So, as a Siamese, I have accepted that Dexter will forever be noisy, however I have started to notice a new trend in his behavior; it seems he's taken it on himself to be my alarm clock now. He typically does this by choosing the heaviest object on my nightstand he can move, and proceeds to push it onto the floor, in relatively close proximity to me, to wake me up. I've surmised that this is his intention because upon opening my eyes, I find him staring directly at me, and of course, he will commence meowing. If I get up, the object stop dropping (though he continues to meow), and if I try to ignore him and go back to sleep, he proceeds to push off the next heaviest object (to put this into perspective, it's usually things like incense trays, my expensive metal lighter, sometimes a pocket knife, if I've left one out).
I can tell he wants to wake me up because he wants food, it's that kind of meow, and he goes right over to the door of the closet where I store his food once I'm up, to commence what often sounds like an air raid siren. So far, my efforts to curb this behavior have been two-fold;
- I always feed him around the same times each day (twice, once at 10:30 AM, and again at 6:00 PM), and I NEVER give in to his meowing and feed him earlier (though he probably thinks I give in, because by the time 10:30 and 6:00 roll around, he's in full begging mode).
- I've also started picking him up and putting him out in the hall, then closing the door immediately following his knocking something down, mostly for my own sake, so I can sleep better, but also because I'm hoping it'll serve as a kind of punishment.
Anyway, I'm trying to figure out what to do to get him to stop, especially two hours before I get up, so I can start getting better sleep. I have considered that I might not be feeding him enough, though I'm not sure how to figure out how much he needs. I have noticed on days when he manages to crawl into the dog's bag of food, he's much more quiet when mealtime rolls around.
I know some of you will suggest not letting him in the room at night, unfortunately that's not an option, his litterbox is in my room, and HAS to be in my room, because of my roommates and the dog. He also receives his meals in my room, to prevent the dog from getting to them. I do leave the door to my room ajar at night so he can roam the house though.
I can tell he wants to wake me up because he wants food, it's that kind of meow, and he goes right over to the door of the closet where I store his food once I'm up, to commence what often sounds like an air raid siren. So far, my efforts to curb this behavior have been two-fold;
- I always feed him around the same times each day (twice, once at 10:30 AM, and again at 6:00 PM), and I NEVER give in to his meowing and feed him earlier (though he probably thinks I give in, because by the time 10:30 and 6:00 roll around, he's in full begging mode).
- I've also started picking him up and putting him out in the hall, then closing the door immediately following his knocking something down, mostly for my own sake, so I can sleep better, but also because I'm hoping it'll serve as a kind of punishment.
Anyway, I'm trying to figure out what to do to get him to stop, especially two hours before I get up, so I can start getting better sleep. I have considered that I might not be feeding him enough, though I'm not sure how to figure out how much he needs. I have noticed on days when he manages to crawl into the dog's bag of food, he's much more quiet when mealtime rolls around.
I know some of you will suggest not letting him in the room at night, unfortunately that's not an option, his litterbox is in my room, and HAS to be in my room, because of my roommates and the dog. He also receives his meals in my room, to prevent the dog from getting to them. I do leave the door to my room ajar at night so he can roam the house though.
I'd look at changing up the eating routine. By nature, cats are grazers and eat several small meals a day throughout the day. I'd definitely feed a smaller amount at 6 and then another small serving just before bedtime, after a rousing play session. Between playing and food, you should be able to sleep longer.
