go to bed, or give her a snack in the middle of the night when you go to the loo. Also, discuss behaviour changes with your vet as they know things we won’t think of like possible deafness as pp said.

Thank you all so much for sharing these tips with me. I've now started setting a timer for a midnight feast and that seems to be going well. She also love sleeping in the wardrobe, so I've popped a cushion in there and have been able to sleep unscathed until 7am this morning- bliss!