nighttime meowing getting worse; not getting any sleep

Situation:
Puppy was pretty much meowing every 15 minutes last night from midnight until 3 am. Obviously, I didn't sleep much. The problem is that he meows at the front door of the apartment. We were only allowed to keep him as long as he was quiet. I need to stop this immediately so that we don't have to give him up. This has been getting worse since we got him.

Measures we've taken:
* Check at night that he has food, water, favorite window is open, and toys are out.
* Hard play for 30 minutes before bedtime. We make him sprint and leap into the air until he's breathing hard and no longer gives chase.
* We originally tried picking him up when he meowed, placing him on his favorite chair, and petting him. He purrs, but he gets up after a minute.
* We've tried playing with him for 10 minutes. He likes this, but it doesn't seem to stop him from meowing. He's back at it again soon.
* We've barricaded him in the bedroom/hall/bathroom area with us (no door), so that way he can't meow in the living room. Then we ignore his meows (we don't get any sleep, but at least he won't bother the neighbors as much). This doesn't work because he just keeps meowing. And he figured out how to jump the barricade.
* We've yelled/hissed at him. This only gets his attention away from the living room and he meows back at us.
* We were going to try spraying with water, but as soon as he sees us up he stops meowing and starts purring.

I've called my vet; he's supposed to call me back later today.

Please HELP! I don't want my neighbors to hear him! Is there anything else we can do?

Could he stay in your bedroom with you at night?

Is he neutered? Allowed outdoors ever?

The reason I'm asking, is that if he's not fixed, he may feel the need to roam outdoors, and is protesting. If he already goes outdoors, he is probably whining to go out at night. I do not advocate letting cats outdoors, EVER. I know a lot of people feel differently than I do about it, but there are more reasons to keep cats indoors than out, in my opinion.

I wish I had some better advice...

He's been neutered for at least a year (we don't know the exact date, he was brought to the shelter neutered).

He was outdoors before we got him, for about a year. Sinec moving in with us in January, he is only allowed outside on a leash with us. In the winter, we took him out once a week for about 15 minutes. Now that the weather is warm, he goes outside for an hour twice a week. He does not have a balcony or anything that he can go outside on his own. He also sits by the open windows.

We're wondering if this is related to weather getting warmer. Today and yesterday he jumped into his carrier, which is unusual. We think he want to go out more. Should we take him out when he does this? Or should we stop taking him out entirely?

I'm probably not the one you're going to want to talk to about this, as I don't believe in letting cats go outside, ever. Mine have never been outside, except for when they're in their carriers, heading to vets, or on a trip. That's the only outdoor experience mine will ever have. Now, a lot of folks on TCS allow their cats some outdoor time...that is their decision, and most understand that they are soley responsible for that decision. With every decision there are consequences...for me, the decision to not allow mine outdoors is one of the ways I protect them and keep them safe, and the consequences are that I need to take those extra steps in providing plenty of exercise, controlling their diet, and providing stimulation.

Your kitty most likely wants more time outdoors. Because once they have a taste of outdoor life (and when the experience is positive), they want MORE and MORE!!! This is entirely up to you. And if you choose to provide more time outdoors, you will have to be 100% accountable for him, as there are risks. I probably would opt to let him cry, and whine, and carry on...because the truth is, he will get over it with time, and will lose interest the longer he remains indoors with you. Now, here's another thing to consider...if you do give in to him, and allow him outdoors, he may be quieter, but outdoor cats tend to irritate neighbors, eat or tromp around in their plants, and go potty in their gardens. Some even like to leave presents of mice and birds on doorsteps. Neighbors tend to tolerate this stuff even less than they do a noisy cat...these are all things to consider, I guess.

My cat never had exposure to being outdoors until he got out because he wanted nothing more than to roam outside... it had nothing to do with him ever being out there because he had never been outside before.

Anyways, my cat is indoors and I had the SAME issue. I've found feeding him before bed [he gets fed twice a day.] usually keeps him quiet all night.

Another thing to is to lock him with you guys at night and then wear ear plugs... I had to do it for a while until I found my cat would eat and go to sleep.

Hopefully the vet has more solutions for you!

Hi

You haven't said whether or not the cat is allowed to sleep with you but if he ISN'T ALLOWED TO SLEEP WITH YOU, then allowing him to do this is the immediate solution, and probably the only practical one.

