Cat wakes me up in the morning

My fiance and I have two cats. One of them we have likes to wake me up in the mornings about an hour before I need to get up for work and one weekend mornings too when I try to get a few more Z's. I have tried the following to get him to stop:

1. Feed him the rest of his dinner (he doesn't eat it all at once)
2. Play with him to wear him out (this worked for a short period of time)
3. When he does wake me, just try to ignore him and hope he figure out that he won't get any attention this way
4. Punishing him when he wakes me...I have tried just spraying with water and also spraying his belly with diluted vinager
5. Try spraying the area in front of the door with dilutate vinager (this works until the smell goes away).
6. Open the door and just allow him to come in. However, if he walks across the bed, that wakes me up too. Or, if him and the other cat start fighting or chasing each other around.
7. Put out something he is usually afraid of. I tried putting out the vacuum cleaner, but that didn't work. He is only afraid of it when it runs.

I think that is all I have tried. This morning I pretty much snapped because he woke me up a few times and I couldn't handle it. So he got the diluted vinager on his belly. I did read about the scat mat and told my fiance about it. However, she feels that once he learns that he gets shocked if he steps on it, he will just sit on the other side and cry.

Keeping him away from the door will solve two of the three things he does though. He likes to kneed the carpet (he has no claws though) around and under the door area. He also will push the door which makes the door move enough to make a knocking noise. But, if we would get extensions for the scat mat, that would work also because it may keep him far enough away so I can't hear him cry.

EDIT: What about this: http://futurepets.com/cgi-bin/FULLPR...PARTNUM=SKM001

Would something this work?

I am out of ideas and I know giving him up would kill my fiance. So, if any of you have ideas other then what I have tried, please let me know. I haven't gotten a full nights rest since august when I was in the mountains. TIA for your help

Dan (the light sleeper)

mine get me up in the morning, because they are STARVING!!!! (not really, but they do like their routine). I gave up, I get up and feed them, then go back to bed. Usually feeding them puts them back to sleep.

They have dry food and water out all the time. The other one that doesn't wake me up is the one that wants to be fed when I do get up even though there is food out. That makes no sense, but since he doesn't wake me, it doesn't bother me.

Gabe doesn't wake me for food, I think he just wants attention in the morning and I would rather be asleep instead. He usually does it around the same time in the morning, but sometimes it is at a different time.

If it's mainly an issue of him being noisy what about earplugs for you? My husband is the lightest sleeper I've ever been exposed to and that works for him. He puts them in the night before mornings when he can sleep in so that I don't wake him up making coffee(Yes, the sound of water running across the house will wake him.) Never mind once the kids are up and about.

Originally posted by kidsncats
If it's mainly an issue of him being noisy what about earplugs for you? My husband is the lightest sleeper I've ever been exposed to and that works for him. He puts them in the night before mornings when he can sleep in so that I don't wake him up making coffee(Yes, the sound of water running across the house will wake him.) Never mind once the kids are up and about.

Click to expand...

Tried earplugs. They were uncomfortable and fell out in the middle of the night. Thanks for the idea....I forgot to list that.

Hmmmm. A white noise machine? Even when Jeff has to get up the next day we've got a fan and a purifier going for "white noise". He claims it helps drown out sounds that would otherwise wake him up.

Also on the earplug thing, they make a bunch of different kinds, maybe experiment a bit with them? Jeff favors the really soft mushy ones.

I never thought of a white noise machine, but that may work. I know when I am up at camp I sleep better because of the creeks right near the cabin.

Anyone else have any ideas?

Well, we might have another solution. My fiance said that cats don't like having air blown in their face. So she is going to bring a small desk fan home from work and we are going to put it in front of the door. I hope it's a rotating one so it can cover a larger area.

My cat likes to chew on my hair and lick our heads at about 7:00 every morning, so we started sleeping with the blow dryer under a pillow and turning it on and pointing it at her for a second when she starts her attack. Now it's to the point where we just have to pick up the dryer and she bolts. Sometimes I even have to sleep with it on top of my pillow like a crown and she stays away from my head. This might at least help keep your cat off your bed if you turned it on every time he jumped on the bed for a couple days (sucks, but it worked for me!).

I actually like my kitten waking me up. He sits next to me and purrs in my face. If I really want to stay sleeping I'll pat him on the head and shoo him away. Lucky for my I can easily get back to sleep. If I want to get up when he wakes me I'll let him snuggle while I pet him. This morning I found him under the blankets curled up around my feet.

Good luck with your kitty alarm clock

wl:

Wow only in the AM - I would welcome that. My Loki has a habit of announcing the fact that he is onhis way to the kitty loo -which is the bathroom next to my bedroom. For some reason he now also annouces his trip to the water bowl which is also in the same bathroom - he just won't drink anywhere else. And believe me when he anounces his intentions the neighborhood knows as well.

Max used to wake me up early (about an hour before I was supposed to get up). I would just push him down and say not now and he goes back to sleep. Now he wakes me up on time. On the weekends it is hard to be upset at him for waking me up at the time I get up for work, so I will get up and feed him and will go back to sleep. When I wake up, he is sleeping next to me.

Max is not afraid of the fan at all, so I don't know if that will work.

Luc and NaNa do it too. When Eric gets up to go to work, they'll wake me when he's in the shower. If I shoo them away, they bite my ears and toes until I get up. Eric asks "how'd you manage to get up so early?" and I just point to the end of the bed and there's my two angels.

Our cat Iggy will paw (she does it hard too) at us to wake us up. Lucy will meow really loud and Zoey will walk on top of us - It's so adorable. Hubby and I laugh so hard as we don't need alarm clocks

we close the bedroom door. I wouldnt punish your kitty for loving you he just wants to be with you.

Well, so far the fan has been working and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it continues to do so.