Asked on the Cat Forum by hera on 6/5/03, 11:29 am

Q: early riser

Dear Expert: My 13 year old female will awaken at the crack of dawn then proceed to relentlessly meow until I get out of bed. I have tried everything such as, getting up and putting her food bowl out, closing the bedroom door, yelling, throwing pillows at her, and I have even brought the food bowl in the bedroom. To no avail, she wants me up and out of bed. What can I do????

--Tired

Answered by Cher11 on 6/5/03, 8:44 pm

A: early riser

> Dear Expert: My 13 year old female will awaken at the crack
> of dawn then proceed to relentlessly meow until I get out of
> bed. I have tried everything such as, getting up and
> putting her food bowl out, closing the bedroom door,
> yelling, throwing pillows at her, and I have even brought
> the food bowl in the bedroom. To no avail, she wants me up
> and out of bed. What can I do????
>
> --Tired

Hi Tired--

Been there, done that! : ) Ok, first, don't yell or throw pillows at her anymore! That's not helping the situation, and you might hurt her unintentionally. You say you 'put her food bowl out'...does that mean you don't leave dry food out at all times for her? If you don't, you might try leaving a small amount 'for the night' in her bowl before you go to bed, and also leave your bedroom door open so she doesn't feel closed off from you. She might be feeling insecure and all 'alone' in the house when she knows you're behind a closed door and can't see you. Don't bring the food into the bedroom; that's starting a bad habit you don't want to continue!

Does she like sleeping on your bed? Have you brought her into bed with you when she seems 'needy' at this time? Does she have her own cat bed? If so, you can put it in your room so she can sleep with you. If you don't have one, line a shallow-ish cardboard box with an old towel or blanket, and make it hers.

Some other experts might advise you not to 'give in' by giving her food, or even getting out of bed. Personally, my cat does this on and off, and I admit....he's SPOILED, and I can't ignore him...yes, it does make me lose sleep, but I accept the fact that he's a feline, has some mysterious reason for doing this, and I love him! Actually, for me, it's no mystery, he either wants me to 'walk' him to his food dish in the kitchen, and/or just wants my attention. The compromise we usually reach is that I leave my bedroom door open and if he persists, believe it or not, I have to PUT him on my bed (he won't jump up on his own! weird!), he takes a bath, and goes to sleep.

What you have to do is try to get your cat into a different kind of routine or habit, which, at the age of 13 is a little more difficult. Of course, give her as much attention during the day as possible, and make it a 'special time' for the two of you before you go to sleep: play with her (not too roughly, of course!), feed her, give her a lot of affection, and talk to her, telling her it's bedtime and you'll see her in the morning, etc., etc. I know it may sound funny, but I talk to my cat all the time (8½ yr. old male), and when I kiss him goodnite, I tell him to be 'good' and not wake me up during the night, unless he doesn't feel well!! OK, laugh if you want to....I say it more for ME, of course! LOL I find that he goes thru 'cycles'...he'll go for quite a while without disturbing my sleep, and then for a few days or weeks on end, I'm so sleep deprived, I feel like I have an infant again, on 'demand' feedings!

Well, I hope some of the suggestions I've made will be helpful, and your situation will improve. One last thing--if this is a new behavior for her, it's always wise to bring her in for a check-up, especially because she's a senior cat, just to be sure there's nothing wrong, medically. Sometimes, senior cats start getting a little 'confused' in their advancing years, just like some people do (though, at 13, she's not really THAT old yet! : ) ) I mention this because if she IS becoming a little senile, that may add to her insecurity when she can't see you.

Good luck!

Cher : )
>

Answered by Feef on 6/6/03, 4:52 am