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I'm wondering how others have dealt with cats that get up just a tad bit too early and throw a fit about their human not waking up with them. Our new kitty (2 year old) is extremely attached to us and I have her on a regular feeding schedule mixed of wet/dry. Essentially I leave out some dry food in her bowl overnight so she has that if she gets hungry. However she always finishes it up by 5am and goes to wake us up. I've tried adding a bit more food to her bowl, but it's all the same.
Our Snowflake is played with for a minimum of 2hr every day, and often some more. Even if we play with her until she is tired at 10pm, she will still beg for attention by 5am. I don't even think it has to do with the food. Sometimes I will get up and feed her but she will just come back. She's very clingy, but we don't want to pet her so early and give in when we are set to get up at 7am for work on weekdays! It's become exhausting.
At first she would meow but it was easy for us to ignore with ear plugs. However our Snowflake is very intelligent (we can train her to do various things) and caught on that her meows were no longer effective. If she would jump up, we would just hug her, and she was satisfied for about ten minutes before climbing all over our face. Now her latest test is scratching the side of our mattress because not only does it wake us up but it truly gets our attention, even if negative, and that makes her happy. Once she even climbed upside down around the mattress like a lizard except with her claws. It's just not a good habit, but we don't know how to stop this one. If we ignore it, she'll wreck our mattress beyond repair!
Her water/food is set, litter box is changed after work and before bed, and she gets a lot of playtime/love before bed. We live in a studio and we don't want to trap her in the kitchen or (cold vent) bathroom because that just seems cruel- our room is 2/3 of the overall space and has her toys/cat tree/bed/chair-of-choice/etc.
So, how to deal with a loving yet destructive kitty?
I love my automatic feeder. Of course, I use it because Jack has a long narrow esophagus and when he eats a full meal he just throws it up. So he gets a dozen or so little meals all day long.
But, his first meal of the day he jumps off the bed and sits in front of the feeder waiting for his meal, then comes back in, curls up and goes back to sleep.
Unfortunately, by hugging her and petting her, you've established that she'll get some attention when she bothers you. If you don't want to shut her out of the bedroom, get some Sticky Paws double sided tape and put it around the mattress so she won't want to scratch that anymore.
My advice is to move some of her "stuff" into the rest of the apartment and shut her out of the bedroom when she acts up. Put the cat tree in front of another window or set out some paper bags or boxes around the night before. If she bothers you, remove her from the room and shut the door. Don't pet or coddle her--this will reinforce the behavior as "attention."
Since you say you're pretty bonded, a couple of nights of doing this should curb the behavior because she won't want to be separated from you.
Unfortunately, by hugging her and petting her, you've established that she'll get some attention when she bothers you. If you don't want to shut her out of the bedroom, get some Sticky Paws double sided tape and put it around the mattress so she won't want to scratch that anymore.
My advice is to move some of her "stuff" into the rest of the apartment and shut her out of the bedroom when she acts up. Put the cat tree in front of another window or set out some paper bags or boxes around the night before. If she bothers you, remove her from the room and shut the door. Don't pet or coddle her--this will reinforce the behavior as "attention."
Since you say you're pretty bonded, a couple of nights of doing this should curb the behavior because she won't want to be separated from you.
If I understand their living space correctly (studio), they may not be able to shut her out. But you're right about reinforcing the behavior. As difficult as it may be to do, ignoring her may be the only way break the habit.
If I understand their living space correctly (studio), they may not be able to shut her out. But you're right about reinforcing the behavior. As difficult as it may be to do, ignoring her may be the only way break the habit.
I wasn't sure of how the living arrangement is set up. Even if she's put into the kitchen and has a cat tree there, that's not the worst thing, especially if it's just for an hour or two.
I've tried ignoring Lily in the morning for her entire life. It doesn't work. She just keeps at it... and I just roll over until I'm ready to get up.
Charcoal is good in the am. He just sits on the window seat and watches Lily get in trouble.
Momma and the boys are in their own room with the door shut. They are quiet until they hear me get up.
This morning Lily's crowning blow was knocking the bedside lamp over which then contacted with my face. Thankfully, it was just the silk lampshade which hit me.
She starts bothering me after she hears the first peal of the church bells at 7am. I normally don't get up until 830-845... as I work from home.
Yeah that's a tough one. I agree about not reacting. As hard as it may be, do not show that her actions are having any effect. That worked for my cats at least. My cats used to do the same thing until I learned to ignore them. Now they know they know the exact time I wake up and that's when they start bothering me :P Regarding the mattress, that's tougher, but do you keep her nails trimmed? That should minimize her ability to destroy the mattress. Also there is a scratch deterrent spray commonly available. I can't remember what it's called - I think maybe Nature's Miracle - but it's all natural and smells actually fairly pleasant. I've had mixed to good results using it but since I've gotten pretty good at keeping their nails trimmed, I rarely use it anymore.
Don't give the cat ANY good reinforcement for disturbing you. Put her back on the floor, repeatedly if necessary, until she gets the message. If your cat will tolerate a dry-only diet and not pig out, try having a full food bowl available all the time. This will eliminate waking you up for food. If she still wakes you, it's not hunger; it's boredom and habit.
Do you folks actually have a cat? You can't discourage a cat by ignoring her, shutting her out, or not petting. Cats don't respond to that kind of training. That is negative reinforcement and it does not work for cats. Do I really need to tell you that? If you have cats they must be a handful.
Just Google it. Negative reinforcement for training cats. Jeez.
Do you folks actually have a cat? You can't discourage a cat by ignoring her, shutting her out, or not petting. Cats don't respond to that kind of training. That is negative reinforcement and it does not work for cats. Do I really need to tell you that? If you have cats they must be a handful.
Just Google it. Negative reinforcement for training cats. Jeez.
Negative reinforcement would be hitting her or something..
I'm not sure that I understand what your advice is, or what you mean by "If you have cats, they must be a handful."
Thanks everyone for the input. Our studio is made up of 3 rooms- the bedroom, the bathroom, and the kitchen. The kitchen is basically a hallway with counters, a sink, and a stove. Not much space for her cat tree there- it's pretty big. We also took down the door to the hallway/kitchen/bathroom side because it was awkward and took up too much space. This was pre-cat days!
I don't want to free-feed because she seems like the type to over-indulge. Taking it back would be even more difficult. We leave her a little bit out overnight though. I wouldn't mind so much if I HAD to get up and just feed her, then go back to sleep- but we've realized she's after attention more than food. That's fine when it's not 5am
Do those deterrents on furniture really work? I've seen them advertised but never had enough of a need to bother. Sticky Paws Scratch Control Strips
As for trimming, I've never done that either. My parents never did it so I never even thought to unless there was a problem. I'll look into it for her because the mattress is a big concern, and I'm sure it's better to do it anyway.
Thanks again for the responses!
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