Weird cat rituals

[EmpressaurusDeiGatti]

Almost every night, at around 4am, Kitty wakes me up by pouncing on my foot.

Then she goes into the living room and eats a bit of kibble, I shut her in there to stop her waking me a second time and we both go back to sleep. At least I assume she goes back to sleep.

I have absolutely no idea what the reasoning behind this is. She gets no play or cuddles at that time of the morning and the kibble is out already.

Does anyone else’s cat do weird things for no apparent reason?

Demanding a nocturnal escort to the food bowl has always been pretty standard issue cat behaviour in our household!

No idea about your kitty's nighttime rituals, but she's a recarnation of the absolute queen that was Maisie

Haha she has cunningly set a new feeding time of 4am 😄 Our cat comes into our room around 2am and starts jumping up against our sliding wardrobe doors. They aren't fit very well so they make a terrible knocking sound until I get up and she scoots off. Then just as I drop off she comes back for a second go.

Thing is, she has learnt not to jump on the kitchen worktops. Why does she refuse to learn this?

She’s a grazer so she always has some kibble left in her bowl when we go to bed - I’m starting to suspect it’s on purpose for early breakfast!

That’s interesting @thesunisastar, do you get woken up for it too?

We often go upstairs around 9.30pm and watch tv or read for an hour before we go to sleep. One of our cats has taken to miaowing loudly to tell us it's bedtime around 9pm every single night. They're locked downstairs at night as we'd get zero sleep and before anyone worries they're locked in the sitting room/dining room which is a good 25 square metres and has two sofas and a table and chairs 😹😹

What happens if you ignore the meows?

Oh gosh yes! And it is clearly expected that we stand in watch until the feasting is over.

Funnily enough they have no problem finding their food all by themselves during the day...

He just keeps going and going until we do. He's been doing it for about a year now and we only realised recently that he was telling us it was bedtime. He used to howl in the room he usually sleeps in but went through a phase of calling us from the landing. It is so funny. If we come into the sitting room any time after we go to bed he's on one sofa and his brother is on the other. I wish I could unload a video as nobody believes it til they see it.

Maybe I should be thankful that I’m allowed to close the door & go back to bed then!

All cats do weird things for no apparent reason.

They think they same about us - and I they may be right.

I feed the birds out of my back bedroom window each morning. Ghostie likes to watch them eating breakfast. She now runs upstairs and waits by the window at bird breakfast time. The birds (pigeons, not the crows I was trying to befriend) also appear at the same time and sit on the roof cooing as if to call me to bring their food.

I probably should have said that Ghostie is my cat!

I have three. They’ve established a toileting rota amongst themselves. They’ll queue up after eating and wee in the same order every time in one tray, then do the same to poo in the other tray. I know you’re meant to have a tray per cat +1, we did have four trays but two were unused for months so we did away with them. They are very happy with their little rota, so I just leave them to it

Your girl is sooo adorable OP!

Mine will not tolerate being brushed inside but she’s fine with it outside.

Also when she sits on the footstool it means she wants to lie on her little heated blanket on the sofa 🥺

Kitty always stares at me while I’m showering. She must be wondering why I don’t simply lick myself all over.

My cat now miaows outside the cupboard under the stairs every day at 10:30am. No idea why. He never goes in it, I don’t open the door. Nothing. Just 5 mins of miaowing

Mine shouts at me to tell me it’s bedtime (she is allowed to sleep on the bed). She also shouts at me at about 6am to make sure I’m still alive, and then settles down again.

DS reckons it’s because humans sleep much more heavily than cats, so cats find sleeping humans disturbing. Mine obviously wants to ensure that breakfast will come on time.

Mine likes to test out the cat flap by giving it a few jabs before going out....sometimes actually holding it open for a bit. Just to check it still works. No such routine on his way back in, just barges through it.

When we get in bed, that's poo time for one of ours. She'll then give us ten minutes or so and bring us a toy from the box downstairs and meow for a while. We have to 'enthusiastically' tell her she can come up on the bed. If weve done that right she will then honour us by settling in our arms.

If we aren't 'enthusiastic' enough, she will plod back downstairs and bring us another toy and meow until she is satisfied with our appreciation.

As soon as we finish eating our dinner, our cat wants brushed (he has his dinner about an hour earlier). He runs to the brush and shouts at me to get it - God forbid I go and floss my teeth first. When I get the brush down he spins in circles like a dog with excitement.

We do about ten minutes of brush, he gets two Dreamies, then goes about the rest of his cat business. I have tried to do brush before dinner because of eg having guests, and he expects double brush.

I cricked my back trying to do exactly that.
I've gone back to the using a sponge on a stick now.

My cat has different routines if my DP is staying over.

DP must let her out. She meows loudly at side of him to open the door. DP isn’t fussed about cats and doesn’t really pet the cat. But they have bonded over his ability to let her out and in multiple times a day. She knows I will ignore her cry’s to go out and in as it’s always out for a few mins and in for a few mins. With me she is out or in

when DP is not here she goes for stair cuddles before bed. She runs up first when tv is switched off and sticks her head between the bannisters and purrs. I get woken up in the morning with her dramatically jumping up against the bedroom door.

Mine likes to fling herself dramatically on the floor for stroking whenever I get home. If we miss this ritual because she's outside or fast asleep somewhere then she insists on doing it as soon as she realises I'm back.

And after all that I was allowed to sleep through last night!

Kitty is Empress Kitty - as befits Empressaurus’s cat 😸

Do you have any pictures of Maisie, @AngelasEyelash?