Wont let me sleep!

[Rooty]

Hi all, my lovely fur baby has started to wake me up earlier and earlier for his morning feed. Ive tried to lock him out but he has learned how to open doors, even a big fire door with a couple of large doorstops. Hes very determined and if he cant open the door he will simply sit outside it and howl, he has a very loud meow. Now hes waking me up at 2ish nd I feed him some crunchies then at 4am I get up and give him his feed just to shut him up and get some sleep but literally he wont leave me alone for HOURS, also tried water pistol but he gets scared and I feel mean then it doesnt work. Any ideas??

[Elaine]

Hiya, how old is your cat? What is your current feeding routine?
Some find it helps to leave some dry food down so the cat can graze through out the night. Some times it helps, if you feed more than one meal per day, to keep the evening one until bed time. Play with kitty for a while before feeding then before you head off to bed give the food, hopefully he/she will then set about grooming and snoozing.

[Rooty]

Hes 2 years old and IVe tried to give him a later feed or an extra feed but he ends up puking. Hes a half ragdoll and they have really sensitive tummies. At the mo I keep some crunchies (tesco combinos - he loves them) in the drawer of my bedside cabinet and I feed him some of them at about 2ish so I can have a few more hours kip. I will try what you suggested tho and do little feeds throughout the day and a main one later at night and see if that helps, thanks!

[Elaine]

Really? Ragdolls have sensitive tummies? You wanna try telling Caspurr and Abi that:lol: :lol: :lol: Especially Caspurr, he eats like a horse and then some:lol: .

If your cat does suffer from a sensitive tummy though, maybe smaller meals, little and often will help.
Some one else may have some better suggestions but those are the only ones I can think of right now.;)

[meep]

I've had the same problem with my boys. They don't wake me up every two hours, but used to wake me up every morning at 6am. First it was by scratching at the front door, which rattles in its lock, and that always woke us up. So now we barricade the front door and they've stopped that.

Do you leave dry cat food out all night? That seems to keep mine going until around 7am. I'm always about to invest in a timed feeding bowel, that will pop open at the right time. They're about £20 and can be found at petsathome.com and zooplus.com

I do feel your pain, although like I said, mine don't wake me up every two hours! Just earlier than I'd like. Ignoring them is the best trick. It takes a few sleepless nights of them consistently yowling, but if you get up at 2am when he yowls, he'll think learn that you WILL get up at 2am when he yowls. But ignore him and he will eventually get the message and give up. We've stuck tot his and it did mean some nights we were woken up at 5am and didn't get back to sleep but now it's been pushed back to 7am.

Darcy's favourite trick is jumping on the pillow and getting my hair in his mouth and then pulling it up from the root! It's REALLY sore, but he purrs as he does it. He knows exactly what he's doing too ;) Cheeky b*gger.

[dandysmom]

Agree with meep that ignoring it will eventually work, but it does take a while for the message to sink in that you WON'T get up and feed him. Stick to it; worked for me. Also, Elaine's suggestion of a late meal is an excellent idea; I do that with Leia and she has a good wash-up and goes to sleep peacefully with me. It was my boy who was a holy terror wanting me to get up in the wee sma's!

[meep]

I got that good piece of advice about ignoring them from DM ;) And it is starting to have the desired effect. Some nights there are set backs, but the length of time they take in pestering us is going down. I've taken to actually hiding my head under the blanket (partly to hide out the noise and protect my hair - Darcy bites it at the root, quite sore!) again advice from DM, and for some reason it really works as they can't see you and don't quite know what to do. This morning Darcy made a few confusing 'prrp?' noises and then fell asleep at the foot of the bed.

I know it's a stressful situation being woken up every morning, have you seen this for some light relief?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ffwDYo00Q

A very funny, and accurate cartoon of cats in the morning!