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 again...I am reposting, because I'm not certain if my answer went through on your duplicate question.

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

Do they go outside during the day? Mine do, but I keep them in after dark, as much as I can. They aren't allowed out again until dawn. I hope this prevents them from getting into fights with other cats at night and big animals we have in the neoghborhood like racoons, foxes and opossums. Sometimes they try to cheat me and get me to let them out earlier, but not so often now. The main thing is consistency. If they get too rambunctious before dawn, I nicely shut them out of the bedroom. I will let them back in after a while, but they have to be quiet or they get ejected again. Fortunately, I am used to it and can almost always go back to sleep for another hour or even tow after I let them out. If the weather is bad and they don't want to go out after all, they tend to get frustrated. They must think I can change the weather for them. If this happens I'll show them the bad weather, then bring them back in so they can have a little snack. Then I'll go back to bed. After 7 months together, I think they really understand the rules now.

Answer 3

Cats are nocturnal. They also have a sleep cycle which is very different from ours, which is that they sleep for a few minutes or an hour, then are active for a while, then go back to sleep.

If you don't want to hear their noise in the middle of the night, you'll have to shut them out of your bedroom.

Answer 4

scold it when it does that and put it in the cage far away from you so you can't hear the cat. or shut the door to your room so the cat can't bother you.