New member here looking for some advice. I have done extensive research but am hoping for further direction at this point.
We adpoted our cat (Bagheera) through a local Vancouver shelter (VOKRA) just over 2 months ago. We were told that she had been rescued from a hoarding house, along with 10-15 other cats. She is 1 year 6 months old, neutered, and had a full vet checkup a few weeks after we adopted her (no issues).
She became comfortable with us quite quickly, is a very social cat, and loves to play. However she is a very vocal cat, and the behavior has started to get worse.
She meows at us when we come home, she coos at us when she first wakes up (both of those we have no issue with), and she has always gotten vocal (yowls) at feeding times. She has been on a wet food diet, and we would give her half her daily portion when we woke up at 6 each morning, and the other half around 5-6 in the evening. She was waking us up during the early mornings (around 3), so we began splitting her evening portion up (1/2 around 4 in the afternoon, 1/2 at 9 before we go to bed). This helped the behavior somewhat, and many nights she would not wake us before we were getting up.
Throughout this time, I have worked at clicker training her. She sits quite well, and from there I have been working on rewarding her for quiet behavior during these sessions. I normally do so once a day, with about 10 bits of Orijen dry kibble as rewards. She adapts quickly to being quiet for the treats, however this has no impact on her meowing outside of these sessions.
Throughout this time, she would still wake up early and meow at us on the bed, however we would put her outside, close the door, and she would play/be quiet outside the room until we woke up.
Recently however, she has begun meowing loudly if we put her outside the room and close the door, this is the issue we are having now. Throughout this week we have not had much sleep past 3-4 in the morning due to her excessive yowling, and it is quickly getting to be frustrating. She is very food focused (obsessed even), and when it is near to her feeding time she is very anxious (meowing, won't settle down, etc.), though never aggressive.
Based on advice I have found online, these are the things we have tried:
- We always have an interactive play session before going to bed, for 10-15 minutes. Again, seeing as she falls asleep alongside us consistently, I believe this works to expend her energy at this point.
- We have tried giving her a puzzle feeder ball, with 1/4 her daily intake in the Orijen kibble, once she awakes initially in the early morning. This keeps her busy for around 45-60 minutes, however once she has gotten the food, she is back at our door meowing loudly. We both have started using ear plugs, however her meowing carries through those and we cannot fall asleep. As many of you know, this is VERY difficult to simply lie there and ignore. I do not believe it is because she is hungry, but because it is routine.
The behavior was tolerable when she would stay quiet once put outside the bedroom, however with her meowing now we are struggling to figure out the best solution. We have not yet used any sort of spray bottle or related deterrent, and were never planning to, however lately in the middle of the night it is very tempting to try when she is outside the door yowling.
The other idea is to try aggressively rewarding quiet behaviour by spoon feeding all her meals, waiting for her to be quiet each time. However I have my doubts that this will solve her meowing prior to it being feeding time, just as she adapts to being quiet during the existing sessions but resorts back to loudly meowing outside of them.
I am really hoping there is some more concrete advice based on our specific situation that some of you might have. I am sure many of you have the same experience of it being 3 in the morning and not being able to get any sleep because of yowling! It is not a simple situation to continue thinking rationally throughout!
Thank you very much in advance for any advice.
We adpoted our cat (Bagheera) through a local Vancouver shelter (VOKRA) just over 2 months ago. We were told that she had been rescued from a hoarding house, along with 10-15 other cats. She is 1 year 6 months old, neutered, and had a full vet checkup a few weeks after we adopted her (no issues).
She became comfortable with us quite quickly, is a very social cat, and loves to play. However she is a very vocal cat, and the behavior has started to get worse.
She meows at us when we come home, she coos at us when she first wakes up (both of those we have no issue with), and she has always gotten vocal (yowls) at feeding times. She has been on a wet food diet, and we would give her half her daily portion when we woke up at 6 each morning, and the other half around 5-6 in the evening. She was waking us up during the early mornings (around 3), so we began splitting her evening portion up (1/2 around 4 in the afternoon, 1/2 at 9 before we go to bed). This helped the behavior somewhat, and many nights she would not wake us before we were getting up.
Throughout this time, I have worked at clicker training her. She sits quite well, and from there I have been working on rewarding her for quiet behavior during these sessions. I normally do so once a day, with about 10 bits of Orijen dry kibble as rewards. She adapts quickly to being quiet for the treats, however this has no impact on her meowing outside of these sessions.
Throughout this time, she would still wake up early and meow at us on the bed, however we would put her outside, close the door, and she would play/be quiet outside the room until we woke up.
Recently however, she has begun meowing loudly if we put her outside the room and close the door, this is the issue we are having now. Throughout this week we have not had much sleep past 3-4 in the morning due to her excessive yowling, and it is quickly getting to be frustrating. She is very food focused (obsessed even), and when it is near to her feeding time she is very anxious (meowing, won't settle down, etc.), though never aggressive.
Based on advice I have found online, these are the things we have tried:
- We always have an interactive play session before going to bed, for 10-15 minutes. Again, seeing as she falls asleep alongside us consistently, I believe this works to expend her energy at this point.
- We have tried giving her a puzzle feeder ball, with 1/4 her daily intake in the Orijen kibble, once she awakes initially in the early morning. This keeps her busy for around 45-60 minutes, however once she has gotten the food, she is back at our door meowing loudly. We both have started using ear plugs, however her meowing carries through those and we cannot fall asleep. As many of you know, this is VERY difficult to simply lie there and ignore. I do not believe it is because she is hungry, but because it is routine.
The behavior was tolerable when she would stay quiet once put outside the bedroom, however with her meowing now we are struggling to figure out the best solution. We have not yet used any sort of spray bottle or related deterrent, and were never planning to, however lately in the middle of the night it is very tempting to try when she is outside the door yowling.
The other idea is to try aggressively rewarding quiet behaviour by spoon feeding all her meals, waiting for her to be quiet each time. However I have my doubts that this will solve her meowing prior to it being feeding time, just as she adapts to being quiet during the existing sessions but resorts back to loudly meowing outside of them.
I am really hoping there is some more concrete advice based on our specific situation that some of you might have. I am sure many of you have the same experience of it being 3 in the morning and not being able to get any sleep because of yowling! It is not a simple situation to continue thinking rationally throughout!
Thank you very much in advance for any advice.
