Cat Keeping Us Up at Night

zenthoef

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We have a pretty severe problem with one of our cats: it is keeping us up at night. When we bought our first house we started putting the cats in a cat room at night. We did this for a number of reasons, including so that the cat that is a problem wouldn't wake our young son up at 5am anymore. There are three cats and two of them have no problems being in the cat room at night. When it is time for bed they run in and jump into their beds. However, we have one, that we think is at least part Maine Coon that doesn't seem to like this.

For several months, he was fine in the cat room. Then he started meowing at all hours of the night. We'd try to squirt him at night when he meowed but that didn't do much of anything. After a few months of being very sleep deprived we finally let him free. I was at the end of my ropes because I was getting woken up around 3-4AM and was so furstrated by this problem I couldn't go back to sleep. We keep food, water, and a litter box outside the cat room for this one cat. He still occasionally meows at night and wakes us up, but this behavoir has drastically reduced. He started to sleep with our young son and he was very happy about it at first.

However, now our son is saying he wants the cat locked back up again. The reason: he keeps waking our son up at night to play. This is getting to be more and more frequent. We don't know what to do. Letting him free was a temporary solution until we found a way to keep him quiet at night. However, it is becoming a more pressing situation because our son doesn't want to be woken up at night to play...

We took the cat to the vet and she said he is healthy and that is has a behavioral problem. She didn't want to presribe anything to him. She also said that there is a medicine that keeps dogs from barking and she said she'd see if there is anything like that for cats. We told her this is very important to solve because we can't all be woken up by this cat for as long as it live (maybre 8 more years at least...). However, she hasn't called back, and we can't keep living like this forever. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to keep him from waking us up at night? Preferably suggestions that will allow us to keep him in the cat room at night. We are at our wits ends and we are afraid we might have to give him away if we can't keep him from waking us all up at night.

Thanks.
 

skimble

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I'm not very experienced with cats, but I will share with you what my daughter did.

She had an only cat that kept her up at night. Bad for her as she is in grad school and works.

She rescued a stray and adopted it so her cat had someone to play with all day while she was away. The cats were then tired at night and slept.

Another thing she did was purchase one of the machines that play nature sounds. That gave her some soothing background noise and she was able to sleep through the cat playing.

Hope things get better.
 

robertm

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Originally Posted by zenthoef

Letting him free was a temporary solution until we found a way to keep him quiet at night.
Why did this have to be only a temporary solution? You said that his vocalizations decreased after you let him out of the cat room and gave him space to roam. So the situation improved. Can't your son keep his bedroom door closed and allow the cat to have run of the rest of the house at night?

If that doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t work to everyoneâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s satisfaction, buy two white-noise machines, one for your bedroom and one for your sonâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s. Turn the machines on when youâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re sleeping. Unless your cat has an incredibly loud voice, or starts banging on the doors, no one should be disturbed during the night.

What about putting him in a separate cat room at night? Does he get along well with the other two cats?

Have you tried having an extended play session before you folks go to bed, in an effort to tire him out so that he might sleep longer during the night? Do you feed him before you go to sleep? A heavy meal might help.

Chances are this cat is never going to be totally quiet throughout every single night, and it would be unrealistic of you to expect it. Cats are naturally active during much of this period.

Out of curiosity, how old is this cat? Cats sometimes get more talkative at night as they get older and their senses become slightly dulled compared to when they were younger. But you speculated that your cat might live for at least another 8 years so I would assume that he isn't THAT old.

Originally Posted by zenthoef

She also said that there is a medicine that keeps dogs from barking and she said she'd see if there is anything like that for cats.
A vet said this? Really? Wow, what great problem-solving skills she has...
Gee, I guess we should be thankful that she didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t suggest removing his vocal cords.

I cannot believe that any vet would seriously consider this as a solution, and I would hope that you and your family wouldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t, either. You would in essence be punishing the cat for being, well, a cat. His vocalizing may be annoying to you --- but it isnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t misbehaving. I gave some decent suggestions, and there are probably lots more things to try if they donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t work for your cat. Good luck.
 
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zenthoef

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Originally Posted by RobertM

Why did this have to be only a temporary solution? You said that his vocalizations decreased after you let him out of the cat room and gave him space to roam. So the situation improved. Can't your son keep his bedroom door closed and allow the cat to have run of the rest of the house at night?

Out of curiosity, how old is this cat? Cats sometimes get more talkative at night as they get older and their senses become slightly dulled compared to when they were younger. But you speculated that your cat might live for at least another 8 years so I would assume that he isn't THAT old.
Unfortunatly we can't close his door because he is scared to sleep with it closed (or to have it closed ever, really).

The cat is probably about 8 years old. However, seeing that is pretty healthy and thin we suspect he's going to keep on ticking. Or in this case, meowing...

Thanks for the advice.
 

petstorejunkie

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My cat has his living quarters set up in my office. His litterbox, food water and his two beds are in there. He goes in there when we are not home (so the dogs can have their doggy door open), and he goes in there at night to sleep.
I certainly dont' think it's cruel, and he certainly doesnt complain, it's his quiet space. You can say go to your room and he goes
 

saya

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a full tummy and a rigorous play session before bedtime helps my kitties to sleep through the night. They will still get up early (around 7) but we leave the door open so they can play in the living room. Also, if you feed them before bed they'll be less likely to cry for food first thing in the morning and you can sleep a little later.

When Bea's being naughty and won't let me sleep I put her in the garage, or when I was in my townhouse I'd put her in the downstairs bathroom. Someplace where you can't here the meowing or scratching.
 

weathercat

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Playing with your cat for at least 30 minutes shortly before putting him in his room should work. Make him chase a string and do other things that will really tire him out. I do this with my cats and they never get the midnight crazies or meow at night or anything. Also you should have things for him to do in the room incase he does wakeup put some catnip toys in there or hide treats so he can hunt for them so that he does not get bored. He is probably meowing because he is bored.
 
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