I know it seems crazy that this has gone on for so long but I guess I have adjusted. However, I know that this distrupts my sleep and makes me groggy during the day. I moved into a studio several months ago so I can no longer lock him out of my room. I have tried feeding him late at night and squirting him with a watergun when he wakes me but he seems to think it is a game. And now, get this, he wakes me when there is still food in his bowl from the night before! He is the love of my life but this is getting to be too much.
2007-07-12 06:49:36 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Cats
Hahaha...sounds like he's got his routine on! Sorry, not laughing at you but rather, because I can relate to it so I know how frustrating it really is.
What helped me was eventually, I got a scratch post that had many nooks and places to play. It was actually from this site where I bought it...
http://www.woodruffforpets.com/furniture.html
Some people may find the price to be a bit steep but overall, the more 'interesting' a post is, the more the cat will love it. If you do decide to try this, put it near a window where there is the most interesting activity outside. Sprinkle the post with catnip and rub it in the material as this would encourage the cat to use it.
As for keeping your cat away from your bed and if I were you, I would probably buy something that I can use as a border to keep him out of the bedroom, but can still use it for other things such as in the case if I moved.
I would probably buy a folding panel to use as a new bedroom door. To give you an idea of what I mean, here's a link:
http://img.alibaba.com/photo/51527241/Three_Panel_Folding_Screen.jpg
Shop around and use your imagination. I would imagine that many of these would be cost efficient and you can always use it later as decoration, should you no longer need it.
There is also this thing that some photography stores sell which is a 2 panelled photo display. Its usually wood, folds in half and has many little frames in which you can put your photos in.
In either case should you decide to try this, make sure that they are sturdy and cannot be knocked over. Take measurements of your doorway so that you know what size you need. And make sure that there are no openings at the bottom so that the cat can slip under. With these two things in mind, this would help for you guys to find a compromise.
Hope this helps :)
2007-07-12 07:15:07 · answer #1 · answered by KarmaDub 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It will probably be pretty hard to break him of this habit after so long, but normally the best way to train a cat to not wake you up is to ignore it. If you try to punish the cat, he make think it's a game (as you've already discovered!) or he may decide that negative attention is better than no attention. And NEVER feed the cat or pet him or play with him when he wakes you up -- then you are rewarding him for waking you up so of course he will keep doing it! You have to teach him that he won't get any response out of you if he wakes you up, and eventually he'll have no reason to wake you up. While this is relatively easy to do with a kitten, I don't know how long it will take to train your cat since he's so used to that routine ... he may get rather confused as to why you no longer wake up at 5 with him!
2007-07-12 09:52:26 · answer #2 · answered by Jen 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mine does this too, and it drives me crazy when I'm sleep deprived. He doesn't have a problem adjusting to daylight savings time so it's his schedule that he's following and not mine.
Since you can't lock him out of the room, my best suggestion is that when he wakes you up at 5am, just get up, don't say anything, lift him up and put him inhis cat carrier and set it in the bathroom, facing away from the door so he's got a boring view out the carrier. Then go back to bed. Let him out when you get up for work and use the bathroom. He will probably yell the first time, and the second. But when he figures out his early rise alert only gets him solitary confinement for 2 hours without you yelling or making any sort of fuss about it, he'll adjust his behavior because YOU'VE changed your routine. It no longer becomes fun and it's just an enforced nap time for him. I bet in a week he'll be letting you get more than 4 or 5 hours sleep.
Me, I just get up without saying anything, escort him out and close the bedroom door. It means I usually have ALL 5 of them sitting outside it waiting for breakfast when I get up at 6:30, but it's better than him being my early alarm clock!
2007-07-12 16:00:55 · answer #3 · answered by Elaine M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your terrific guess could be make her help freshen up. She replaced into greater effective than sufficiently old to make the mess, make her spend her Sesame highway time cleansing up what she did. incredibly she is being punished for what took place. i could make it a element to assert 'in case you hadn't carried out this you will have the flexibility to be doing xxxxxx instead of this'. That way she learns that what she is doing isn't ok. Then do this every time she gets up. Make a punishment of what she loses large adequate that she in no way needs to do this back. So no longer basically do you may desire to bathe this up, yet now you in addition to mght lose television for the 'day' or 'week'. Oh and PLEASE persist with despite you eliminate. no longer something worse than a determine that provides in. she will have the flexibility to basically learn you're actually unable to hold your floor which will basically inspire her to proceed on doing worse issues. yet another ingredient you should do is placed a sort of frogs, canines, or different exterior action ingredient close to the place she sleeps. you recognize those which you walk by ability of and that they make noise. That way you pays attention her getting up and getting into worry while she breaks that action barrier. of path that may not artwork constantly, she will have the flexibility to parent it out. yet for now, i does not tell her, does not enable her see it. in basic terms use it. possibly conceal all however the action area with a towel or something. Then once you pay attention it, you will get up and chase her decrease back to mattress in the previous she would be able to even see what made the noise. interior the morning i could determine which you do at present conceal it so she does not discover out what it truly is. yet as replaced into additionally pronounced, i could incredibly check along with her AND her universal practitioner. consistent with probability she will have the flexibility to tell you what is going incorrect. If she has a sitter i could be looking into what is going on. It does sound like something large must be occurring. yet possibly those recommendations will a minimum of get you in the process the subsequent couple of days.
2016-10-19 04:12:13 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Um, you've put up with it for 5 years...continue to put up with it or make significant changes. My cat has her own room in the house. All of her things, litter box, food/water and some toys and a blanket, etc...are all in the laundry room. At night, she is put in the room (it's a regular sized room) where she stays until I get up. A night or two of off and on meowing is all that you'll experience. I love my cat dearly, but i am the human and I make the rules. Try it - it will work wonders.
2007-07-12 07:00:03 · answer #5 · answered by Enchanted 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Just as people have certain times they wake up in the morning, so do cats! You just have a "morning" cat!
2007-07-12 06:58:06 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You got to break him of the habit by not responding anymore at that hour! Get the best ear plugs you can find!
2007-07-12 06:57:46 · answer #7 · answered by C D 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