My cats like to make noise early every morning. How do i get them to stop and sleep all night until I get up?

Question

My cats like to make noise scratching furniture and the heat vents I have in my bedroom. They also meow a lot. This is done in the wee hours everymorning.

Answer 1

Hi there...I'm partially reiterating some of the other suggestions here, but elaborating on them. It sounds like your kitties has found a schedule of their own. There are many possibilities as to why they may be waking you up at this particular time of morning. For example many cats who are fed at a scheduled time will learn when to expect their meals, the family members come home and leave for day, etc. It's more of a conditioned response from a pattern which is being continually reinforced...and is why I'm making this assumption.

If you would like to change/adjust their schedule to yours consider by playing with them using more physical active activities (e.g. laser light) using interactive play for 10-15 minutes prior to bedtime to exhaust them so they'll sleep longer. If your cats are not free fed (food available at all times) some people who feed their cats on schedule (once in the morning and once at night) have found that by feeding right just before bedtime also note that this has a sedating effect because their tummy's are full.

This particular method isn't known to many as most people are not willing to consider it, however one the things we as animal trainers/behaviourists do to break bad behaviours with animals is to ignore the undesired behaviour. What follows is called an extinction burst where the behaviour becomes progressively worst for awhile hoping for the same positive reinforcement as received in past. Eventually the animal learns this behaviour does not gains them any positive reinforcement and eventually fades away.

Here's another example of how an extinction burst works: This happens when a proven method of doing something that brings a desired response (i.e. stealing socks always elicits a chase from a human), all of a sudden stops working. The extinction burst is the part where the dog tries the proven method again and again, and hundred times stronger before they figure out that it just doesn't work anymore. Human equivalent: you're at the elevator. You pressed the button 10 seconds ago. This has always made the elevator come and pick you up. For some reason, there's no sign that the elevator's coming. You press it again. And again, and again and again, harder and harder, with more force (extinction burst!), until finally you just give up and use the stairs. If the original method doesn't work anymore, why use it?!

More on Extinction Burst: http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/archives/bursts.txt

Answer 2

Cats spent at least 15 hours a day sleeping. They usually get most hours in during the day while people are away at work. They're nocturnal so during the night they're kicking with energy. My cat usually spends the night walking around the house doing as he pleases. It's just in their instinct so it's pretty uncontrollable

Answer 3

haha, i have the exact same problem. my cat will be making a mess and all this noise in my room, and i feel bad if i lock him out cause he will be meowing and scratching on my door the whole morning. my solution? try playing with them and getting them active during the daytime. if they still make noise at night, i also find that spray bottles work wonders on them. i keep one handy in my room. my last bit of advice is to try feeding them milk, instead of water. i find that it makes my cat less jumpy for some reason. but i would ask your vet about giving him milk before doing it though. hope that helps.

Answer 4

Cats are for the most part nocturnal they are far more active at night. Either you have to get used to it or you could find a night job and sleep during the day too!

Answer 5

good luck. almost everyone i know has cats that do that. i think one way to start is to ignore them, dont' give them any illusions that you are going to respond to them and maybe eventually they will quiet down when they realize you aren't waking up. you could also try to confine them at night to a room further away from your bedroom (with a litter box of course but maybe without lots of things for them to use to make a racket!).

Answer 6

take one of them sleeping pills that let you sleep all night! or lock your cats in a small room like the bathroom or something with all the stuff they need.

Answer 7

you can't really, close the bedroom door and try to ignor them or if you have a yard and are able to throw them out before supper then let them back in before bed, it'll tire them out.