Cat waking us twice during the night/early hours for food

taxido

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Nov 17, 2012
Messages
77
Purraise
12
Location
UK
We have had our 10 month old rescue cat Sammy for about 4 months now.  For some reason he has started waking us around 1am and again at 3.30am for food.  When we first got him, we had diarrhoea issues re food intolerance for a couple of months before we stabilised him.  He eats a commercial UK brand called Felix which is plain meat in jelly and a few kibbles Royal Canin Sensible 33.  The kibbles are only given usually once a day as a "treat" (he likes biscuits) and not as a regular plateful of food.  I know that grains are no good for cats, but we had so many problems with diarrhoea when we first got him due to food intolerance, currently we are not wanting to upset his digestion again.

Has anyone any ideas for how we can break him of this habit.  He comes into the bedroom, and starts jumping on the bed, jumps off, goes downstairs, then comes back and does it all over again.  This continues until my husband or myself goes and feeds him.  We tried locking him out of the bedroom yesterday and he became very stressed and upset and pooped on the bathroom floor and urinated on our sofa as a result.  We left the door open last night and he has not repeated this behaviour.

We have a senior cat, and both cats get on very well together.  The eating problem is compounded by the fact that you cannot really feed one cat without feeding the other, although Timmy, the senior cat, does not have the same behaviour as Sammy.

I would be grateful for any help.

Thanks.
 

otto

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 7, 2008
Messages
9,837
Purraise
197
Right before you go to bed: Play a vigorous game with him, for at least 20 minutes of him running and jumping and stalking and pouncing, then give him a meal. A low carb wet food meal, not the kibble. The kibble is high in carbs and carbohydrates increase hunger.

He has trained you to get up in the night and feed him. You have to untrain yourselves.

Ignore him when he comes to the bedroom.

It will take some time and you will lose some sleep. But continue to ignore him. Eventually he will learn that bugging you is not going to get him fed, and he will learn to curl up and go to sleep, or go off and play his own games.

it's possible something is waking him at those times. You might try playing a radio softly in whatever room you think he is sleeping in, before he comes in to wake you up.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

taxido

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Nov 17, 2012
Messages
77
Purraise
12
Location
UK
Thanks Otto.  We do feed him a whole pack of wet food before we go to bed (both cats have one each).  Generally no kibble.  

We have every conceivable toy and a climbing frame for the cats.  However, I guess because Timmy is 14 and does play a bit with Sammy, it is not enough and means that Sammy has to play alone much of the time.  Also, apart from amusing himself, he will sleep with Timmy when he does.  They slept until 4pm yesterday for example.

I agree with you that we should ignore this behaviour, but my husband just won't, and I fear he, more than me, has instigated this behaviour and perpetuated it.  He just finds the constant jumping up and down annoying when he is trying to sleep.  Also our neighbours' bedroom is directly below ours and although we have carpeted floor, there sometimes is a tiny thud.

We don't think he is being woken by anything, but with two cats, Timmy is Sammy's "big brother" and Sammy will always follow him around.  So if Timmy gets up, so will Sammy.
 
Last edited:

otto

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 7, 2008
Messages
9,837
Purraise
197
At Sammy's age he needs a lot of interactive play time with you every day to burn off all that excess energy. Toys and towers are good but he needs interactive play, he needs you to help him use those towers and toys. At least twice a day, plus the one right before bed.

Sounds like you need to train your husband, as well as Sammy. :) But I think if you start giving him three interactive play sessions a day, you will see a difference.

The more you play with him, the more he will play by himself. Interactive Games are good physical and mental exercise, and very important to a cat's socialization.
 

auntie crazy

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 4, 2006
Messages
2,435
Purraise
60
A few more ideas to add to what's already been suggested reference playtime and that last meal:

Get another kitten! Kinda drastic, I know, but kittens are high-energy, curious creatures and if not given a playmate to burn off that energy and keep from becoming bored, they will find someone or something else in its place.

Feed your kitten(s) at least four meals a day (five if you can), and your adult cats at least three (four if you can).

