I have just recently moved in with my partner and Boy Cat and Girl Cat of course moved with me. They have settled really well and are loving having access to the large cat proofed garden.
The problem is the 4am wake up time. Initially I gave them free run of the whole home at night but Boy Cat tends to wake up about 4am and feels the need to "check we are alive" by jumping on the bed, climbing over us and sniffing our faces very loudly! In between those moments he gets tangled in the window blinds, climbs on the bedside tables and generally ensures no one gets any sleep 🙄
I then tried shutting him downstairs with Girl Cat, his food and litter trays. However it means he just scratches the door from 4am onwards instead and I can't have damaged doors. If I come downstairs at 4am to sit with him he still scratches to get upstairs 🙄
Partner has a job with lots of driving and it's important he gets enough sleep, we can't just accept 4am starts every day. I can't allow Boy Cat to scratch the doors and I worry anyway that if I tried to ignore the scratches it would turn into crying and distress him anyway.
In amongst all this Girl Cat is sleeping soundly on top of the kitchen cabinets.
Even at my old home Boy Cat tended to wake early but I was able to ignore him, my partner is a light sleeper however.
Any advice on how to get Boy Cat not to scratch doors or not to disturb us so early?