Too Needy, Non-stop Meowing Especially In The Morning

Hello,

I need help here for my cat.

I have adopted a 2-year-old male cat (neutral) recently. It's been a month in my house and he starts showing undesirable behaviors a week before.

He has been always in a room at night since he's here. He starts excessive meowing in the morning a week ago. I can be waken up with sight noise so the behavior becomes the biggest problem to me. He has a room himself at night, just want him to be safe, as well as my house and me. He starts meowing for an hour at 6 until we wake up for work at 7:30. I thought he would get used to this routine but he becomes more aggressive. He starts attacking the door knob. One morning I found out part of the wall next to the door has scraching marks. I put sticky tapes, sprayed cat repellent, nither one works for him. He is an extreme stubborn cat.

I did try to let him out a night, or earlier in the morning. He jumped to the bed and bit legs and feet. He wants us to get up and stay awake with him. That is the reason I have to put him in a separate room. He meows until all the lights in the house are out.

I have provided enough play time with him. We work long hours; we let him out with us for 1.5 hours before we go to work, and we let him out as soon as we come home until we go to bed. That's like a total of 4, 5 hours daily. He doesn't necessary want us to play with him. He follows us everywhere. He meows at the door when I go to bathroom for 15, 20 minutes.

I don't think there's a health issue. He just wants us to live with HIS routine. We can't sleep until he sleeps. We need to pay attention to him when he wants to.

I tried some ways to stop him being needy. A firm no when he tries to bite for attention or even a slight kick. I reward him with treats when he's quietly on the cat tree or on the sofa. I stick with my daily routine and get up only my alarm goes off (he can definitely hear it) and pay attentiont to him. None seems to work.

I ordered a spray online. I also orderes a crate so I can put him to somewhere further from me at night. I hope that works as it is my last solution before i decide to return him. The rescue center organizer said I could return him. she said she had too many cats before to know that he is a very special cat to deal with.

I don't want to return him as it will be very cruel to him. Is there something else I can do?

I forgot to say that the room is big enough with water and toys, and some dry food too.

He sounds desperately lonely. He is alone for 20 hours a day in one room? Is he not allowed in the house when you are not home?

This does not sound like a happy situation for your cat. He is acting out because he is so bored and alone.

Do not kick him anymore, ever.

I do not agree that he's alone for 20 hours.

He spends 12 hours sleeping. He's out with us in the weekend. He doesn't pay us any attention in the afternoon. No one can spend 12 hours a day not working - who's gonna pay for his living?

And he stops playing after 5 to 10 minutes. We pet him very often as well.

I don't agree that he's too lonely. He behaved the same in his foster home where he has much more attention FYI.

It wasn't a kick like kicking a football. I use my foot to push him away if you want a more graphical description. He cannot learn from the rewarding system for 4 weeks. He now needs to know this is not welcome

We cut our own plans to be with him more. I tried to work from home half day to be with him. I am trying everything to help him.

He is talkative and vocal from the rescue center organizer's description, and she told us she believed that he was spoiled, so I believe he is just like this from kitten and just spoiled from his previous owner.

Why can't he just sleep with you? What's wrong with spoiling him? A month is really not long for a cat to learn behaviours and you have to remember, they're not like dogs.

Did you read my post? He's biting us! He doesn't let us sleep!

When he's out with us, he doesn't let us do any of our own work. He meows hard at the bathroom door when one of us is bathing. He meows and then bites our feet.

He is bored and looking for attention however he can get it!

Do you play with him? Does he have toys?

gkaster said:

Did you read my post? He's biting us! He doesn't let us sleep!

When he's out with us, he doesn't let us do any of our own work. He meows hard at the bathroom door when one of us is bathing. He meows and then bites our feet.

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You have to remember there's always a reason why he's biting. My kitten, she bit me constantly for a couple of weeks up until now whenever I walked past. There's always a reason. How much is "enough playtime"?

He won't understand the word 'no'. Does he have toys where he can play on his own?

