My boys start their party at 4 am in the morning-help!

I have two young male cats and it used to be that at night when I got up to go to the bathroom I would give them some treats. Well now, they wake me up several times a night wanting something. They are just being pests. I have never seen cats do this. They don't want treats like this during the day. They get their "dose" and are fine but at night they want constant attention and nibblets. We have tried spritzing them with a spray bottle and locking them out of our room at night but they claw up the carpet. They are the strangest cats I have ever known. My mother and my aunt have owned lots of cats in their lifetimes and they never had problems like this. I can't keep getting up like this at night. Now that I am at the computer they are both happy and content but I can't stay up all night with them. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I don't think my advice will be all that helpful. (sorry) but maybe you can try those auto feeders and set the timer to go off for them and then slowly decrease the amount of treats you put in the feeder until they won't want them? I haven't heard of this problem either.

To tell you the truth, this behavior doesn't seem at all strange to me, for two reasons. One, cats are nocturnal by nature. Two, without realizing it, you "trained" your boys to expect treats during the night, so now when they don't get the treats, they bother you for it.

You say that your cats are young, but not how young they are. Younger cats are going to be more active, no matter what you do. But, there are a couple of things you can do to improve the situation.

First, schedule an "active play" session before you go to bed. At least 15 minutes with their favorite toys will tire them out a bit and give them some of the attention they crave.

Do you feed them wet food? One of the best tips I gleaned from this board is that wet food before bedtime also makes cats a little more snoozy.

Then, during the night when they come in to bother you, ignore them. Don't pet, don't give them treats, don't yell at them either--even negative attention is attention. It might take a little while for them to get with the routine--with my cats, it took about a week, but it could take longer with your guys. Also, make sure that there's enough to keep them amused in another room. That way, they can come in to see you if they want to cuddle, but if they want to play, they can go in another room. We have a large cat tree and most of their toys in the living room, and we never play with them in the bedroom, so they understand that the bed is for relaxing and the living room is for playing.

Eventually, they will understand that they get attention from you during the day, but not at night, and they will stop looking for it. Good luck!

welcome to the site

I too agree with everyone, this behavior is not strange at all, especially if they're young. Marsh's now a year and a half, and he too has his days where he will act up at night. I think in truth you encouraged this behavior by feeding them treats, remember, any attention, even negative like spraying them with a water bottle is attention.

I'd suggest playtime sessions before you go to bed and TOTAL ignorance at night. Put a cardboard box or better yet, one of those plastic chair mats under the door so that they can't claw up the carpet... and offer them toys for nighttime, something interactive. marsh loves his 'wheels'.. one where a ball is inside or maybe a mouse on a wheel.

Good luck!

Yes, you trained them to act this way. They aren't being a pest -- they are giving you a warning to attend to your assigned duties.

I never feed Nano first thing when I wake up. I might give her a quick head scratch or touch her once just to be social, but after that I ignore her for at least thirty minutes (sometimes an hour) until I am fully awake and have taken care of myself (and sometimes my morning workout). If you feed your cat first thing when you wake up, they are now the alpha in the household and they will tell you when they are ready to be fed -- which might mean a wakeup call at 6 AM on Saturday for you.

Like others said, play an interactive game with them before bed to help tire them out. And then always -- no matter what -- ignore them for a specified number of minutes when you first wake up.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Nano

If you feed your cat first thing when you wake up, they are now the alpha in the household and they will tell you when they are ready to be fed -- which might mean a wakeup call at 6 AM on Saturday for you.

Click to expand...

nice observation/advice nano. this basically describes what almost happened to me. i'm new to cats and i fell head over heals for them so i was spoiling them like crazy but then reality set in and i started to realize these two were in control of my sleep schedule. gradually, i changed some routine around and now they sleep longer and are less demanding at dawn. i'm good till 8:00 now which is fine by me.

Ah... I get wake up calls, too. I wake at 6am Mon thru Fri, so on Saturday/Sunday when I'm off? I get up then, too, cuz my alarm cats go off!

Snickers has lately been nibbling at my nose or my cheeks around 4am. I think he's hungry and he knows that as soon as the birds sing outside and mommy gets out of bed, HE GETS FOOD. I usually just pet him & love on him and roll over but he usually walks over me and nibbles somemore. For more petting and loving til finally... I get up.

I don't mind it cuz I'm a morning person, but I know where you're coming from! Your cats have you trained, baby!

Big question, are they neutered? But really they are exhibiting normal behavior that guess what? you inadvertently programmed them for. If you want them out of the bedroom at night, simply take your vacuum cleaner, turn it on, park it outside your bedroom door. Run the plug under the door, near an outlet. The first time they scratch and carry on- plug it in one second only then unplug. They will leave you alone at night. Be sure they have good places to sleep in the rest of the house, invest in a cat condo