Help!!! I've Created a Monster (Who Wakes Me Up at 3 a.m.!)

julia123

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ARGH!!! My 3 y.o. red tabby, Frances, had developed a very bad habit. I usually sleep on my back. He's started crawling onto my chest/neck in the wee hours of the morning (all 15 pounds of him!!). He'll get as close to my neck as possible and then stare at me, purring loudly, until I open my eyes. He's literally an inch away. He wants attention!! I should be glad...he was abandoned as a kitten and it took me 2 years to "wear him down" from a very skittish and bad-tempered cat to the "lovebug" he is today.
I like that he wants to cuddle...but at 3 or 4 a.m.??? How can I encourage him to cuddle and still be able to get a good night's sleep??
 

gingersmom

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I can only give you empathy. Ferris woke me up that way last night at exactly 3:17 a.m., LOL!!!


I was startled awake to find him lying there on top of me, fixedly staring at me from about three inches away from my face.
Usually he just roots around on my bed at 4 a.m. looking for hairties to steal from me.

Should I be worried?
 

mooficat

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why do they do that, it so spooky, Miss Moofi does it but shes only telling me that she wants to come under the duvet, so thats not too bad.
I dont really know what to suggest - give him some chin scritches and hope he drops back to sleep
 

mamakitties

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Maybe you can adjust his sleeping time so that he sleeps less during the day and more at night. I know when I get home from work, I will keep them up until I head to bed. They normally can sleep from 10/11am to 5/6am without disturbing me much. If they do, I just grab them and cuddle them to sleep. If they don't like it, they will just go away. That's just my experience with my cats.
 

wesley's mom

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Cats are not like us. They are usually awake at night and sleep a lot during the day. He is probabally just wondering why you are laying there when you could be petting him instead! All he wants is attention. Maybe to be petted or maybe he is hungry? Some times my cat does this but I usually bury my head under the blanket and ignore him and he will lay down on me and go to sleep. Or he goes and sniffs my husband's head until he is awake too!
Cats are very smart and they figure out what to do to get their way! They use their cute charm and that usually works! Maybe try ignoring him or putting him at the end of the bed every time he wakes you up. Kind of like trying to get a baby to sleep through the night. Babies know if they cry you will come pick them up and soothe them. It seems like cats are like that. Have patience and just keep moving him to the end of the bed and maybe he will learn to jump up and sleep by your feet instead of in your face purring!!! Good luck and have fun!
 

mandm1213

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i have decided to start sleeping on my back recently.. the only reason i have, is because i fell asleep one day and the cat was laying on my stomache sleeping. She really loves sleeping on my stomache..and she doesn't bother me at all when i'm sleeping. Just gest up in the morning with me and asks for food. =) She' such a good kitty. If she does bother me though, she really does like to be scratched on the chin. Your baby just wants some lovin' just pet her on the chin or somethin.
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by MamaKitties

If they do, I just grab them and cuddle them to sleep. If they don't like it, they will just go away. That's just my experience with my cats.
This is what I do with mine too
Slow gentle pets (slow because I'm still half asleep) until the kitty dozes off. Only problem with this, Sho snores! He'll snore in my ear if I snuggle him up close.

I've noticed that my husband pets Sho in his sleep if he's bothered, the cats have us thoroughly trained.
 

epona

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Sonic usually stops purring as he's nodding off, thankfully because it's extremely loud and extremely close to our ears (this is the kitten who seems to like to sleep clamped onto my head with his chin resting on my cheek - and yes I do mean clamped, he really holds on tight!)

