Cat waking me up in the morning...

My 5 year old Amelia has been on and off waking me up for a little while now and I'd love to get her to stop this as I haven't gotten a good nights sleep in over a week now. Two mornings ago she woke me up at 5:30 am for seemingly no reason.

The time that the Amelia Alarm goes off is not consistent. Her tactics/antics aren't consistent either. At least I don't think they are... It could be that she starts with the same thing and when that doesn't work she moves onto the next behavior. The other morning she woke me up by licking the skin off my face. This morning she got up on the bed right next to my head and meow'd at the top of her lungs over and over again until I pet her.

The cats are free fed and everytime she's woken me up there's been plenty of food in the bowl. I had a theory that she would wake me up if one of the water fountains were low and making noise, but that wasn't the case this morning. It seems that she's woken up and that she wants me to get up and pay attention to her. To her this is an emergency that just can't wait!

I think the reason this behavior is bothersome... aside from the interrupted sleep which is killing me right now... is that there seems to be no difference in tone from there being a major emergency and her just wanting attention. I'd like her to stop waking me up for attention so that when she does wake me up I know there's an issue.

So today I'm starting work with her to dissassociate meowing with attention to get her to chill out with the crying at the top of her lungs for attention. But I don't know if that's going to stop her from waking me up.

Anyone have any ideas. I have 6 babies and 3 of the six sleep on the bed at night regularly and she's not one of them. I'd prefer to not have to lock them out especially since for one of my cat's the bedroom is his "comfort" room where he's really happiest and feels most safe.

This is a pretty common problem that people write in about. The most important thing to remember is that you should never ever respond when she is trying to wake you up. If you pet her or get up or do anything in response to her meowing, you will inadvertantly reinforce that unwanted behavior. So, from now on, ignore her attempts to wake you up, no matter how obnoxious she becomes.

With that said, many members have found that a good 10 minute round of frenzied play right before bedtime curbs this kind of morning behavior. It needs to be very active play: running, leaping, chasing, etc. Others have found that a bit of warm oatmeal at night stops this morning behavior. With older cats, leaving a nightlight on helps to stop nighttime yowling.

When all else fails....use earplugs. They can be a huge help in these situations!

Originally Posted by lotsocats

When all else fails....use earplugs. They can be a huge help in these situations!

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That's a good plan! I think I'll start doing that!

I'll probably have to wait a week to start the playing before bed as I have one cat who just got had surgery last week and I don't think she'll be able to contain herself when I bring the fun toy out. (The feather on the end of the stick) They all go nuts for that toy!

-Monica.