Help!! Ragdoll 5am meowing

Really hoping someone can help!

I have a very demanding 4 year ragdoll cat, he's extremely vocal and loves fuss having always been a mummy's boy. the probem is that he's taken to waking up at 5am and walking around the room meowing. With a baby that now sleeps through the night this is getting hard to live with and my partner has had enough

We've tried - shutting him out of the bedroom at night but he gets even more upset, playing with him all evening before bed, ignoring the meowing and petting him when he meows (at which point eventually he will get back on the bed and go to sleep).  Ive tried spot on too and rescue remedy on his blanket

We leave food out for him all the time and he has a clean tray.

I understand its normal for cats as they want to hunt at this time but we cant take much more and my partner is saying we have to fixt it or rehome him which I am refusing to do.

Does anyone please have any suggestions on how to break this cycle????

thank you x

I have the same experience. Mine is a common breed tomcat, soooo lousy during daytime, changing to a fighting Ninja warrior nighttime (well, a Ninja warrior who did not pass his exam of silent attack  ... :-)).

It looks like some individual cats (I do not think breed plays a role in this) are pretty hard-wired to hunt dust and dawn.  Hard-wired means also difficult to re-wire :-).

A partial solution I found is the most obvious one (but also the most difficult): to play more with my cat. As simple as that.

I read in a scientific paper that cats shall play around 5 hours/ 24 hours. So, not to confuse time awake (or whatever you call it in good English)  with activity time .

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Another strategy I found (but i admit it could be very difficult to some persons) is to ... get accustomed with a Night Predator nearby. I am not joking, that is the most natural strategy one can apply. Some people live near airports, some near noisy railway, they learn to be OK and sleep profoundly with that noisy background. Some other people live in geographic area where animals make noise during night, but the feel ok with this. 

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Story: In my childhood there was a very proud rooster (Gallus domesticus) in my backyard. He was so nice and happy stepping like a King in the middle  the hens, we all look to him in great admiration.

But... very early in the morning this Gallus domesticus male turned  in a Trumpet of Apocalypses, sessions longer than a Verdi opera act.

I told to my Grandpa: "We shall eat this Bocelli next week at the latest, for me to sleep!" He said: "Go back sleeping, por favor!. Pretend he is not there. We will not kill the artist, he is so glamorous and the hens will cry!". In one week I was happy to be able to wake up to hear the Artist, for I was so customized with his morning play that I could not wake up when he sang. Sadly, we eat him eventually, but this is another story. Good night! :-) 

You say you've now got a baby who sleeps through the night.  Does that mean before now your baby cried at 5am, and at other times in the middle of the night, and you got up to attend?  Did your ragdoll also get up to help you with your baby?   

Cats are naturally nocturnal but they're also naturally sleepy, nosy, and greedy.  Cats want to be in on the action, so it might be that he's gotten used to the nighttime crying, or meowing as he'd see it, and doesn't understand why it's stopped.  He might have learned that the crying gets your attention (for baby food and the sound of your voices gently "cooing") and that when you say you've tried ignoring him, you simply haven't tried long enough to break his habit.  Were you previously giving your ragdoll attention by stroking, playing, cooing, or feeding treats when you got up with baby?  It doesn't really matter if you were or not, to be honest, I just wondered as it would add another layer to his behaviour.

In the late afternoon, evening, and all the time leading up to bedtime, pester your ragdoll awake whenever you catch him sneaking in a swift nap.  Either play with him, stroke him, or simply nudge him awake.  He should then be too tired to wake up so early, as cat are very sleepy souls.  

Most cats think that dawn or 5am is breakfast time       and it's just one of those things you have to deal with if you are to share their home (ahem, your home).  What times of day do you feed him?  If you feed him a big meal the moment before you all go to bed, he should also go to bed to sleep it off, and stay asleep for much longer.  Then, as soon as you first hear him meow in the morning, immediately get up to feed him then go straight back to bed, without any other interaction with him whatsoever, don't even speak to him.  Once you get the hang of this it becomes automatic, and you hardly notice you've done it, as you drift back to sleep.  Or, if you don't fancy that, you can buy automatic cat feeders, which open at any time of day or night that you choose, say, 4.45am.  After he's eaten, whichever method you try, he should be sufficiently distracted from his attempts to gain your attention and, forgetting all about it, curl up to sleep instead.