If he's purring and awake but still cuddling up, it's usually a case of just waiting for him to get comfortable and fall back asleep - a bit of duvet over the cat seems to warm them and lull them back to the land of dreams


However it's when they are thrashing about 1" from your face trying to kill a toy that you know it's really time to get up
 

abigail

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well whatever you do.. do NOT feed the cat or play. just ignore her/hm.. give a little pet and turnover. it will get the idea.

i fed abi once before dawn and it took over a week of ignoring her in the morning while she jumped on me, knocked things off the bedstand and played with my feet to make her realize it wasnt going to happen again.
 

epona

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Originally Posted by Abigail

well whatever you do.. do NOT feed the cat or play. just ignore her/hm.. give a little pet and turnover. it will get the idea.

i fed abi once before dawn and it took over a week of ignoring her in the morning while she jumped on me, knocked things off the bedstand and played with my feet to make her realize it wasnt going to happen again.
Absolutely! I forgot to mention in my previous post that when we first got Sonic he was waking us at 6am (which is still pretty good for a young kitten, but when you work afternoon and evening and your husband works shifts, is still too early!) wanting to play.

Ignoring him has worked wonders, he now waits until much later to start dropping toys on our heads! If it is still to early for us, he will only try once or twice, then fish the toy away and go play by himself on the bed or floor. At one time he would just repeatedly drop toys all over our heads and bat us in the face and scratch trying to retrieve them to drop them again. He has even become more careful when he drops one on me and then goes to pick it up to play with it by himself - he used to sit on my head and fish wildly for the toy, which was usually on my face, with his claws out
but has now taken to wriggling over to it and picking it up in his mouth to carry it away which is far less painful


When we first got him I seemed to always have kitten scratch marks on my face, now he is much better
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by Epona

He has even become more careful when he drops one on me and then goes to pick it up to play with it by himself - he used to sit on my head and fish wildly for the toy, which was usually on my face, with his claws out
but has now taken to wriggling over to it and picking it up in his mouth to carry it away which is far less painful


When we first got him I seemed to always have kitten scratch marks on my face, now he is much better
I've noticed kittens seem to have an adjustment period where they learn claws + people = not ok
Or it could just be as they get older they have a bit more control over them, though some older kittens and cats that aren't held enough tend not to be as careful with their claws.

Tomas stopped harassing me for food early in the morning, he's able to go a bit longer between meals now that he's older. He still likes morning snuggles and will wiggle on my head, knead my hair, and bite my ears or chin.
 

white ravyn

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I'm having a similar problem, but from a different direction

I actually encouraged my Tabby and Sano to sleep on/with me. I rarely lay on my back, I'm a bit of a side sleeper, but Sano never had a problem find a palce to sleep: behind my knees, on my neck, on my hips, in my hair, on my feet.... and when I roll over, he would find another place and fall right back asleep. Tabby faithfully slept at my feet or on my belly on the rare occasions I would sleep on my back. it was great. we bonded and he would sleep through the entire night and not bug Tabby!

But now I'm pregnant and I'm tossing and turning more. I have to get up frequently to get something to drink or to go to the bathroom. I'm also sleeping on my back more now, which is new for me. I have been deemed a high risk case and I'm worried about Tabby or Sano sleeping on my belly (Tabby is a BIG cat, so I'm more worried about her). I can't let them sleep on my chest because I have problems with my allergies (It's hard enough to breathe without the weight of a cat on your chest!)

Tabby is not so much of a problem. I tell her no,a nd she's cool. she'll go to sleep by my feet. But Sano is persistent! I take him off, he climbs back on. We'll do this for a while until he gets the idea that he cannot sleep on me. i really hate doing it because I enjoyed having my cats near me before, but now it is just too uncomfortable! and now that Sano can't sleep on me, he has decided it is time to play and makes noises and fights with tabby (see my thread about them fighting. I think I called it cats fighting), but in the end, he always comes back and tries to lay on me. What do I do?
 
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julia123

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Thanks! I'll try ignoring him. I've not gotten great sleep this past week so hopefully that will work.
 

rosiemac

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I usually go to turn over in the middle of the night and Rosie's lying on my hip!.

But i'd rather have that than the pair of them playing chase up and down the stairs like they were at 4.a.m one day last week!
 
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