The bewitching hour. . .

roxie225

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Roxie (who is now a few months shy of turning 2) will go to sleep with my BF and I every night despite how early or late it may be. She sleeps at the foot of our bed on these really fuzzy blankets which she no longer permits us to use


Around 6ish in the morning she will wake up and has what I call her "bewitching hour" where she is FULL of energy. Sometimes she will just play with her toys in the living room, or maybe even in our room (to our delight
). Other times she feels like being a little witch and will hop up onto our desk, night stands, dresser, tv, etc. etc. and knock off the heaviest and LOUDEST items. At that point I usually just shut her out of the room so I can catch those last precious hours of zzzz's.

Lately her routine has changed and it is really starting to get old fast. At 6 am (practically on the dot) for the past 2 weeks or so, she has decided that when she wakes up she MUST walk all over my body and head purring like a maniac! She'll rub her face on mine and then settle on top of my head or next to my pillow. Up until this morning I didn't mind her doing it because I really loved how sweet and affectionate she was being. BUT this morning was a little different because everytime I would start to fall back asleep the little sneak would leap onto my night stand. This whole time she was buttering me up!! She did this for about 30 mins. until I could no longer stand it and shut her out of the room.

I think she does all these things to wake us up so we will feed her. I always feed her right before I leave for work but it is just like she can't wait, like she's starving or something!

Anyone else have a kitty that does something similiar? And is there any way I can curb this behavior? I would really like those extra 2 hours of sleep!!
 

liza24

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mine do the same, sometime about 5-6am. they will try and try and finally succeed in opening the drapes so the light comes into the bedroom, and run and play all over the bed, and run around like its the Daytona 500.

Drives me BATTY!!!! usually i get the BF to get up and give them so wet food to leave me alone,lol.
 
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roxie225

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Originally Posted by Liza24

mine do the same, sometime about 5-6am. they will try and try and finally succeed in opening the drapes so the light comes into the bedroom, and run and play all over the bed, and run around like its the Daytona 500.

Drives me BATTY!!!! usually i get the BF to get up and give them so wet food to leave me alone,lol.


I wish BF would be the one getting up and scooting her out of the room but this man could sleep through a war I tell you!
 

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I'm going to go home and kiss Bijou all over tonight!
He gets up with my hubby (at 5:30) just to see what hubby is going to do. Hubby doesn't feed them, I do when I get up. Bijou then comes back to bed, cuddles down close to me and goes back to sleep. Often when I get up Bijou will remain in bed, covered up to the neck and continue sleeping. You can tell which mornings he stays in bed because I can't make the bed before I leave for work. Jennifer (our daughter) said when she got up the other morning about an hour or more after I had left for work, Bijou was still cuddled in under the covers. I have a lot to be thankful for apparently.
 

tru87

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Welcome to my life! haha, as soon as the sun rises... my little cats go insane
 
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roxie225

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Originally Posted by Yosemite

I'm going to go home and kiss Bijou all over tonight!
He gets up with my hubby (at 5:30) just to see what hubby is going to do. Hubby doesn't feed them, I do when I get up. Bijou then comes back to bed, cuddles down close to me and goes back to sleep. Often when I get up Bijou will remain in bed, covered up to the neck and continue sleeping. You can tell which mornings he stays in bed because I can't make the bed before I leave for work. Jennifer (our daughter) said when she got up the other morning about an hour or more after I had left for work, Bijou was still cuddled in under the covers. I have a lot to be thankful for apparently.
Oh how I envy you!!
Bijou is too sweet!! Maybe he can teach Rox a thing or two!!

Don't get me wrong, I love Roxie to death and she is a wonderful cat.. But she really drives me bonkers in the mornings!!
 

tru87

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Originally Posted by Roxie225

Oh how I envy you!!
Bijou is too sweet!! Maybe he can teach Rox a thing or two!!

Don't get me wrong, I love Roxie to death and she is a wonderful cat.. But she really drives me bonkers in the mornings!!
I should qualify my earlier statement. They seem to adapt the "bewitching hour" depending on my sleeping routine. Before it used to come just around 6 am and now at around 2-3 am they go insane, literally insane - an unstoppable force of feline energy until they get too tired and relax.


lol
 

asecretk

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You are lucky. My cat Bob seems to like the 3am bewitching hour. At least two to three times a week he wakes me up.

He comes into bed and head butts me. Then he rubs and purrs in my face. If that does not get what he wants he starts licking my arm or elbow. I usually have to pet him for at least five to ten minutes while he purrs and kneads the pillow or blanket. Then he will finally settle down and go lay at daddys feet.

