How do I let my cat know that 3-5 am is a time of sleep and not purring for attention or to go out side,,?

Question

My cat hides and sleeps all day ,comes out around 6-7 at night goes outside,comes in,goes back out and eventually back in for most of the night. Around 3 am she jumps on my bed or
scratches at the door .( I have locked her out) She meows for some attention or to go outside. When I open the door,she looks out and decides it's too cold and wanders back in. This goes on from 3-7 and then she disappears for her daytime sleep. I lose sleep over this. Are there ways to deter this or is this a cat's winter time habits?

Answer 1

Cats are nocturnal by nature, just like humans are diurnal. But, with enough conditioning, you can change this.

My 9-year-old cat, Jazmin, has been trained to go to bed at 10pm with my wife and I, and she sleeps through most of the night in her bed on our bedroom dresser. We trained her by keeping her up during the day and keeping her active. If we caught her napping, we’d wake her and pull out the laser pointer to play with (the quickest way to keep a cat awake from what I’ve seen). It took us about a week to get her into the groove, and she’s been like this for the past 8 years we’ve had her. When she doesn’t sleep through the night, she goes out into the living room to play with her toys. Never keep a cats play things in you bedroom, or play with them in the bedroom, since this will let them think that it’s ok anytime (like 4am). Just keep their favorite sleeping blanket or bed in the bedroom. They’ll start to associate this room for napping and sleeping.

Now, just like humans, you may have a stubborn cat. Our 9-month old kitten, Fiona, we’ve tried training her since she was 3 months old, but I think since she is so young and energetic, the training appears to not be working. She does go to bed with us at night, but by 2am-3am, she’s recharged and ready to play. Pouncing at our feet, sniffing in our ears, basically, anything to wake us up to play. We give her a stern “NO” on the first offense, and on the second offense she is placed on the floor, and the thir offense, she gets shut out of the bedroom, and we put 2 X-Mat’s in front of the door to stop her from pawing at the door to be let back in. It’s taking longer to train Fiona, but it is slowly sinking in. Jazmin was about a year old when we got her, and a little less energetic, so I think that made her easier to train.

Just as every cat owner out there knows, every cat has it’s own unique personality, and you need to try to modify your training technique to compensate because no two cats train alike.

Answer 2

She does it because that is the way you taught her to play. You allowed her to be rough with your hands from the very beginning and there is not much you can do now to stop it. Cats need to learn that hands are for stroking and giving treats and are not to be used for play. You should only play with your cat using rod toys and keep your hands well away. The reason she does it when you are stroking her is probably because you go past the point where it turns from pleasure into something she finds annoying or simply because she has decided to start playing again. When she was a kitten her mother/siblings would have put her in her place for doing it but then you came along and allowed her to get away with it! Stroke her for short periods and don't allow her to become over-stimulated by it. When you stroke her and she behaves, reward her with a treat. If she bites/scratches you must try not to react at all by snatching your hands away or by shouting as this is simply giving her the attention she wants. Stay very still, withdraw your hands and get up and walk away - she won't expect that at all and should start to learn that biting and scratching simply means being left alone which is no fun. I'm not sure what you can do about the scratches you already have. I believe Bio Oil is very good but haven't tried it myself.

Answer 3

Well unfortunately, cats are 'nocturnal' by nature so many of our cats sleep most of the day away.. My cat decided that 4-6am (when I am dead to the world) was the perfect time to jump onto by bed, purr like he's a motorboat, lick my face and rub himself all over me. He'd flop over my face and I end up with lots of fur all over me. It took me a while to understand but that's the time he gets really hungry. Now I just make sure there's enough dry food to last him till morning before I go to bed. Try opening the door for her before you go to sleep. They're quite clever but just need a little reminding. She'll remember that it is still too cold outside tonight and hopefully will not disturb your sleep.

Answer 4

I have similar problem with my cat as well...only she's a inside cat. If you have time, you should stay with her in daytime making sure for her to not fall asleep all day. If you keep it that way for couple of days, she'll eventually learn to sleep in night.

Or simply ignore her completely when she wants to go outside. It sounds mean, but cats are not stupid...they'll learn it eventually. It may take for a while though! These methods are time consuming for sure...but it'll work in the end.

Good luck and take care! I hope things will get better for you soon.

Answer 5

Is she spayed? If not, have her spayed...that would do wonders as she may want outside because she is in heat. Not all cats are noisy.
If she is, I would not let her outside in the evening because it now seems to be a habit of hers. Maybe you can find ways to get her to sleep at night (a little warm milk)? Since cats just love warmth I would provide her a warm environment (a lamp) to sleep in at night.
Would she sleep at night in a crate? Many times they love that security...

Answer 6

Your kitty is on "kitty schedule" right now, and not yours. So you will need to change that...

What we did was to keep our kitty active during the normal daylight hours, and then when you go to bed, allow the kitty to lay down and go to sleep. She didn't like being rousted at first, but we would keep her active anyway. After several days doing that, she got the idea that daytime was for play, some naps, but not sleeping all day. And that all night was for sleeping. She's pretty good about that now. Try it.

Answer 7

Cats are nocturnal creatures they sleep in the day and roam at night. That is just their way. One thing that would help is to have her spayed. She won't want to go out anymore if you do that. You can also close your bedroom door she will eventually find something to do.

Answer 8

I use to work the night shift. My cats would head butt my feet to wake me up. One day I got fed up and gave them all a bath . Now not that the bath was a bad thing, it was not the attention they wanted. The head butting ceased until I was awake. Here are some choices. Negative re-enforcement. Spray bottle or put her in the bathroom when she is being naughty. Or put her out during the day and in at night.....Good Luck.

Answer 9

My cats go in and out too......I have a dog house with an electric heating pad int he bottom with towels and stuff on top of it.....And when they start that in the middle of the night and I am loosing sleep......I go around the house and find them before I go to bed and put them out....And I say "Sorry, guys.....mommy is getting some sleep tonight....your on your own!...lol"......And that night I DO get a very good night sleep.....ss

Answer 10

My theory on this might be. Wake the cat up during their sleeping hours and maybe keep it awake so it will be tired later on. I'm not trying to be mean. Just thought it might help you out when your trying to sleep. Then maybe both of you can get some rest together.