Training cat to let us sleep in.

[flipperae]

My cat likes to wake me and other people in our house up at 3:20am. What can I do to get him to stop waking us up so early?

[Luba]

What do u do when he wakes u up and what does he want? Food?

[Lucky Rescue]

How old is this cat, how long have you had him, and what and when do you feed him? Is he neutered? How long has he been waking you up?

And as Luba asked - what happens when he wakes you up?

[flipperae]

He is about 6 months old and we have had him for 4 months and he has been neutered. I feed him canned food about 5:30am. When he wakes me up he wants to play. He started waking us up about 2 months ago. I have tried ignoring him but that does not work. There is no place in this house where we can lock him in a room. We got him from the pound.

[Lucky Rescue]

Well, he's a kitten, and this is what kittens do, unfortunately.

Are you saying you are feeding him once a day, at 5:30 a.m.? If so, he's probably hungry when he wakes you up.

Try feeding him canned beef cat food at bedtime. This type food tends to make cats sleepy. Also, try playing with him for at least a half hour prior to bed. The combination of the food and the exercise should knock him out.

Your bathroom must have a door, so if you feed him and play with him as I mentioned, and he still wakes you up, get up, pick him up and deposit him in the bathroom until you get up for good.

Don't chase him or say a word when you do this. He should catch on that waking you up has unpleasant results.

Your cat is at his most annoying age now, and WILL grow out of being such a pest.

[flipperae]

He gets fed twice a day. Thank you for the advice I will try playing with more before bedtime and try the suggestion if playing with him doesn't work. Thank you and I hope you and Luba have a wonderful holiday!

[Luba]

OH for sure as LR said...just a little baby thats testing the waters and probably too happy and excited to sleep.

A full tummy before bed will let kitty sleep through the night.

Locked in the w/roooooooom OBOY! You better behave kitty!!!

LOL

[wAggie]

one more thing, don't forget YOU are the leader of the pack.

so when it's feeding time, YOU will let HIM know.

[flipperae]

Thanks. He is doing much better now. He has become quite the little character. He is a lot of laughs. He lets me sleep in now.

[wAggie]

WWWWWWWWooooooooooHHHHHHHHHHHHhoooooo!!

congrats, mommy!

[Luba]

Great news

Keep up the good work

[Looking4Mittens]

haha my cat wakes up the minute my mom wakes up at 6 am... and wants food.. and she won't stop meaowing til she gets it. haha she's beeen doing it way to long, i don't think there's a way to break her habit

[amaruq]

I have one cat that is up all night...she plays and putz's around the house. If you get up in the middle of the night she is at your feet rubbing herself....then she will come to bed and purrrr up a storm GRRRRRR! She will leave and start the cycle all over again. She is 7 yr old

[Looking4Mittens]

When my cat was younger around 4,5,6 yrs old she would play all night.. after 7 til now 10 years old she usually sleeps all night like a baby

[chico2]

My Vinnie did the same,my older cats used to sleep with me until I got up,but Vinnie sleeps from after his supper(5:30pm)until about 9pm when I wake him up.I play with him while watching TV and by 11-11:30 when I go to bed,he is usually pooped and will sleep all night.

[wAggie]

wow... even cats get into a routine, eh?

[chico2]

Aggie,cats(at least mine!)are VERY routine creatures...any break and they do weird stuff
At times I almost think they look at the clock and think:Oh,treat time,dinner time,time to go outside watch mom freeze and go in after 3 minutes leaving little kitty-paws all over the house
Used to be,they had to adjust to us,now it seems they have adjusted us

[wAggie]

HAHAHAHAHA

too bad I won't be personally experiencing that any time soon...

*sigh*