Bad behaviour, how do I change it?

[fostermummy]

My cat and kittens are all doing very well now (they are 5 weeks old tomorrow) and I was wondering if anybody could now help me with a problem that I have had ever since I adopted the cat. She is 15 months old and I have had her for 5 months, she wants feeding in the middle of the night and will not stop scratching, wailing and knocking things over until I get up, this starts about 3.30am and continues. I have tried everything. (I also dont want her teaching the kittens this bad behaviour) I have a plant water spray and I spray her with it when she scratches the sofa/carpet etc and it stops her for about 15 minutes only. Point is I am up half the night doing this.... every night

I am shattered! How can I teach her to stop it? There is always dry food down but its the food in gravy that she wants all the time. Any advice would be appreciated... she is the most loving, adorable cat but I just don't understand this nightime behaviour at all??

 

[sarathan]

So she is wreaking havoc in the middle of the night so you'll get up and feed her the wet food? If that's the case, there are auto feeders you can buy that can be used for wet or dry food. Maybe try one of those and have it programmed to feed her at 3:00 am??

 

[fostermummy]

Originally Posted by sarathan

So she is wreaking havoc in the middle of the night so you'll get up and feed her the wet food? If that's the case, there are auto feeders you can buy that can be used for wet or dry food. Maybe try one of those and have it programmed to feed her at 3:00 am??

Yeah I have tried that too, she doesnt like the thing, she seems to want me to get up. I have had 2 cats before and never had any problems like this, why can't she wait until 7.30am in the morning when we all get up? I put food down about 11pm - midnight approx when we go to bed, of both wet and dry food, there's pleny to last and there is always dry and wet food left in the morning that she just doesnt want to eat. Her latest trick to get me up (if I just completely ignore her) is to open and close the cupboard doors and hang off the door handles of various rooms so that they make noise. I did laugh about it at first but it's impossible to sleep now after 3am ish.

 

[howtoholdacat]

First let me say that sucks! Second I had to laugh because one of mine (he's sitting between me and the monitor in fact) used to do everything he could think of to wake me. He knew the alarm clock woke me so he'd step on it and try to make it go off. He'd pat me in the face with his paw. He'd meow and step on me. If everything else failed he'd pull my eyelids open with his paw and he'd use claws if necessary. He grew out of it and your girl probably will too! She's still very young. One the rare occasion when he decides to try to wake me now, the squirt bottle trick completely works. Oh, and he's 12 so he isn't interested in waking me till about 7:30 when I'm about to get up anyway.

 

[Willowy]

LOL, I couldn't put up with that for long. . .I need my sleep! Is it possible to shut her in another room at night, somewhere you can't hear her and she can't wreck anything? Or possibly use a large cat condo-type cage? That's the only thing I can think of, and I definitely would do that. It's hard to care for all your kitties properly if you don't get enough sleep!

 

[gardenandcats]

Your rewarding her every time for her bad behavior by getting up and feeding her at 3:30..She knows it works, you will Get Up and feed her so why stop what shes doing in the middle of the night if its working!
Feed her her last canned meal when you go to bed and as hard as the first week will be DO NOT get up and feed her. Soon she will learn you are not getting up .So she will stop,, Hopefully

 

[fostermummy]

Originally Posted by gardenandcats

Your rewarding her every time for her bad behavior by getting up and feeding her at 3:30..She knows it works, you will Get Up and feed her so why stop what shes doing in the middle of the night if its working!
Feed her her last canned meal when you go to bed and as hard as the first week will be DO NOT get up and feed her. Soon she will learn you are not getting up .So she will stop,, Hopefully

No I havent fed her at that time for weeks now, I just get up to squirt her with water

I thought she would stop as I wasnt feeding her at that time but it is not working.
I shut my bedroom door last night and she just wailed and scratched from about 4am through til 7am outside the door. I didn't get up once but I didnt get sleep either as all I can hear is her ramming the door and scratching

I am hoping the kittens aren't taking notice of this behaviour! I only have a small apartment so don't have room for cages and I don't think a cat should be caged really. Maybe when I can get her spayed after weaning she might calm down??

 

[feralvr]

This behavior is due to her not being spayed, going in and out if heat, wailing and carrying on. Simple solution, please get her spayed right away as soon as kittens are weaned.

 

[fostermummy]

Originally Posted by Feralvr

This behavior is due to her not being spayed, going in and out if heat, wailing and carrying on. Simple solution, please get her spayed right away as soon as kittens are weaned.

I will be doing that in the next month when they are weaned, thank you for your advice and I pray that is the answer