Maybe just let him have roam of the house?

Is this your first cat? Why did you want a cat? I'm asking to better understand your situation.

Someone recently compared a cat to a toddler. Try viewing him that way. He sounds lonely. Imagine if you were taken from your home placed with a foster family and then taken from there and to another home. He hasn't been with you long he's probably still scared and confused. Try giving him some gentle bear hugs.

Have you left him out of his room when you've gone out and has he done damage? Try leaving him free to roam and go out for a little while to see how he reacts.

You said you're working from home part of the time. Get a cardboard box, place it in a corner of the desk or a chair next to it and put a blanket in it. Everytime he tries to interrupt you gently place him in the box. If this works you can get him something more attractive.

Cats like routine and it helps build their confidence. Have a daily plan for him. End the day with a play session and a meal.

Your coming here for help shows you want to make his life better. I hope we can help.

talkingpeanut said:

He is bored and looking for attention however he can get it!

Do you play with him? Does he have toys?

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Of course he has toys. I keep buying him new toys too.

Of course we played with him, until he gets tired of playing, when he will just lay on the floor and not responding. When he's not in mood playing, he will jump to the sofa and sit with me. I pet him lightly often. I don't see how we ignored him.

CatLoverOnWheels said:

You have to remember there's always a reason why he's biting. My kitten, she bit me constantly for a couple of weeks up until now whenever I walked past. There's always a reason. How much is "enough playtime"?

He won't understand the word 'no'. Does he have toys where he can play on his own?

Maybe just let him have roam of the house?

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He bit his previous owner, too, to demand things. That's the volunteer told me after they called and learned from the previous owner.

We put sticky tapes and cat repellent to try to stop him from counter surfing and scraching the couch; I allow him to jump on to anywhere else. He just love counter surfing. He doesn't afraid of any of those sticky notes or cat repellent.

That said, we try to let him roam the house at night. He doesn't want to go anywhere else but to us. It's still fine if he just want to be with us on the bed. It's not ok he bites us the second he jumps on the bed to wake us up.

Hellenww said:

Is this your first cat? Why did you want a cat? I'm asking to better understand your situation.

Someone recently compared a cat to a toddler. Try viewing him that way. He sounds lonely. Imagine if you were taken from your home placed with a foster family and then taken from there and to another home. He hasn't been with you long he's probably still scared and confused. Try giving him some gentle bear hugs.

Have you left him out of his room when you've gone out and has he done damage? Try leaving him free to roam and go out for a little while to see how he reacts.

You said you're working from home part of the time. Get a cardboard box, place it in a corner of the desk or a chair next to it and put a blanket in it. Everytime he tries to interrupt you gently place him in the box. If this works you can get him something more attractive.

Cats like routine and it helps build their confidence. Have a daily plan for him. End the day with a play session and a meal.

Your coming here for help shows you want to make his life better. I hope we can help.

Click to expand...

I hate to sound like making excuses in every single of my respond, but we pet him and greet him and hug him every single morning.

What we may do is to push out his meal to a later time.

We had pets before. My husband had a adopted dog before. He said this cat is beyond his dog's need...

I am just making suggestions. It sounds like you play with him and then he stops and lays down. Can you try again in about them minutes? I used to have to play with my male when he was 2, both morning and just before bed. That got him to sleep through the night. In the morning, can he be hungry? If yes, then get one of the timed feeding dishes and set it to when he starts meowing.

Some of these may keep him off the counters https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...ks,247&crid=3URNS8HNLP7JN&tag=&tag=thecatsite

To get him to stop biting your feet under the covers, get a spray bottle of water to keep near you while you are in bed. Some squirts and he should stop. Try to not yell at him, just spray him.

aradasky said:

I am just making suggestions. It sounds like you play with him and then he stops and lays down. Can you try again in about them minutes? I used to have to play with my male when he was 2, both morning and just before bed. That got him to sleep through the night. In the morning, can he be hungry? If yes, then get one of the timed feeding dishes and set it to when he starts meowing.

