Cat waking me up at 5am

AllotmentJam · 2021-06-30T08:27:54+00:00

My cat is a slightly needy indoor cat. She has developed a bad habit of waking me up in the mornings. It’s something she’s always done on and off but it’s much worse (earlier) in summer. She’s doing it by scratching at walls or yowling or just sticking her paw on my face. She’s currently doing it around 5am. I’m bloody knackered! She does have hyperthyroidism but this is under control. Things I have tried: Making sure she always has food Putting an extra bowl of food upstairs so madam doesn’t have to venture far (this helped for a bit but now it doesn’t seem to?) Getting up and Chucking her out of room- this doesn’t help because it wakes you up properly to do it and she goes crazy at the door. She’s now started running under the bed when she suspects this is about to happen. I don’t even really know what she wants. She’s not just being noisy round the house - she’s definitely waking us up on purpose! Any ideas? The only thing that helps is bad weather and then she has a lie in! Please don’t suggest locking her in downstairs overnight. She gets proper distressed being shut in which I assume is related to her rescue history.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 30/06/2021 09:36

Mine is a nightmare this time of year and he's an outdoor cat so has no excuses. It's a massive relief when it's autumn and he settles down again. Some mornings he will just moan and moan and moan and not particularly want anything ,he just wants us to know he's there

TroysMammy · 30/06/2021 09:41

Haribo causes me concern when it's 8am and he's still in the place he was the night before. He's just turned 2 and doesn't get up when I go to the toilet during the night/early morning. I just say "lay down" and he doesn't move. However on a work day he does wake me up just before my alarm goes off.

Toddlerteaplease · 30/06/2021 10:03

I feel your pain, my two are like this. But with Cheddar it's several times a night. Due to the design of the house I can't shut them downstairs.

eurochick · 30/06/2021 10:10

Mine are currently dabbing me at around 4am. I assume it's related to the early dawn. Mine are satisfied with a little fuss and then bugger off for a while.

Original poster

AllotmentJam · 30/06/2021 11:55

Sometimes mine is happy with a fuss but then gets restless if I dare fall back asleep and stop stroking her. Sometimes I think I shouldnt fuss her as it’s positive reinforcement but the alternative is her scratching the window and I’m not sure if cats are that trainable anyway.

We have one of those timed feeders for when we’re away so I’m going to swap her upstairs bowl with that. Maybe if she has to wait till 5am to eat rather than graze at night she will eat lots then and be sleepy afterwards.

OP posts:

Silkiecats · 30/06/2021 12:07

Silkiecat calls for DH almost hourly throughout the night, she is 16 though and seems to have dementia and separation anxiety. She also won't come upstairs with us. We have set up a single bed downstairs and DH sleeps with her then she is happy. If DH is already asleep I say Silkiecat DH is night night, Silkiecat go night-night and generally she goes to sleep, she only wants him now she is older.

Will she sleep in your bed? We found when he was going down to see if she needed things that made it worse as she got day / night confusion, it was like training a baby but now we have given up and go for co-sleeping.

Fluffycloudland77 · 30/06/2021 12:33

@Silkiecats

Silkiecat calls for DH almost hourly throughout the night, she is 16 though and seems to have dementia and separation anxiety. She also won't come upstairs with us. We have set up a single bed downstairs and DH sleeps with her then she is happy. If DH is already asleep I say Silkiecat DH is night night, Silkiecat go night-night and generally she goes to sleep, she only wants him now she is older.

Will she sleep in your bed? We found when he was going down to see if she needed things that made it worse as she got day / night confusion, it was like training a baby but now we have given up and go for co-sleeping.

🥺

10/10 cat devotion that is.

PhilSwagielka · 30/06/2021 13:15

I feel your pain, my little shit was doing that recently and I'm a light sleeper, so he was driving me mad. I got round it by feeding him later.

Beamur · 30/06/2021 13:23

Cats are awake at this time. I've taken to putting extra food down at night so they don't wake me because they're hungry.
One of my cats has commandeered my bed as hers and drives the others away (which is handy as one of the others used to get 5am munchies) and manages to snuggle in with me when she's ready for a nap without waking me. She is a bloody marvel. My previous co-sleeper used to loudly announce his arrival and readiness for a snuggle. With added eye patting if I tried to remain asleep
So my other tip is get another cat to guard your room from the others!

Original poster

AllotmentJam · 30/06/2021 13:25

@Silkiecats

Silkiecat calls for DH almost hourly throughout the night, she is 16 though and seems to have dementia and separation anxiety. She also won't come upstairs with us. We have set up a single bed downstairs and DH sleeps with her then she is happy. If DH is already asleep I say Silkiecat DH is night night, Silkiecat go night-night and generally she goes to sleep, she only wants him now she is older.

Will she sleep in your bed? We found when he was going down to see if she needed things that made it worse as she got day / night confusion, it was like training a baby but now we have given up and go for co-sleeping.

She does this thing which is quite cute: she comes for a cuddle before sleep but then when I turn the light off to sleep she gets up and goes to sleep in her own bed or sometimes under ours. She never sleeps with us on the bed itself. This is why I can’t shut her downstairs she’d get really distressed if I stopped this little routine! She is about 12 so I really hope this isn’t some old lady cat routine that’ll just get worse!

