How can I stop my cat from waking me up at 5 AM every day?

Question

I have an 8 year-old male tabby cat. He has been fine for years but now wakes me up every morning at 5 AM. He started doing this at my old home but it would be inconsistent. During the past few months, it's been going on every single day. He meows in my face and scratches at the door. He is pretty quiet during the day and never even bothers to open the door. Overall, he is an angelic cat but he becomes a nightmare at 5 AM each day. He meows for 30-90 minutes but then gives up and goes to sleep.

I don't know what to do anymore! I feed him late before bed, clean out his litter pan, etc. I don't know what else to do. MY quality of life is suffering because I wake up tired and cranky. I sometimes oversleep.

I feel that he has gotten worse and more spoiled ever since I started feeding him wet food every day, as per the vet's recommendation. I feel like he wants more wet food and refuses to eat his dry food.

Help!

Answer 1

Yep, they like that wet food! My mother in law's cats would do the same to her, only at 3:00. They were on a schedule (my father in law would get up at that time for work and would feed them.).

My kitty Dale starts trying to wake me up about 4:30 to 5:00. He knows that I get up at 5:30 and he figures that it's time now, so wake Mommy up so she can go to work! Mostly, he does it on the weekends, when I am supposed to get to sleep in!

I don't know how to tell you to break the habit, short of locking your kitty in another room, like the bathroom or something. Maybe that way you wouldn't hear him. Just make sure you put his liter box in there and some food and water (of course). Good luck to you!

Answer 2

I'm having the same problem with my siamese kitten. My other half gets up to go to work at 5.30 so Neo thinks we should all be awake at 4.00. This is what seems to be working for me...

I have the bedroom door open so he can come into the room. Then if he begins meowing or trying to kiss or stomp on my head, I just pick him up and plop him straight onto the floor. Of course he will jump up again but the minute he does it, hes on the floor. If after 10 times he hasn't learnt, I will get the water squirter and squirt him out of the room and close the door.

It has taken a few days of doing this before Neo has decided that maybe waking mum up at 4 for a talk is not such a good idea. Now he will jump up on the bed but will sit quietly until I am ready. (Now if only I could get the other cat to stop climbing the curtains while im asleep....)

p.s.

I feed my cats at the same times each day. 7.30am and 6.30pm. This helps to keep them in a pattern. I have noticed no difference with wet or dry food as they get both (both at night and dry + kitty milk in the morning)

Answer 3

The wet food doesn't have anything to do with this. If he is fed and satisfied then he should be OK, But?

If you can give him lot's of attention during the day he may feel more contented to sleep at night.

If he wants out then maybe open the cat door at 5am, if you have one.

When you retire shut the door.

I think he is feeling insecure for some reason and needs the 5 am attention which you need to be strong and let him know it's not acceptable. Try the closed door for a night or two, then open it and when he acts up tell him No! Go! and put the pillow over your ears. If he comes in and acts OK then praise him with a pet.

Answer 4

I've suffered through this with my cat Weiner you have four choices, 1 & 2 didn't work for me, but here goes. You can do what that other guy said and brain him with a bot, they just shake that off and I think it makes em more brain damaged and meow more, or you can lock them in another room, mine just meowed louder and I could still hear him, or put him outside at night you will sleep like a baby! It should only take a few nights of him getting beat up by other cats and racoons to realize inside is better and to leave you alone, or get ear plugs and lock them out of your room, that works for me too.

Answer 5

Maybe you should let the bedroom door cracked, so he can leave when he feels like it's time for him to wake up. I sleep with my cat, too, and he wakes up earlier than me. Usually about 4 am he went to the kitchen, eats his dry food, maybe uses his litter box and then comes back to bed.

Answer 6

Awww yes,....cats do love the wet food, for sure !!
This has happend to me a couple of times with all my kitties (5) but i really HATE to get up just to feed them, so i just roll over and go back to sleep. If you cant go b ack to sleep for some reason, your'er just gonna have to face it and get up and feed him/her. OR, get up and put him/her in another room, away from you.
Maybe the night before, get a bowl of food ready in the other room, so you wont have to bother with dishing it up and stuff.

Answer 7

This happens because cats are most active at dawn and dusk. He didn't bother you when he was younger because he had lots of things to amuse him. Now (with the wisdom of age) he just wants to be with you.
Make him not want to be with you. Keep a squirt bottle near your bed, when he starts up, blast him right in the face. Do it everytime he gets loud and he will learn pretty quickly not to go near your bed or your room.

Answer 8

One of my 3 cats does this. It's because he hates using a litter box and wants to go outside to pee. His tiny bladder lasted as long as it could, but he can't wait any longer. Sounds like your cat has developed a preference for the outdoors. Can you add a pet door to your dwelling?

Answer 9

The operative word I found in your question: "spoiled".

We do love our cats and tend to spoil them and, as cats are prone to do, they do their own thing, when and where they want to do it.
Trying to stop it is futile.

Sherry, you have a bit of a dilemma on your hands...your cat's internal clock, for whatever reason, compels your Tabby to perform this daily ritual at that particular time and, as long as he loves you and continues to reside in the same household with you, you'll just have to put up with all this attention and affection you're getting.
Lucky you!

Answer 10

I have these two giant floor pillows in my apartment. Every night, I put one in front of my door which I close each night. I kind of put it a little left of the door. It keeps my kitties from waking me up at my door at 5 AM. Your kitty probably just wuvs you.