Waking up at 5am!!

[rachael0310]

Waking up at 5am!!

I've had my cat for around a year now and have recently in the last 2 months moved home.
I live in privately rented accommodation with my sister and 8 year old niece.
At night time the cat will sleep on the end of my bed and is fine until around 5am and whines. I've tried shutting him out but he just carries on or scratches the door. When he continues whining he wakes up my niece and that is not good!
I've tried getting up and feeding him but most of the time he has food and water. I've tried stroking him until he settles again and this very rarely works. This morning I even tried putting him in our garden as he loves to be outside but he just sat on the wall and whined which will annoy the neighbours.

I really don't know what else to do without him causing damage to the house.

 

[thatone]

Is he whining in your bedroom to wake you up, or just whining around the house? Did this meowing start only since you've moved?  If so, something may have changed in your daily routine that has thrown him off.  Some possibilities are:

amount and time of day he gets attention and playtime (have you tried wearing him out with play right before you go to bed?)

feeding amount or schedule, and type of food, access to food

noise level of the new home (is he used to being in a quiet house and now there's all kinds of noise, activity inside and out)

neighbors dogs or cats (is he at the windows?)

your night-time routine, and bedtime & wake up time

Oh, and how old is he, and is he neutered?

I must go....my whiny boy is clawing the keyboard and demanding his evening snack

 

[rachael0310]

I leave my bedroom door open as he cries to be out of I shut it. He mainly stays upstairs or in my room which makes me think he wants attention. When we lived it our old house he stayed in the kitchen but now he's started clawing wallpaper and trying to climb walls so I don't want him anywhere closed in really.
I've tried playing with him before bed but it doesn't really change much and our hours of going to bed / waking havent changed.
He always has access to food and water and I haven't changed his food type since we got him (dry food).
The new home is very quiet, much quieter than the old one.
All blinds are shut so he can't see out of them to see any other animals and I don't hear any when he is crying.

He is 1 years old and has been neutered.

 

[thatone]

Hmm, if your bedroom furniture is the only part of the new place that has his scent on it, your bedroom might be his safe place.  I have read about cat's doing a vertical scratch thing on the walls when stressed, but maybe some other users can comment on that behavior.  He might just like the texture of the wallpaper, in which case you will maybe need to get more "scratchy" posts to re-direct that energy.  Hopefully he is eating, drinking, and pooping normally.

If he is safe and happy in your bedroom, you could make sure he gets lots of love while there.  Then, try to slowly coax him further away from his comfort zone upstairs with playing and treats.  It doesn't sound like he is hiding under the bed or anything, but he just wants extra attention from you right now.  When he relaxes more, hopefully he'll figure out that the extra roommates in the house means even more attention and pets for him!