OP posts:

JorisBonson · 30/06/2021 13:26

I'm in the same boat. I just tend to tuck them in with me and they go to sleep

Original poster

AllotmentJam · 30/06/2021 13:28

@PhilSwagielka

I feel your pain, my little shit was doing that recently and I'm a light sleeper, so he was driving me mad. I got round it by feeding him later.

She doesn’t really like her food because it’s this weird hyperthyroidism food so we tend to always have food on offer to encourage her to graze to keep her weight up.

Putting extra food upstairs (she was waking us up to get an escort downstairs ) has helped a bit. Sometimes I think she is waking us up because her biscuits are a bit stale for her!

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afaloren · 30/06/2021 13:43

I think it’s the light in the mornings. One of mine starts trying to dig me out of bed at around half four at the moment. I shut him out (he comes for a cuddle after I feed him at about 7) but I’ve seen you can’t do that with yours :/ Not sure what to suggest!

Caramelsmadfuzzytail · 30/06/2021 14:21

My cat used to stick her clawed paw on my face. I eventually stopped that by sticking my head under the covers. She then resorted to knocking stuff off my bedside table. If I have a glass of water it goes on the floor, anything else has a lid. She still shoves stuff off but nothing is damaged.
The crows and seagulls however need to be shot!

GenitaliaNotGender · 30/06/2021 17:08

@Silkiecats

Silkiecat calls for DH almost hourly throughout the night, she is 16 though and seems to have dementia and separation anxiety. She also won't come upstairs with us. We have set up a single bed downstairs and DH sleeps with her then she is happy. If DH is already asleep I say Silkiecat DH is night night, Silkiecat go night-night and generally she goes to sleep, she only wants him now she is older.

Will she sleep in your bed? We found when he was going down to see if she needed things that made it worse as she got day / night confusion, it was like training a baby but now we have given up and go for co-sleeping.

When my DC were little I used to see the odd post on MN which made me feel like a terribly inadequate parent - for some reason, reading that post has brought all those feelings back

As the kind of parent who uses screen time, I have actually tried an iPad (on the floor) with bird videos on for my 5am cats. Didn't work mind, they are just too fucking needy. I have just resigned myself to getting up but at least I can let them out. Would your cat sit on the windowsill if you opened the window slightly (on the catch) so they could see birds? Or would that make it worse?

Original poster

AllotmentJam · 01/07/2021 09:29

So last night I set up the timed feeder and ended up getting up at 1am because the cat was going mad trying to get into it. So that backfired.

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ScottishNewbie · 01/07/2021 11:10

4.30am here! I bloody hate summer!!!
I've tried everything, I'm just ignoring now (and growling at my Fiance for giving them lovely pats and rewarding the behaviour) ha ha

Fluffycloudland77 · 01/07/2021 11:12

Cats are crepuscular so they probably wonder why we're in bed at the best time of the day!.

TroysMammy · 01/07/2021 12:05

I went to the toilet at 2am and Haribo came in to sit by me. When I'd finished I put him back where he was sleeping, said "Haribo, lie down, sleeps" and he stayed there until I got up for work at 5.45, went to the toilet and he came in and sat by me again. He's a fab cat.

ScottishNewbie · 01/07/2021 12:17

@troysmammy
Show off

VettiyaIruken · 01/07/2021 12:21

I gave up and just went with what my cat wants.

Not only does she decide what time we all get up, she decides what time we go to bed.

It's genuinely easier to do it her way than to argue with her.

DillyDot · 01/07/2021 12:30

I have had to start shutting mine downstairs which I feel awful about. When I work a late shift in my second job I often don't get home until after midnight and I need all the sleep I can get, before I have to get up for my main job. He's really old and I worry about him down there all on his own but I have to be able to function for work. I don't hear if he scratches and yowls down there.

snowqu33n · 01/07/2021 12:36

Mine sometimes does this and I noticed the other day that I could hear a neighbor opening their door and going out at that time, so I think maybe the cat can hear stuff we don’t notice.
I have tried playing with our DCat lots just before our bedtime and this helps a bit.
If she gets really annoying I take her carrier out and say “Vet?” She usually goes quiet for a while!!

GenitaliaNotGender · 01/07/2021 16:22

@VettiyaIruken

I gave up and just went with what my cat wants.

Not only does she decide what time we all get up, she decides what time we go to bed.

It's genuinely easier to do it her way than to argue with her.

Does that mean you are sleeping 17 hours out of 24?

That's the kind of thing I could get on board with

GenitaliaNotGender · 01/07/2021 16:24

@DillyDot

I have had to start shutting mine downstairs which I feel awful about. When I work a late shift in my second job I often don't get home until after midnight and I need all the sleep I can get, before I have to get up for my main job. He's really old and I worry about him down there all on his own but I have to be able to function for work. I don't hear if he scratches and yowls down there.

Could you get one of those nanny cam type cameras just so you could see what he is up to? (I think it would reassure you as he probably just sleeps and plots how to kill you