Never, ever feed immediately upon rising in the morning. Doing so creates a Pavlovian response linking your awakening (which the cat can control) to his being fed. Instead, pick something you do every day - like grabbing a cup of coffee or taking a shower - and feed the cats immediately after that activity. You might have an audience during your morning cup, but that's much easier to deal with than a night of interrupted sleep. *smile*
 

AC
 

feralvr

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 30, 2010
Messages
18,474
Purraise
689
Location
Northwest Indiana
I also have a play session with my six in the evening just before their last meal of the day. My Pip is the one who will start waking me about 6:30 a.m. wanting his breakfast. Other than that, they all sleep through the night. I would also add a suggestion of getting a treat ball (just an option) and filling it with some kibbles. I know someone here kept one in their night stand and when the cat came looking for food in the middle of the night she tossed that on the floor. I also think getting another kitten will help and maybe the senior kitty would approve as well. :D Also, feed the highest quality diet you can. A good quality canned food before bedtime.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

taxido

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Nov 17, 2012
Messages
77
Purraise
12
Location
UK
Thanks everyone for your good advice.

Alas another kitten is not possible.  Although I have had 3 fully grown cats before.  I think to have another young kitten/cat around the place would create absolute mayhem (not to mention expense) and I have to consider my downstairs neighbours!  Additionally, I am hoping that Sammy will grow out of this behaviour eventually. However, looking towards the future, should anything happen to Tim, my senior cat, then another cat/kitten would be in order as I can clearly see from Sammy's behaviour, he is not a cat who would ever like to be alone. He just loves other cat company. 

Last night before I went to bed I played with Sammy for a while. We then set up an automatic cat feeder that we already had, with 2 separate compartments, to come on at 2 different intervals during the night - i.e. the times he wakes us up.  We put a small snack of his kibble into each one.  I did hear him jump on the bed at about 3.30am but only once.  Hopefully this might have either fixed or alleviated the problem.

Keeping my fingers crossed
 

otto

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 7, 2008
Messages
9,837
Purraise
197
That sounds like a good plan. However I would use canned food not kibble in the feeder. And don't forget to play with him a few times a day, including before you go to bed.

Waking you would not likely be a behavior he would grow out of, if you continued to get up for him. Cats are creatures of habit. Train him as you want him to be. :)
 
Last edited:
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

taxido

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Nov 17, 2012
Messages
77
Purraise
12
Location
UK
Hi Otto

Will take on board what you say.  Have already been playing with him today
 

gaogier

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
May 25, 2007
Messages
521
Purraise
108
Here is what I do with my cats, its simple but very effective - I can sleep all day/night without getting woken up.

Have a radio playing help, cats have great hearing and will hear things that you cant, example every night about 1am someone from next door goes to the bathroom, this would always wake my boys up. With the radio on, it no longer effects them.

I also agree to play with the cats when the sun goes down, due to thats when cats are most active, get a couple of hours for your kitten of play, he seems like my buttons who needs it. Then feed your cats the pouches you feed them. Leave dry food down at night, something they don't eat the whole bowl, no matter how much you give them else they will get big lol, but something that will be a snack for them when needed.

When you wake up, get up remove the dry food, and don't give them any food in the day, thus feeding them between sun set and bed time, they will learn fast that they wont get food when you wake up, and shouldnt wake you at all, else no food, but they have enough food to see them though the night and will sort themselves out. 
 

just mike

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 11, 2011
Messages
2,084
Purraise
38
Location
Saint Louis, MO
Well, this is what worked for me. Since your kibble is a treat, I would probably put it out before bed time to give him something to graze on during the night. In a multiple cat household such as mine, I measure out their daily ration of Nutro Natural Choice into automatic feeders. The kibble is only 10% of their daily diet and I measure it into 3 different portions. I put the kibble into an automatic timed feeder and dispense it 3x daily at different intervals and in between their 2 wet feeding per day. Their last round of kibble is give at about midnight every night. They just nibble at it during the night and sometimes I have a few pieces of kibble left in the cup. This has worked best for me.
 
Top