 

I've just reread your post and find you leave food out for him to graze when he likes.  Well, remove this option for him, and follow the above strategy to see if it works......

Thanks so much for all the advice, I really appreciate it.

I don't think the baby's habits have affected him as the baby has been in his own room and sleeping through for a while now.

Will definitely try to play with him more (currently sourcing a cardboard box to put his toys in as that's usually a hit). I just feel bad waking him in the evenings to play but will try anything!!

Cat feeder sounds good too, I've always assumed he should have access to food at all times but this sounds like a good plan. Might be a silly question but how many times should I give him access to it then? Don't want him to be hungry.

Thanks again x

How many times a day to feed depends on the individual cat.  I feed my cat, Dudley, equally divided portions 3 times a day.  I look at the information on the food to find out how many grams a day to give of that particular brand of food.  I then weigh it and find a suitable wee scoop that is the same size as a weighed portion, so that I don't have to weigh every time, I can just scoop to the measure.  In your case, I suggest giving him the lion's share at bedtime.  And he needs to have breakfast.  So, between those two necessary mealtimes the rest is up to you and your cat.  I know lots of people who feed their cats twice a day, because they're not at home at lunchtime.  But I give Dudley breakfast, lunch, and tea.  How much he'll need is also dependant on his size.  I have a 1 year old ragdoll who weighs 14.8lbs, which is heavier than nutrition descriptions on food packaging goes up to, so I feed him the largest amount it suggests.  If he started losing weight, I'd increase the amount.  But he gets a few sweets once a day, so he doesn't lose weight.  Anyway, I'm guessing your ragdoll is a great big fluffy monster at 4 years old, so he probably needs slightly more than the packaging suggests.  Does he look overweight to you?  How much does he weigh?

Any behaviour takes time to change.  He'll protest for a few days at the loss of his feeder.  But he'll be extremely happy at mealtimes.  It's swings and roundabouts.  You just need to persevere.  

Brilliant thank you so much!!

I'm not sure how much he weighs but we're due a trip to the vets so will get him weighed and check his food packet.

Really hoping this works!

Thanks so much x

I hope it works too.  It would be awful for all of you if you had to give him up.  

Thanks, i couldn't ever give him up I've had him from tiny and he's such a mummy's boy. I just need it to change quickly as my partner is getting even more fed up with it than me.

I'm going to set a feeder for Bed time, 4.45am and then once in the day. And keep him busy with lots of toys.

Will come back with an update on how it's gone.

Thanks again for all the advice!!

Bear in mind that these things are not set in stone.  His mealtimes and division of quantities will likely need tweaking here & there.  But, in your case, a morning automatic feeder might just keep you all sane.  

When I first rescued Brian it took a long time & a lot of will-power to rearrange his frequent, multiple mealtimes.  He was wildly boisterous and I could imagine he'd driven his previous owners up the wall.   

This wall they'd been driven up was one of their own making, however.  

At one point, I also had a 4.45am automatic feeder and fed him gradually fewer meals a day than he demanded until we were down to three a day.  I stopped using the feeder when we'd come to the mutual agreement that only after 6am was a reasonable-ish breakfast time (I used to just get up to feed him then go straight back to bed on automatic pilot).  We also settled on his other two teatimes being at 6pm and 10pm.  These times weren't strictly on the dot, by the way, but they were guidelines for Brian's sense of time (cats have an incredible capacity to keep account of time) and the routine guided his hunger.   I don't know why these times were acceptable but they suited Brian, and I could cope with them also.  He was so very, very grateful and happy to have routine and structure, which must have been lacking in his previous home.  

Cats don't start out being naughty, something in their health, routine (or lack of), or environments leads to bad behaviour.  Cats need to know where the boundaries are and they then conduct themselves accordingly.  Most cats (there's always the very odd one) are extremely polite and don't really like annoying their furparents at all.  The term "fat cats" points to more than just their greedy appetite for food, it also illustrates how easy it is to spoil a cat, and an overly spoilt cat will never behave.  I'm not saying don't spoil your cat, by any stretch of the imagination.  All my cats are utterly spoiled.  But we all know each other's needs and boundaries (like I keep my end of the deal, making sure his litter is clean etc), so that we can simply get on with enjoying each other.  

Please do keep us updated.  And ask for more guidance if necessary...  

What is your cat called, by the way?