Why is my cat getting up so early?

[IOnlyWantSexMoneyPowerAndRevenge]

Long but Ive tried to pre-empt any questions.

Tl:dr - why is my cat suddenly asking for breakfast so early and keeps it up for hours?

She's about 12.

She has always been food obsessed. She used to be a stray and then had an owner who would feed her constantly but shes been with us about 8 years and we've been pretty strict about food.

She gets tea at 1830 and supper at 2130. She's absolutely fine about those meals most of the time.

We cant leave food out because she'll eat it in one go and be sick. We've tried automatic feeders but she'll eat that and then pester us for more. This has always been the case.

No changes to her food times or her asking for food apart from breakfast.

She's always asked for breakfast from about 6. That's fine. We have never fed her before 6.

However... for the last 2 months or so she has started asking for breakfast from 0400. We'll move her out of the bedroom and close the door but then she'll scratch and meow at the door until she is fed. On the very rare occasion we've needed to put her out of our room before, she'd just wonder off so the insistence and scratching etc is new.

I now make sure I feed her by 0615 every day. I read that you shouldn't feed them as soon as you get up, you should go to the toilet etc first so I do that.

It doesn't make a difference. This morning we needed to move her out of the bedroom at 0330 but she scratched and meowed until I got up at 6.

Once she's had breakfast, she's fine. She doesn't ask for food anymore than she would normally. Its just breakfast that shes being a pain about.

We only have a kitchen door downstairs so there is nowhere we can lock her in. Plus, she often sleeps with us and I think stopping that would make her unhappy.

No other changes to her. No changes to her routine or the house. No changes to her food.

I don't think its because shes being woken up by neighbours. Our neighbour used to get up at 3 (we know this because hed leave his car iddling 😡) and we have shift workers and that never bothered her.

She's a house cat although she does have supervised access to the garden.

So I don't know why she's suddenly being such a pain at this time in the morning. Any ideas? Any suggestions on how to deal with it? As I say, its just breakfast.

I would leave a small amount of dry food out for her overnight

We have to do what cats say, dont you know this yet!!!

She's also elderly so be kind to her.

Could it be diabetes? It can show up with an increase in appetite. Can present out of nowhere. It’s easily diagnosed and a manageable condition.

Good luck with getting to the bottom of this.

id suggest a vet checkup to make sure nothing medical is causing this. Then I’d put down some food in an automated feeder that opens at 4am for her. I can see you’ve already tried automated feeders but might be worth trying again with a larger portion, unless she’s overweight in which case I’d juggle smaller portions in the evening.

I would get a timed feeder or keep some dry food or treats in the bedroom to pacify her for a bit before you get up.

Ignore me I see you mention automatic timed feeders.

Could be a little senile or maybe like us less tolerant as we age.

Definitely vet visit then hardcore no longer let her sleep with you.

Perhaps she has started a paper round, to earn a bit of money?

(I did, a long time ago, when I was about 12.)

Because it's summer. Cats are crepuscular. She'll be wide awake as soon as it starts getting light (yes, even indoors), and as a PP said, is less inclined to be tolerant of your indolent simian ways now she's getting on a bit.

She'd eat it as soon as it went down and then she'd still pester us.

She is part of our family so don't worry, we have always been and always will be kind to her.

I don't think so because it's literally just breakfast. The rest of the day shes normal (for her!). She's not pestering for food anymore than she would be normally.

She gets fed the right amount and is on the larger side of a healthy weight.

But what could be medical that means its literally just for breakfast?

She has the same time time between supper and breakfast as she does breakfast and tea. However her habits over tea or how/when she asks for it etc haven't changed at all.

She isnt asking for food anymore than normal.

I dont think so because she has never done it before.

Even when clocks change she hasn't been like this. We'll have a few days but then she'll get into the new routine.

My sister and I were having a similar conversation last night! Both of us have elderly cats that are now waking just after 4am ……but it is getting light then and the birds are awake and tweeting (and both cats are obviously getting senile!)

Another victim of the 4am wake up here. Unfortunately DH is a light sleeper and a fool, so he has reinforced it by feeding the little buggers. When he's away, they don't starve away to nothing if I sleep in until 7am.

Given DS tends to throw food down at 1-2am before he goes to bed, and they have bowls of dry food out, I really think it's acceptable for them to cope for a mere two hours or so without a wet pouch, however they do not.

Ours is also waking up earlier now it’s the brighter months. As someone else said cats are crepuscular. You could leave some dry food out overnight, though it wouldn’t hurt to get a check up if you feel the need too.

On the nights she wants to sleep with us, she wouldn't tolerate us saying no. If she wants to sit on my lap, no amount of blocking or moving her away deters her. At best I can sometimes persuade her to sleep next to me with her paw or head on me instead.

She's a creature of habit and only sleeps in 2 places at night, one of which is our bed. This increases to 4 places during the day.

As I said, we have no where to lock her in anyway.

I would get a blackout blind for your room and see if that makes a difference. It's nearly the longest day, it gets light at 4am, she's waking at that time because she's programmed to go out hunting at dawn and once awake for the day she expects her breakfast.

She tells you when its time to go to bed. Then watches while you sort the bedding out and meows/fusses at you until you have moved the pillows so she can sleep at the top of the bed. Then shell fall asleep (properly asleep, not a cat nap) for a few hours before getting up and doing whatever she does. Then she might come back and sleep on me until the alarm goes off. The last bit doesn't happen at the moment obviously.

She has her routine and I do think it will cause her upset if we stopped her doing that.

Elderly cat, could be thyroid or diabetes so you need a vet check.

Already have one because I cant sleep if its not dark.

This is new though. In the 8 years we've had her, we've never had this issue so I am having a hard time thinking that she has got to 12 years old and only now decided that she wants to hunt in the morning. She has never done this before.

She's had a thyroid test late last year/early this year. She went through a phase of being unusually vocal so we had it checked. It was fine and shes less shouty again now. She clearly just thought that we hadn't given the vet enough money recently.

No signs of diabetes. As I say, it is literally just the morning. Everything else is completely unchanged.

😂 really missing the laugh reaction for this post!

I know it seems like Im shooting down everyone's suggestions.

I really don't think its an illness or anything physical because she is absolutely fine at all other times. Its only the morning. Literally no other changes to her or her hunger/food habits. She had her thyroid tested fairly recently and that was fine (she had a phase of being very talkative but that has stopped again). No signs of diabetes.

It could be that she is wanting to hunt at dawn but she has never done that in the 8 years we've had her. It seems unlikely to me that this would change at her age. She rarely even plays these days but I guess it possible.

The medical reason for it being just breakfast could be diabetes — low blood sugar in the morning. Combined with the change in morning light and her age, this is a likely possibility. Other posters keep telling you that but you keep batting away the suggestions. Her last full check up was last year. Anything could have happened in the intervening months. Is there a reason why you keep dismissing the suggestions?

Oh no, no downstairs doors at all?

Mine have always been shut in the kitchen overnight. The longest sulker 3 weeks to accept she couldn’t open the door and overnight was spent there.

They all line up happily to be put to bed and get grumpy if we stay up too late.

Yes - exactly as PP says. You don’t want to consider suggestions so people are probably going to duck out of this thread.

Your cat is getting older. Age behaviour. take the cat to the vet and get it tested. Maybe it will confirm one of the suggestions people have taken the time to leave.