Demanding Cat

Hi all,

I have two adorable Birman girls who are absolutely gorgeous, most of the time..

One, however, has developed a very naughty habit of waking me up in the early hours of the morning (pre-6am) to inform me that it is now time for me to get up and feed her immediately.

Her method of waking me up initially starts with a quiet meow into my ear, then gradually progresses to jumping on my feet, back, shoulders and head (she doesn't use claws, thankfully). She will also come right up to my ear and yowl loudly. This is along with loud howling, meowing, crying, jumping and running around when she's on the floor.

Unfortunately closing the bedroom door is not an option as it is the heat of summer now and we need to keep the door open for the airconditioning to be effective. I try to put up with the carrying on for as long as possible but eventually it is just useless and I get up. I try to avoid going straight to the bowl and delaying the process but it doesn't seem effective.

The other cat simply sits outside the bedroom door and waits patiently for the performance to be over and then calmly moves to her bowl to eat up.
Help!

Do you free feed?

They get fed twice a day, usually around 7-7.30am and again at about 7-7.30pm. They only eat premium dry food. There's usually (say 95% of the time) enough dry food in their bowls to last them all the way through to the evening (or morning). Sometimes when I go to feed them there's still a bit of food left in the bowl too, so I wait until they've eaten it all before I feed them again.

Hope that makes sense. No issues with water, their water bowl is always filled with fresh water.

I would invest in an automated feeder if I were you. It is a bit pricey, but you can set the timer to spill out the food at certain hours of the day. I would feed three times a day, you are not feeding enough times for this cat to be satisfied. I would also feed wet food, not just dry food. Feed wet food right before you go to bed after you do about a 20 minute interactive play with your cat.

She also carries on like this when there is still food in her bowl! I get downstairs, still sleepy and bleary eyed. Look at the bowl and there's still food in there. Meanwhile she's still howling, yowling and carrying on.

Shall look into an automated feeder though. Maybe Santa Claws will buy it

Another thing I would do is keep her out of the bedroom. Make a screen door out of chicken wire, wood, or pvc pipe. She will be able to see you, but not gain access when you are asleep. Then buy a good set of earplugs and only pay attention to her when she is silent- not when she is talking-

Cleo used to try all kinds of methods of waking me up at the crack of dawn. She used to yowl, but I didn't give in so she tried batting my nose (without using claws thankfully) but I just pulled the covers up over my face. Then she proceeded to try pulling my hair, then my husband's hair. I still didn't give in (and neither did hubby) and she stopped. Now she will just meow a little and then lay down next to me until I get up. There was always food left in her bowl too, when she did this so I didn't let her get her way.

Thanks for the advice guys. Hubby and I discussed it this morning (after the biggest song and dance you've ever witnessed by a cat!) and are going to try two solutions...

1. Automated feeding bowl - going to try feeding 3 times a day and see how that goes
2. Put up one of those child-proof gates and reinforce it with chicken wire so our naughty cat can't squeeze through. The door is closed but ajar which means she won't be able to jump over it.

Unfortunately the option of hiding under the quilt doesn't work since it's summer time, I do use that one in winter though

My extra incentive is that I currently have a broken foot and so far in the morning performance she has jumped on it three times.. ouch!

Thanks again

We also free feed, so I've not dealt with that. I would maybe as another member suggested, give some wet in the evening as a treat.Not alot, just enough to be eated in 5 minutes.
Have you tried the "hiss" approach?When she does this, hiss at her to let her know you are not to be bothered right now.JUST A SUGGESTION!!!
Good luck!!