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Late and early meowing

post #1 of 8
1/24/11 at 6:55am
Thread Starter 
The setup: In November I adopted a 5 year old cat from the Humane Society. I named her Nousha (Iranian name meaning "Affectionate"). I live in an 4 bedroom apartment with 3 other people. I learned very quickly that I needed to shut her out of my room to get any sleep because she's quite active if I leave her in. I don't like to leave the door open because I'll be distrubed by my roommate who wakes up quite early.

The problem: I go to bed (around midnight usually) and I get up in the morning (usually around 8). During the day Nousha will meow at the door incessantly until I open it for her. The problem is that she will do this after I've gone to bed and before I wake up. Sometimes I have trouble sleeping and wake up in the middle of the night for a bit or stay up much later than usual and waking up at 7am is quite harsh. Also, I'm concerned about my roommates being disturbed. I thought maybe I'd put her in the carrier, shut the door and put it next to my bed. I also thought it is quite inhumane to lock her up all night long plus either way she might still meow all night long which doesn't solve the problem.

Any thoughts or ideas?
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post #2 of 8
1/24/11 at 7:08am
Move her food, water, and litter box into your room.
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post #3 of 8
1/24/11 at 7:46am
Thread Starter 
I did try keeping her in my room in the beginning and thought about your solution. The only problem I see with that is I'm a very light sleeper and all her rooting around kept me up. I suppose I could try it again.
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post #4 of 8
1/24/11 at 7:53am
Well, I suspect the meowing is going to annoy your roommates, so this is a pro-active solution. As she gets older, this sort of thing usually lessens.

But it may not completely go away. She obviously wants your company, or she wouldn't bother you.

Another suggestion is earplugs. (I sleep with them on the road to keep out extraneous noise, and at home sometimes to keep out my wife's snoring.)
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post #5 of 8
1/24/11 at 8:01am
She may just need to be played with a bit before you turn in. What if you wait to feed her or get up and feed her then go back to bed. Mine are usually pretty good but when they want in or want to eat they will keep nagging. Usually if it's at night and they've been fed I'll just turn on a fan and close the door so I don't hear them but with roommates that may not be an option for you. If you make a habit of ignoring her long enough she may learn to quit if making noise isn't doing her any good. It worked with my cats. They don't bother me when I'm sleeping too much. Every once in a while or if I sleep in they will eventually chime in but it take them awhile.
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post #6 of 8
1/24/11 at 2:38pm
Thread Starter 
I use a fan and close the door usually. Although I've thought about earplugs too. That won't help my roommates though.

Sometimes ignoring her works and sometimes she's persistent enough make me get up and let her in (and shortly after let her out and repeat :P ).

I didn't think of about schedule her feeding so I might try that. The only problem with that is my school schedule is all over the place.

Thanks for the help. I'll keep you posted.
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post #7 of 8
1/24/11 at 6:46pm
Have you tried playing with her before you go to sleep, maybe it will tire her out enough for her to sleep to.
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post #8 of 8
1/25/11 at 11:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ITD View Post
I didn't think of about schedule her feeding so I might try that. The only problem with that is my school schedule is all over the place.

Thanks for the help. I'll keep you posted.
The one thing I've learned about cats is they very habit driven animals. If they aren't on a regular feeding schedule that can cause them to act up too. Is there any way you can just feed your cat twice a day maybe like early in the morning and really late at night. Or two designated times you could be consistent with. Cats love the routine. If you can do that it might solve your cats crying problem. Just an idea. I work two jobs so mine get fed twice a day at the same time 7am and 10pm my vet said this was fine. They still nag a bit sometimes but when I say no they take it in stride.
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