At least he gets up again when I get up. I think I would have to wake him up if attemped to try and sleep in


Oh and we have no door on our bedroom. The stairs lead right up into the room so I got no choice but to appease the gods.
 

kuntrykitty

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LOL.... every hour is bewitching hour for Zoe at night! She's only 6 weeks old, but she will NOT let me sleep! She pounces and plays and scratches at my face and dig through my hair, then resolves to biting an ear if that doesn't get what she wants. I guess I'll just try ignoring her until she goes to sleep and it'll eventually stop. I can tell when she's hungry or wants to go potty (she won't leave the bed) but the rest of the time she just wants to play.
She wakes me up at 3:00 am if she's in her crate... If she's loose on the bed, well, I guess we'll just wait and see. But at 5:00 am, that is IT. She is up, and no going back! But 5:00 am is good for me...
 
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roxie225

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Originally Posted by Tru87

I should qualify my earlier statement. They seem to adapt the "bewitching hour" depending on my sleeping routine. Before it used to come just around 6 am and now at around 2-3 am they go insane, literally insane - an unstoppable force of feline energy until they get too tired and relax.


lol


I think Roxie knows I posted this about her! This morning it was 5 am instead and it is my day off!!

And yes, Roxie too will sometimes adapt her bewitching hour to my sleep patterns... when she's feeling especially witchy I assume


We have some awfully smart kitties who know how to get exactly what they want
... I'm such a pushover when it comes to her!!
 

flicksion

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Hello! I'm new here
I've been lurking around for a while but have just registered as this discussion really made me laugh

I have a cat called Marmalade who I got from a rescue centre, she had been there for 3 months as she was a horror! When we went to get a cat she was the one who really pulled at my heart strings but when I went to try and stroke her she hissed at me and tried to bite and scram me!
Anyway, fast forward a year and a bit and she is so loving but too loving in the mornings! She seems to think that 5am is a great time to come into the bedroom where she either runs around under the bed like a loon or walks all over me purring really loudly and really high pitched
She will then decide after a while that I've been in bed for too long and will bat me with her paw or if that doesn't work then the teeth come out

Little terror but I wouldn't be without her now
 

kuntrykitty

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See, I guess most people aren't like me. Coming from a long line of cowboys and a ranch family, 7:00 is really sleeping in! 6:00 is normal, and 5:00 is okay if you prefer, but nobody much cares. My Dad's up at about 5:00 every morning, and I like getting up about then. But when my alarm goes off, I guess I kind of sub-consciously turn it off and go back to sleep! But when Zoe wakes me up, I can't neccessarily hit the snooze on her! She makes me get up!
So I kind of like that she wakes up then... I think once she calms down and gets into some sort of routine, she won't wake me up at all. I'll have to retrain her!
 
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roxie225

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Originally Posted by flicksion

Hello! I'm new here
I've been lurking around for a while but have just registered as this discussion really made me laugh

I have a cat called Marmalade who I got from a rescue centre, she had been there for 3 months as she was a horror! When we went to get a cat she was the one who really pulled at my heart strings but when I went to try and stroke her she hissed at me and tried to bite and scram me!
Anyway, fast forward a year and a bit and she is so loving but too loving in the mornings! She seems to think that 5am is a great time to come into the bedroom where she either runs around under the bed like a loon or walks all over me purring really loudly and really high pitched
She will then decide after a while that I've been in bed for too long and will bat me with her paw or if that doesn't work then the teeth come out

Little terror but I wouldn't be without her now
Welcome to TCS flicksion!!! Glad my thread made you register, it's great here! Marmalade is a very persistent lady!! Wouldn't the morning be so boring without our girls?


Originally Posted by KuntryKitty

See, I guess most people aren't like me. Coming from a long line of cowboys and a ranch family, 7:00 is really sleeping in! 6:00 is normal, and 5:00 is okay if you prefer, but nobody much cares. My Dad's up at about 5:00 every morning, and I like getting up about then. But when my alarm goes off, I guess I kind of sub-consciously turn it off and go back to sleep! But when Zoe wakes me up, I can't neccessarily hit the snooze on her! She makes me get up!
So I kind of like that she wakes up then... I think once she calms down and gets into some sort of routine, she won't wake me up at all. I'll have to retrain her!


