Cat gets angry when he doesn't get "Kitty Bedtime"

My family's cat, Yankee, is a 7 year old neutered male who we got when he was about 8 weeks. Soon after we got him, my dad started what we call "Kitty Bedtime." Every night at roughly eleven o'clock, he brushes and feeds Yankee, cleans his litter box, and puts him in the basement for the night.

Most nights he comes running because he loves to be brushed. But after my dad is away for a night and Yankee either doesn't get Kitty Bedtime or someone else takes care of it, he freaks out (growling, hissing, snarling, but never biting) at my dad when he comes home and tries to put Yankee to bed.

It's happened just about every time my dad's gone away for a night for the whole time we've had Yankee. We've taken him to the vet, but they couldn't find anything wrong with him. What could be happening, and what can we do to help him?

Thanks for your help!

He's just letting your dad know he's annoyed. It's pretty funny, I think. How many nights does it usually take before he'll let your dad do Kitty Bedtime again? (Maybe in his cat brain he thinks your dad's off doing Kitty Bedtime with another cat )


He obviously really loves Kitty Bedtime with your dad.

It's usually 2 or 3, no matter how long he's been away. Sometimes Yankee even gets mad if he's gone all day, yet gets home around the usual Kitty Bedtime.

Is there anything we can do to help him?

It's partly because your father's bringing home new scents from outside, so isn't the 'same' person he normally would be. So maybe keeping an old sweatshirt or something to use for KB would be a good idea, something familiar to the cat.