Kitty meowing -- can't sleep!

Hello!

I have two kitties - Gabby Girl and Chloe Blue and I've had them for about 6 years now. They both sleep in the bed with me at night. Chloe usually sleeps at the foot of the bed and Gabby always on the same pillow as me or literally right next to my head.

The problem is when Gabby wants to be petted or wants wet food (introduced wet to them a month ago) she will meow all night until I get up and give her what she wants! She woke me up at 5:00 a.m. this morning demanding food. I got so irritated that I screamed at her to STOP. When I do this, she will quiet down for about a minute and then start up again. I've tried to ignore her, but she will meow for HOURS until I do something.

This has really affected my sleeping patterns. I've lived like this for as long as I've had her and I've got to do something! I hate it when I get so fed up that I yell at her to STOP. But sometimes I don't get sleep at all.

Does anybody have any suggestions? By my giving in to Gabby all these years, I've created a little night monster!

You may have to put her outside of your room at night. Or, possibly, it's not because she wants canned food... Billy did that and it drove us crazy, and it turned out, it was a territorial call. He wasn't crying for our attention or food like we thought, he was crying for his territory. Is Gabby Girl fixed?

Originally Posted by CJandBilly

You may have to put her outside of your room at night. Or, possibly, it's not because she wants canned food... Billy did that and it drove us crazy, and it turned out, it was a territorial call. He wasn't crying for our attention or food like we thought, he was crying for his territory. Is Gabby Girl fixed?

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Hi Cassie,

Yes, Gabby Girl is fixed. I usually try two things to get her to quiet down 1) petting her or 2) Giving her the wet food. These two things seems to be what she wants. If I do one and she still meows, I'll do the other and then she usually stops. But maybe I'm missing something.

Gabby is an incredibly affectionate cat. Her favorite pass time is sitting on my lap and getting petted! So banning her from my bedroom would be heartbreaking for her and me!

And I'm afraid she will meow all night and wake up the neighbors. I live in apt. building. I also don't want to hurt her feelings and make her feel like I'm punishing her. If I do it with Gabby Girl then I have to do it with Chloe too. But, in order for me to get a decent night sleep, I just might have to do it. What is weird is that there are night where she will not meow at all.

Thanks for the tip!

Originally Posted by Gabby

Hi Cassie,

Yes, Gabby Girl is fixed. I usually try two things to get her to quiet down 1) petting her or 2) Giving her the wet food. These two things seems to be what she wants. If I do one and she still meows, I'll do the other and then she usually stops. But maybe I'm missing something.

Gabby is an incredibly affectionate cat. Her favorite pass time is sitting on my lap and getting petted! So banning her from my bedroom would be heartbreaking for her and me!

And I'm afraid she will meow all night and wake up the neighbors. I live in apt. building. I also don't want to hurt her feelings and make her feel like I'm punishing her. If I do it with Gabby Girl then I have to do it with Chloe too. But, in order for me to get a decent night sleep, I just might have to do it. What is weird is that there are night where she will not meow at all.

Thanks for the tip!

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Okay... maybe you can try a high activity game before bed time, to tucker her out, where'll she'll sleep at night. Also, you need to wake her up anytime you see her sleeping before bed time. We had to do that with Billy and CJ once, because they got their sleep pattern all messed up, and was keeping us up, too. I can level with you, it's annoying... maybe you can try that.

Originally Posted by CJandBilly

Okay... maybe you can try a high activity game before bed time, to tucker her out, where'll she'll sleep at night. Also, you need to wake her up anytime you see her sleeping before bed time. We had to do that with Billy and CJ once, because they got their sleep pattern all messed up, and was keeping us up, too. I can level with you, it's annoying... maybe you can try that.

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Cassie,

Those are excellent suggestions.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Gabby

Hello!

Does anybody have any suggestions? By my giving in to Gabby all these years, I've created a little night monster!

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That's it in a nutshell, YOU have created this monster. Many of us do this in the early years and when they get older and expect the routine to stay the same, some cats have, well they have hissy fits.

You can buy earplugs, you have to ignore her when she cries. Otherwise, she will never stop. Play classical music on your radio really low to help tune her out as well or get one of those sleep machines.

From now on, only pay attention to your cat when she is silent. Don't talk to her when she is crying, don't do anything for her while she is clamoring, but the minute she is silent, spring into action. Feed her, clean her litter pan, play with her, pet her and if she meows as you are doing these things stop what you are doing until she stops meowing.

Cats love routine and you have set this cat up to expect pampering and treats when she is noisy, so therefore, she will be noisy.

Before bedtime play with her with an interactive play toy like Da Bird or a laser light. At the end of the playtime, give her a small bowl of canned cat food at room temperature. This will help you sleep better at night=-

Yes, I also give CJ and Billy canned food at night, as well in the morning, which might help to satisfy their craving, to where they might be able to hold out. Do you give them canned food at night, also, or only morning?

Hissy! You're so right!

Another thing about Gabby Girl is when she wants me to come to her or wants attention, she will literally scream from the Bathroom or Kitchen and usually go running!

It is going to be extremely difficult to NOT respond to her when she's meowing, (she's a real talker and talks all of the time!) but I will try.

Originally Posted by CJandBilly

Yes, I also give CJ and Billy canned food at night, as well in the morning, which might help to satisfy their craving, to where they might be able to hold out. Do you give them canned food at night, also, or only morning?

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yes, I give them canned food in the morning and then whenever I get home in the evening. I will take just a bit of dry food and mix it in.

Since I've introduced the wet food to them; when I walk through that door at night, they expect to get fed. So I will give them a little when I get in at night then a little before I go to sleep.

Good luck!