Some of these may keep him off the counters https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_12?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=cat+sprayer+motion+detector&sprefix=Cat+sprayers,stripbooks,247&crid=3URNS8HNLP7JN

To get him to stop biting your feet under the covers, get a spray bottle of water to keep near you while you are in bed. Some squirts and he should stop. Try to not yell at him, just spray him.

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I have a bottle very similar, at least it is on the shelf side by side with the bottle from your link. I will try this one later.

I played with him several times. He stops pkaying, but he mostly comes back again after like 15 minutes. He tired of the games fast. There are specific toys he likes more but those don't exercise him a lot.

I have ordered a spray online. I will definitely try water spray, but my husband is a little reluctant to let him out of his room at night time. I hope the spray will convince him .

Today doesn't have any change. I pushed out his dinner time to later at night at 10. We played with him for an hour, also took him out to the front door (but he wanted to go back inside). He was with us for at least 4 hours in total before bed time. He still started the meowing and door attacking at 5am.

I gave him good amount of wet food at night, and put down enough dry food for him that he never finishes all before morning meal time.

He was excessively sticky to me to a point that he followed me everywhere. I had to eventually ignore him. We gave him a lot of pettings and treats and play time for hours but he wasn't satisfied. I thought he was hungry for wet food, but he kept following me after finishing the wet food (same amount everyday, sometimes he wouldn't finish it all). He jumped to the chair back to watch me the chair i sat and watched me dining. He meowed and waited outside when I was bathing! That's not fun or cute... that's over the top already.

He is desperate foe love and attention. A month is not long at all in a cat's world to learn new behaviors. The best solution I see is to get him a friend. Another male, NOT a female (who are the manners teachers and are divas) females do not bond and become buddies like males. Two keep each other company, are just as cheap as one to raise,(Bring them to vet visits together, one office charge) and you don'tb have to worry about him being alone at all.He'll be busy. Just get one with the same temperament, you don't pair a shy one with a bully. If this isn't possible, time is your friend and he will learn a new life order. Your order, but it takes lots of time with a cat. all the luck!

di and bob said:

He is desperate foe love and attention. A month is not long at all in a cat's world to learn new behaviors. The best solution I see is to get him a friend. Another male, NOT a female (who are the manners teachers and are divas) females do not bond and become buddies like males. Two keep each other company, are just as cheap as one to raise,(Bring them to vet visits together, one office charge) and you don'tb have to worry about him being alone at all.He'll be busy. Just get one with the same temperament, you don't pair a shy one with a bully. If this isn't possible, time is your friend and he will learn a new life order. Your order, but it takes lots of time with a cat. all the luck!

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I will need to talk to the rescue center to see if he has ever had a bonding with another cat. Will that solve the morning meowing problem...? He might just do the same regardless of another cat's present.

Many of my friends with cats have a pair at home. I thought cats were independent and didn't make friends with other cats much?

Boys do, if not they still are company for each other and give them something interesting to do. Introducing two cats is not quick either though, a younger one usually bonds quicker. I would say around six months. I really think the meowing is for attention and a friend would take care of it.

Hi, I am in a similar position. I rescued my male cat ( 2 ), in April. They prepared me for a week of crying and hiding. Within an hour he was running my house. He was very needy for affection for the first month. The first weekend he was constantly in my lap and if he wasn't he was beside me and letting me know it was lap time. Snuggles has pretty much moved away from that stage. He does like to be in the same room with me. Doesn't matter where I go he is following. I am also having an issue with aggressive biting but I will try amping up his play time. Another issue I am dealing with is him being vocal in the morning. You're lucky, mine starts at 4am. Usually I can get him to go back to sleep but this morning that was not the case. All I can tell you is to just wait it out. I read scenarios from other cat owners and I don't have any of the issues that some people complain about. So I can try to work with the ones I have. Hopefully he will settle down soon. Good luck.