If he is allowed to sleep with you then the issue is more complex. In addition to the hard play before bed, it should be followed by a meal so he completes the cycle of predation - play is predatory behavior and then end result is eating the prey, so he needs the little wet meal to complete the process.

Another solution would be to get him a friend for night time company - probably a very playful cat of similar age to wear him out and keep him occupied.

Try feliway or some soft music.. The cat would love to sleep with you

He is allowed to sleep with us. We actually want him to stay in the bedroom so he doesn't wake the neighbors.

The cat would love to sleep with you

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I wish he would. He doesn't like sleeping with us, but he is allowed to. We usually put him on the bed or on his chair when he meows. His towels are on both for him. He doesn't seem to like cuddling (we made some progress with this recently, but he still won't spend the entire night with us. )

We already feed him at night, and we play with him. He gets play inthe morning before we leave, then again when we get home, then food, then more play before bed.

We can't get another cat since it's a small apartment.

Vet called back while we were out getting groceries...hopefully I'll get more info tomorrow...

If you've excluded physical causes and you know he's not hungry it sounds like he's just crying for attention - do you give him attention when he cries? Given your situation I'm guessing you go to him and attempt to stop the noise when he starts up? I can sympathise with that situation as I live in a ground floor apartment and mine have gone through phases of crying at night. The worry that neighbours will start complaining was big thing for me and the temptation to go to them to stop the noise is strong. I resisted though and it did curb the crying but it took a while - it didn't happen overnight. If the vet doesn't have any new suggestions I suggest you have a word with your neighbours and explain the situation and that you are trying to ignore him in an attempt to stop the crying. Then ignore him every time.

If it is that he wants outside, you do not have to just let him out. Have you considered leash training him? I live in an apartment too but I take Zissou out on her leash. She does the same thing with meowing at the door but now she's figured out that I only take her out when she isn't doing it and didn't do it the night before. Anytime she meows at the door now I just have to say "Shut" to her and she comes over and makes a whirring noise at me and then goes on her merry way.

Warning: some cats the leash training makes worse, at least for a little while.

How much noise can your cat really be making that it's bothering your neighbors? You can hear Zissou in the stairwell or outside if the windows are open but I doubt you can hear her in our neighbors apartments! Maybe she just has a feminine meow.

Also, have you tried just plain old ignoring him period? You said you ignored him after he was barricaded in, but at that point he may have been meowing about being trapped. The only successful way to deal with a cat trying to get your attention while you're sleeping is to ignore it. Playing with it/feeding before bed are good, but after that buy earplugs and even if he comes in and jumps on your face pretend you're sleeping. All the other stuff you've done has done nothing but make your problem worse because he's getting attention for meowing.

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

How much noise can your cat really be making that it's bothering your neighbors? You can hear Zissou in the stairwell or outside if the windows are open but I doubt you can hear her in our neighbors apartments! Maybe she just has a feminine meow

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Barkley starts off softly and then with each meow/yowl he gets louder and louder and louder which is where my concern comes in. Plus, there is no telling how thin the walls are between apartments so I cant gauge just how much my neighbors are hearing unless I physically ask them. Im just trying to understand why he waits until that time at night/early morning to start with this behavior?

Originally Posted by urbantigers

If you've excluded physical causes and you know he's not hungry it sounds like he's just crying for attention - do you give him attention when he cries? Given your situation I'm guessing you go to him and attempt to stop the noise when he starts up? I can sympathise with that situation as I live in a ground floor apartment and mine have gone through phases of crying at night. The worry that neighbours will start complaining was big thing for me and the temptation to go to them to stop the noise is strong. I resisted though and it did curb the crying but it took a while - it didn't happen overnight. If the vet doesn't have any new suggestions I suggest you have a word with your neighbours and explain the situation and that you are trying to ignore him in an attempt to stop the crying. Then ignore him every time.

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Yes, I give him attention but I would like to think by now that since my babies are so smart (and they really are) they would know that mommy gets up early for the most part during the week to go to work. They know that I go to bed early (because it's still light out at the time I turn in each night) and maybe that is throwing them off a bit because before daylight savings time it was dark at 8pm.

also, I try to ignore him when he starts but my immediate thought process goes to what my neighbors must be hearing, plus, his voice seems to echo off the walls making it ten times louder than it probably is. I think I spoil him just because I love him sooo much and I do again admit that when he starts acting out I normally get out of bed and immediately put food in his bowl and once I do that he quiets down. But that is the main reason why I started feeding him (at the suggestion of the Vet) right before I went to bed. It worked for awhile and now it doesnt work anymore.

