Help! My cat can't tell time!

[kadi]

Hi,
Anyone found a solution for this? My cat keeps waking me up around 4:30am. She's pretty deliberate about it. Licks my eyelids - bleahhhh!! Tries to dig a hole under my pillow. Taps me on the shoulder with her paw. Gives me her cutest kitty looks.

I feed her twice a day, once right before I go to bed (which is what's got her to the point of bugging me at 4:30 and not 1:00 or 2:00am) and during the school year, when I leave for work in the morning. She is not getting with my vacation schedule!!!

If I shut her out of the bedroom, when I open the door, she's been leaning on it and topples in making piteous "muurrrph" noises. OR worse, she tries to dig under the door, which I suspect the landlord will be unhappy with if she tears the carpet.

Any suggestions?
Besides repeat after me: I am the boss of my house. I AM the boss of my house. The kitty IS NOT the boss of my house. I AM the boss of my house. :bonk:

[Dixiefireball]

I don't really know what to say about this:hmm: do you have another room you could put her in during the night? I have no idea what to tell you but i'm sure she means well.

[Katrina]

Is there any food you can give her in the bedroom....so you can give her something and go right back to sleep? (maybe treats?)

I found if I ignore her enough eventually my cat will stop trying.....they only do what works kind of idea....but I know that takes time and consistantcy.

That is all I have right now.

Good luck
:cat:

[Sarojini]

Can you invest in one of those automatic feeders? You can program these to open to reveal fresh food at any time you want, and they even have new ones that have a spot for an ice pack, so you can put canned food and dry food in there and the canned stays fresh overnight (or longer).

I read this suggestion in a cat care magazine (I can't remember if it was Cat Fancy or Catnip, which is an excellent publication from the Tufts School of Veterninary Medicine)-- regardless, it said that if you use the auto-feeder, often the cat will learn that the morning meal comes from the auto-feeder, rather than the person, and will quit bothering you. Of course, you may hear some plaintive mews as the cat meows at the feeder until it opens at 4:30, but the pestering usually stops ;)

I'm a kitty person, can you tell? :)

My big baby, Paddington, is a one-year old male Maine Coon who weighs 18.5 pounds (and isn't quite done growing). He wakes me up at 6am every day. However, I do get up and feed him then.... usually, if I'm on vacation, he eats and then we go back to bed together for another hour or two after.

:)

[kadi]

Thanks Sarojini,
I actually have one of those timer feeders but never thought of using it when I'm home!
She may settle down soon too because the apartment complex has had exterior painting done the past 2 weeks, so much banging, crashing, clanging noise from the outside & roof. Not to mention paint smell... She may be acting up because of that. I hear cats are even worse than we are with change or interruption of routine.
But, I'll get some new batteries this weekend so I can try that idea!

Thanks
:cat:

[priny]

Are you still having trouble with your cat? My cat does this sometimes too - she's not really hungry, she just wants attention.

Now I lock her in the basement. When I lived in an apartment I would put her in her cat carrier and shut her in the bathroom for a few hours in the early morning so I wouldn't hear her meowing. It sounds harsh, but it really didn't hurt her and she wasn't scared, just mad. Anyone who has ever lost sleep from a cat will know that sometimes you just have to do what works!

[kadi]

Yep, the timer feeder has worked out well. I had to start it out next to the bed, so she'd hear the lid pop open. Each day I moved it 2 feet farther away to eventually work it to the kitchen. So far, she's caught on & goes to eat, then comes back to her cozy chair in the bedroom.

Thanks for all the tips!

[kadi]

Hi all,
Just wanted to let you all know that the timer completely solved the early morning kitty problem. The feeder worked it's way back into the kitchen & she just goes in there, has breakfast & comes back to curl up at the foot of my bed. All is well.
Thanks again!

[Sarojini]

Great!!! I'm so glad it worked out for you. :) I'm glad I remembered that tip from the magazine, in that case :)

[Dixiefireball]

I guess i'm going to have to invest in one of those. The mother cat and her two kittens come in my room every morning and mewo and jump up on my bed until i get up to feed them.
sounds like this could be the answer to my problem too.
Rhonda

[Katrina]

I am so glad that worked out! Good luck Rhonda and Priny!

[Michelle in KC]

1. buy a bigger food bowl. fill at night before bedtime.
2. buy a cheap throw rug at walmart and put it 1/2 under your bedroom door so when she goes to scratch her way in, she scratches on that rather than the carpet.
3. shut your door and be firm about it.

good luck. I have 3 cats... I know your pain.

[XoChelsey03Xo]

Awwww that is soooooooooooooo cute!!!! However, I'm sure that gets annoying every night. I'm not really sure what you can do? You might call your vet and ask? Chelsey