Elderly cat waking husband

[Catlover1705]

Our 15 Yr old cat is devoted to my Dh, follows him everywhere. This is fine accept at night as cat wakes him up at 12, 2 and 6am by pawing his head until Dh gets up to feed him. Dh tries ignoring him but he'll then scratch the furniture and carpet. We leave out food at night but he wants fresh stuff and attention from dh. Cat seems perfectly healthy but Dh is suffering from sleep deprivation. I know Dh should ignore him but then our bedroom gets destroyed. Any ideas please. Thank you.

Get an automatic feeder, and shut the cat the kitchen/ downstairs.

I know you say the cat is perfectly healthy, but hyperthyroidism is very very common in old cars and comes on suddenly with increased hunger as a main symptom. I'd get a vet check.

Gosh that sounds exhausting 😟.

We have an older cat (17 this year) also devoted to dh. He’s been through a lot over the last year most recently we very sadly lost our other older cat, so now he’s our only cat. But he miaows and miaows loudly, usually for reassurance even though he gets a lot of attention, but goodness it can be wearing. We also have to watch his weight but he goes on a lot for more food which we must regulate. He’s had recent tests so I think he’s healthy if a bit stiff, dh even carries him upstairs so he’s definitely dh’s no1 fan

We have always put the cats in the kitchen at night with comfy beds, food and access to the garden though so he’s used to that, otherwise I’m sure he’d be similarly waking us up.

Tried using a Feliway plug in this last month since he seemed distressed at the death of our other cat. It might have helped a bit I suppose. I think older cats do sometimes become cognitively impaired, but definitely a vet checkup might provide some answers. Cats are very good at hiding health issues.

Seconded.

He has 6 monthly vet check ups through a vet plan. The last one was in November and all fine so due to go next month so we can mention it then.
Funnily enough Dh has had a better night, only woken once. He said he told cat off this time. Dh just as potty about cat as the cat is about him!

We started locking our older cat downstairs as all his manners had gone. He had access to outside, food and water and comfy warm spot. We slept a lot better.

Our cat is not old (just turned three) but is shut in the kitchen at night or he is a total pest exactly as you describe. We did the same with our previous girl. He has his cat tree, a bed, food/water/litter in there, a box of toys, and we also bring his main bed through from the living room and put it on the kitchen table - he will actually shout at me to do this when he hears the audio cues that it’s bedtime, like teeth cleaning. We keep him in overnight, so he doesn’t have access to outdoors when we’re in bed.

Shut the cat downstairs with food, water and litter tray.

I've never allowed our cats in the bedroom overnight.

He's gorgeous.

Shut the cat in a room downstairs, my cat is never allowed upstairs.

This is the culprit. I like the automatic feeder idea but don't think I can bring myself to shut him in the kitchen, not yet.

Very cute. But you can't beat their biology - cats are naturally crepuscular so they're most active at dawn and dusk. Even an automatic feeder won't stop that desire to get out and hunt/play/roam.