My cat won't let me sleep!

Last year in July I adopted the most adorable, affectionate 2 year old grey Tabby. She loves to cuddle, be kissed on her head and get pets on her tummy.

Usually at bed time, she will roam around the house and then eventually sleep on either my bed or my mums, snuggling up to my legs. However, in the last few months, she wakes me up between 3 and 5am wanting to be pet or kissed. She won't stop purring (quite loudly) and if I stop patting her or ignore her, she bites my hand or reaches a hand out to scratch at my face (softly enough to not hurt but hard enough for me to wake up).

I've tried ignoring her, turning the other way, hiding my hands and arms out of her reach, but she won't stop! I love that she is affectionate and loves me, but I need my sleep! I have to wake up at 6am for work and being woken up an hour before my alarm is driving me crazy.

I would lock her out of my room but I feel like that is too cruel and her meowing and scratching would wake up the rest of the house, instead of just me.

If anyone could help I would really appreciate it!

(I am sure this has been asked before but I'm new here so apologies in advance)

~ I know some vets do prescribe small dose medications like Prozac or Zoloft to calm cats. Ask your vet about it. I have used theanine chews for cats that are sold in pet stores. They do seem to help. For some reason feeding my cats before I go to bed seems to really quiet them down.
Plesant dreams to you and kitty ! [emoji]127772[/emoji][emoji]128164[/emoji]

This is a typical incident. Cats cry louder at night because they often seek attention. Cats do it due to boredom or whenever they feel anxious. They also want assurance that their owner will pay attention to their needs. Cats are intelligent animals; they know which works for them. if you'll continue to provide their needs, then chances are it will become a habit. The best solution that I can suggest is to establish a routine before bedtime. You can play with your cat to consume energy but don't forget to provide her a meal afterward. You can see that she will fall asleep quicker than you expected and would also avoid early wake-up.

I totally agree with katythekitten, this is a normal thing for cats to do. She is talking about the Jackson Galaxy method of getting your cat to sync to your sleeping patterns. If you would like to look at the video go to youtube type jackson galaxy "train your cat to let you sleep". 

Thanks for the ideas! She is my first pet so I'm kind of out of my depth at times.
I tend to feed her at 5:30pm so maybe it's a bit early. I'm a bit worried about changing her routine so I might push it back little by little.

Routine is very important for cats, You may find that you need to give your kitty smaller meals to compensate for another one before you go to bed?

moorspede said:

Routine is very important for cats, You may find that you need to give your kitty smaller meals to compensate for another one before you go to bed?

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That might work! I would love to give her a smaller meal in the middle of the day but I can't when I work might have to get an automatic feeder.