our cat won't let us sleep!

Our cat has recently decided that we should get up at 4am or earlier. She isn't hungry, she just wants us to be awake (and she's so annoying she's impossible to ignore). We really need sleep, is there anything we can do to get her to leave us alone? She's an only cat, and so we think that maybe she needs a companion. But it will be a couple of months before we can adopt another cat, so any advice for the time-being would be greatly appreciated!

Is she sleeping with you, and won't let you sleep? Or is it meowing at the door that's bothering you?

On either count, I would suggest trying to tire her out thoroughly before you go to bed. Lots of playing and running and flipping about did the trick for me when we got our girls. They aren't allowed to sleep with us, as two of them are foot-pouncers, but they'll meow at the door until they get their way.

Good luck!

You could always try Hissy's suggestion to park the vacuum cleaner outside the door to your room with the switch in the "on" position. Run the cord to an outlet near your bed. When the cat starts bugging you, plug in the vacuum cleaner for a second or two. Do this until the cat gets the idea that everytime it disturbs your sleep, the vacuum will come on.

Stephanie

We had this problem with Harley too when he was little. I finally have had to end up playing with him for a good hour before bedtime, and sometimes giving him a little food - cuz I know I fall asleep with a full tummy - and so does Harley. So a little play time and a little food does the trick - he's an all night sleeper now!

Dusty woke me up at 4:30 this morning. I held off getting up until 5:30. She has access to dry food and water at all times, but she devoured her 1/2 can of Fancy Feast this morning like she hadn't eaten in days.

Other times she gets me up when the sun comes up, for no other reason than it's light out and she thinks I should be up. Hummpf!

I agree with an hour of playing & feeding before bedtime. I used to free feed until my vet noticed that my kittens were developing a little extra fat on their bellies. Here's his recommendation:

Feed a very tiny portion in the morning, followed with a very large meal right before bedtime. They will gobble it up and knock 'em out COLD. It's the last thing I do before I go to bed and I've never slept better. Vets rock!

We have a persian mix kitty named Angel, we put her in the lving room when we go to bed, at first she cried, but now she is fine-we get to sleep with no interuption, and she can play with her toys if she wants to. I read in a article that it's not good to give in to your kitty when they meow alot, especially to be demanding, they call it meow blackmail!
Playing with her alot before bedtime has not worked.

I have a similar problem with my 5 and a half month old kitten. He will go to sleep ok when I go to bed (about 11pm) but at 4.30am he's awake and starts running around the place, pouncing on my other cat (which results in growling and hissing), pulling my hair and generally being hyper! He is a very lively kitten and I'm just praying he'll grow out of it - I really do need more than 4-5 hours sleep at night. He is allowed into the bedroom but I dont think shutting him out will help as I'll still hear him playing, messing with the window blinds etc. I play with him for hours each evening and give him something to eat before bed. Someone please tell me he'll grow out of this!!