Zoe still has the kitten crazies, she will calm down with age -- but I'm sure she may still remain your alarm clock!! I'm not a morning person, never have been. It seems as though Roxie disapproves of that though!!
 

jellybella

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ah, the fuzzy alarm clock. My cats do this for me at 5 AM on the dot. My DH tells me that they also do the "feline 500" race across the bed after I leave
 

mcat

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You mean that's not what cats do? I thought all cats wanted their persons up early. They do an entire routine called "I'm starving." Since our cats have meals and are not free fed, I generally try and make them wait til an apropriate time. If they eat breakfast too early, they eat dinner too early and we go round and round like that.
 

karmasmom

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Karma was like that not long ago. We changed her sleeping patterns and I think she also learned how to tell time. My DH works at home so he keeps her awake while I am at work. My work schedual has changed to I am now working untill midnight or 1am 5 days a week. Because of that I am usually awake for the wonderful witching hour of 5am. She still goes nuts running back and forth between the living room and bed room. This will go on for about an hour. If I could clock her I would sa she is doing close to 50 miles per hour. She also can't sleep at night unless its in her bed so I keep her bed in the closet untill I go to bed. Once I pull it out you would need a crow bar to get her out of it. As for the time thing she leaves me alone untill the time I tell her to wake me up. If I say wake me at 1030, she is there at 1025 meowing and paceing on me untill I get up. We have tested the theory and told her different times every day and without fail at that time she is up trying to wake me.

I think 5am is a biological thing for cats. I don't know why it probably has to do with instincts. Early morning is still cool and their prey is probably still sleeping so it seems to me like it would be a good time to hunt.
 
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roxie225

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Originally Posted by KarmasMom

I think 5am is a biological thing for cats. I don't know why it probably has to do with instincts. Early morning is still cool and their prey is probably still sleeping so it seems to me like it would be a good time to hunt.
The only thing Roxie is hunting at that hour is me!!! LOL.. I wish she would just wait until 8, then I would be thanking her for waking me up on time to get ready for work rather than shutting her out and ruining her fun!

I think I am going to have to have a serious talk with the little princess... maybe thats what I've been doing wrong this whole time!!
 

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Oh we have an early riser too - Miss Moofs, her routine this past 2 weeks has been to get up at 04.45 am and to get my attention, please note, MY attention, she totally bypasses DH, mind you he never hears or feels her antics anyway


She walks around the edge of bed, up onto my pillow across the back around my head, then springs off onto the headboard
If I try to ignore here, she just keep going around and around the bed until I get up. She also knocks things from my drawer cabinet, I usually place a peg or something similar, she once knocked over a bottle of perfume, so pegs are a bit less dangerous and a lot, lot cheaper


Its not too bad for us as my cats go outside, so I generally sleepwalk to the door to let her out, then back to bed to carry on snoozing


So I'm not sure what to suggest, I agree with the other posts, its a natural inbuilt thing with 'hunters' maybe you could buy one of those wind-up mouse things for her to have a play about with
 
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roxie225

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Originally Posted by mooficat

Oh we have an early riser too - Miss Moofs, her routine this past 2 weeks has been to get up at 04.45 am and to get my attention, please note, MY attention, she totally bypasses DH, mind you he never hears or feels her antics anyway


She walks around the edge of bed, up onto my pillow across the back around my head, then springs off onto the headboard
If I try to ignore here, she just keep going around and around the bed until I get up. She also knocks things from my drawer cabinet, I usually place a peg or something similar, she once knocked over a bottle of perfume, so pegs are a bit less dangerous and a lot, lot cheaper
Roxie only goes for my attention as well... it's almost as if the BF doesn't exist!! And she does the same thing except she goes right for the night stand... everything and anything that she can swat gets knocked to the floor...

She had one of those wind up mice but wouldn't give it the time of day... She does have a whole toy box in the living room though. It seems she only plays with whatever makes the most noise in the morning. She is way too smart. She knows exactly what to do to wake up her meowmy. I have a very clever girl
 

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My two boys (Alfie, 2 yrs. and Noddy, 10 mths) sleep most of the day although I try to keep them awake as much as possible. How do you keep cats awake especially when you try to wake them, they look at you as if to say 'do you mind?'


They seem to come 'alive' around 9:30 p.m.....30 minutes before we usually go to bed! I wouldn't have a problem if they woke at 5:00 a.m. because that's when the alarm goes off anyway. My problem is that their bewitching hour is around 3:00 a.m. They don't go to bed with us, but they stay downstairs. We have wooden floors in the living and dining rooms and I wake up around 3:00 when they decide it's play time and I swear it sounds like they're galloping across the floor!

Noddy will come up in the morning and walk across the bed and onto my cedar chest and onto the window sill. This morning, he was actually laying on the bed next to me when I woke up. I think they're getting better with sleeping through the night. Either that, or I'm just not hearing them.
 
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