Originally Posted by BarkleysJester

I do again admit that when he starts acting out I normally get out of bed and immediately put food in his bowl and once I do that he quiets down.

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You could try getting an automatic feeder to provide him with food at this time but I suspect it's the attention he wants more than the food. And so long as he's getting attention (of any kind) there's no incentive for him to stop making a noise. Cats are naturally more active at dusk so if it's still light when you go to bed it isn't going to feel like bedtime for him.

Yes, cats are actually diurnal, not nocturnal, meaning their body clock makes them most active at dusk and dawn, not at night as is commonly believed.

Again, every time you get out of bed because he's meowing you are encouraging him to keep doing it. If he needs food at night, consider leaving a bit of dry out just at night to make sure he's fed. Any sort of attention you give him at all at night while youre sleeping is making the problem worse.

Originally Posted by urbantigers

You could try getting an automatic feeder to provide him with food at this time but I suspect it's the attention he wants more than the food. And so long as he's getting attention (of any kind) there's no incentive for him to stop making a noise.

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So if attention seeking is the issue behind the problem what might some good suggestions be to curb that? I really do attempt to ignore him but I can not get out of my head if this is disturbing the surrounding tenants due to the volume behind it. He's a little guy but when he wants to get his point across he knows how to do it !!!

Ive heard earplugs suggested, an automatic feeder (how much do those go for and how do they work??) and leaving dry food out for him at night, but whatever he doesnt eat he plays in instead, rolling it around the floor, etc.

Well, first, go knock on your neighbors' doors and ask them if your cat's meowing is bothering them. It probably isn't, and you're getting the nighttime paranoia, so you'll feel better knowing that it's just you. If it is bothering anybody and you give them the chance to tell you and then explain politely what you're trying to do, you've still helped the situation.

If your cat gets plenty of attention during the day, then you are doing nothing wrong ignoring it so you can get some sleep! Does he have toys he can play with without you? I have one of those floor-cardboard scratchers with a ball that rolls in a track around it, and Zissou loves to play with that at night. Sometimes if she wakes me up I'll wait til she leaves the room again and then open a window for her (pretending its not for her!) so she can watch the birdies. You want him to have enough stuff to do to entertain himself during those wakeful hours he has while youre sleeping.

I believe if you ignore him it will stop. They are pretty smart. Bijou already knows that crying to me will not get him outside and he NEVER cries to go outside when John isn't home. However - as soon as John comes into the house, Bijou sits on the table by the sliding glass doors and cries loudly to go out. He knows exactly who will let him out.

I'm new to this forum and was reading your post. My cat use to do this too. What worked for me was to play with him about 3-4 hours before going to bed for about 15-20 minutes so he has some calm down and mellow out time before bed time. I feed him some canned food and I jump into bed. A few minutes later he meows and I call his name and he jumps up and lays next to me and I fall asleep petting him. It took almost a week for this to become a routine. Thank God it worked! I was going crazy!!!
I use to take him outside into the back yard. I had to stop doing that because he would only want to go outside more and more. One day it was raining really hard (this might sound mean but it worked) so I took him into the back yard and left the sliding door open. He ran inside and hasnt really wanted to go out again. I bought tons of new toys in hopes to making inside seem more fun than outside. I also made some home made toys which he loves more than the ones I bought. LOL
His favorite home made toy is a tube sock that I poured alot of cat nip in and shoved in some shreaded brown paper bag and tied a knot at the end. I think he loves this toy the best because it's so long and he can bite and hold one end while kicking with his back feet.
I hope you find a solution soon, I know what you're going through and I wish you the best of luck.

Susie

Ok Shadow did this too. She does not sleep with us. And she is fine with that, but our front windows face right where the sun comes up... so she was wake at about 5-6am and would meaw like crazy. we were the only ones that could hear it but when you work grave yards 5-6am is when you are sleeping the most...

So we got her alot of toys, made some, put out wet and dry food before bed, and the thing that helped the MOST WAS TO BLOCK THE LIGHT FROM COMING IN. We put a big thick blanket up in the window where the sun light comes through ... now the room is COMPLETLY DARK and we wake her up at 1pm everyday when we get ready for work.

Try this, cover all your windows where natural light will come through with a towel sheet or even a trash bag, and see if this will help. They play at dusk and dawn so if they cant see dawn they will not want to pay then.