Cat Fights At 5 Am!

[RadioactiveCatnip]

I have two cats, a 2 year old female who I'll refer to as Cee and a 1 year old male who I'll refer to as Bee. We got Bee as a kitten when Cee was already a year old. We had them introduced slowly and all has gone well, they seem to like each other, we're able to leave them together for long periods of time and returning without seeing any signs of anxiety, and I also catch them sleeping together and cuddling in their bed every night! The fact that they generally get along really well and are quite relaxed around one another is what makes the issue I'm having so perplexing.

Every single morning around 4:30 or 5:00 AM I hear them wrestling right outside our bedroom door. Sometimes they hit the door very hard and there are loud thuds. I also hear my older cat Cee sometimes growl/whine, and let out little short meows that she usually does. I know it's Bee who's instigating this because even throughout the day he sometimes jumps on Cee - he's always wanting to play, but Cee only occasionally reciprocates (i.e. at least one-third of the time I'd say). When Bee wants to play and Cee doesn't during daytime in front of me, eventually Bee distracts himself with something else. But in the morning, this wrestling and fighting (from what it seems like) goes on for at least 30 minutes.

I fear I may have made it worse because I woke up a few times when it got unbearable and gave them a bit of food to hope they quiet down so I can go back to bed and have some peace. I've stopped doing this since about two or three days, but it's still happening so I'm not sure if this behavior is attention/food-motivated or not.

I've also tried Feliway spray (not the diffuser) in the location where this always happens, and it hasn't helped. I've also tried playing with them and exhausting them before going to bed.

EDIT: I should add, this wrestling/fighting always occurs right outside our bedroom door, and Cee in particular likes to sit in front of it because she's really attached to me - almost like she wants to be the first to see/greet me when I wake up. She's done this since she was 10 weeks old.

 

[ArtNJ]

Sounds like they are playing not fighting, so Feliway won't do anything. Your older cat just isn't quite as in the mood for it in the early am, maybe because she is waiting for you to get up, but I'm not sure the reason is that important since they generally get along and it doesn't sound like real fighting. Cats playing at 3-5 am is a common problem people have. Although cats sleep more than people do, they do a lot of that sleeping when you aren't home during the day and its quite common for young cats to not sleep through the night, and to wake up wanting to play.

There are really only three solutions I know of: (1) try to tire them out more during the day (you said you tried, and it is no shock this didn't work); (2) find somewhere further from you for them to sleep, like a furnished basement; or (3) wait - a year or two tends to solve these issues as the cats get older and less energetic/playful.

I wish there were better solutions to offer you, but this is something many owners of multiple cats deal with at times. If you live in a house, finding somewhere for them to sleep might be possible and necessary. If you live in an apartment...been there, done that, it is not fun waiting for them to grow out of it. If someone else can suggest a magic solution, I want a refund of all the sleep I lost when we lived in an apartment...

P.S. You are of course right that your getting up to deal with them in any positive way (food, attention) is potentially counter-productive in the long run. Negative doesn't work either -- if you get up and only act like a scary ogre then immediately go back in your room without providing any positive attention for them, they *might* tend to fight less near your door, but even if you are ok with acting that way towards your cats, it is certainly not going to stop the fighting, and it would probably wake you up anyway even if it was a bit further off.

P.P.S. Why did you feel the need for code names for your cats? Embarrassed by silly names? I think this is maybe the one place that no name is too silly to be embarrassing

 

[Kieka]

I have to agree with it is a "wait it out" situation. Responding to the behavior made them realize that the behavior gets a response. If you ignore it for a few weeks (100% totally ignore, not move, not make a noise, just pretend you can't hear it) and it is a behavior driven for response then they will learn it doesn't work. It may be that simple for them to stop.

If it is more then just getting a response behind it then it is waiting for them to grow out of the AM wrestling stage. My guys get the zoomies and race around our back yard every morning. Up trees, down fences, around the birds, bat at the rabbit, they are everywhere at the same moment. And they are between 4.5 and 2.5 years old.

It could be trying to wake you up for breakfast as another idea. Getting some sort of timer food container that opens around 4:30am might be another method to stop them. If they know that their food opens around the same time they will leave you alone and watch the food containers.

 

[RadioactiveCatnip]

Sounds like they are playing not fighting, so Feliway won't do anything. Your older cat just isn't quite as in the mood for it in the early am, maybe because she is waiting for you to get up, but I'm not sure the reason is that important since they generally get along and it doesn't sound like real fighting. Cats playing at 3-5 am is a common problem people have. Although cats sleep more than people do, they do a lot of that sleeping when you aren't home during the day and its quite common for young cats to not sleep through the night, and to wake up wanting to play.

There are really only three solutions I know of: (1) try to tire them out more during the day (you said you tried, and it is no shock this didn't work); (2) find somewhere further from you for them to sleep, like a furnished basement; or (3) wait - a year or two tends to solve these issues as the cats get older and less energetic/playful.

I wish there were better solutions to offer you, but this is something many owners of multiple cats deal with at times. If you live in a house, finding somewhere for them to sleep might be possible and necessary. If you live in an apartment...been there, done that, it is not fun waiting for them to grow out of it. If someone else can suggest a magic solution, I want a refund of all the sleep I lost when we lived in an apartment...

P.S. You are of course right that your getting up to deal with them in any positive way (food, attention) is potentially counter-productive in the long run. Negative doesn't work either -- if you get up and only act like a scary ogre then immediately go back in your room without providing any positive attention for them, they *might* tend to fight less near your door, but even if you are ok with acting that way towards your cats, it is certainly not going to stop the fighting, and it would probably wake you up anyway even if it was a bit further off.

P.P.S. Why did you feel the need for code names for your cats? Embarrassed by silly names? I think this is maybe the one place that no name is too silly to be embarrassing

LOL! it's just that the username I use on TCS is the same as my username on some other social media sites that I try to remain anonymous on - since my cats' names are pretty unique, if someone were to put two and two together they'd be able to find out where I live and such which I'm not comfortable with. Call me paranoid, haha! I'm quite fond of the names we've given our kitties though, they're both scientists

Thanks for taking the time out of your day to write such a thoughtful response! We do live in an apartment haha. Previously we lived in a townhome and I think this problem never came up because they'd do all their rowdiness downstairs and now unfortunately it's right in front of our door so it's very hard to ignore. I'll count on just waiting it out... Although I doubt Bee is any close to calming down. Cee mellowed out almost exactly as she hit a year old, but Bee is still a hurricane!!

 

[RadioactiveCatnip]

I have to agree with it is a "wait it out" situation. Responding to the behavior made them realize that the behavior gets a response. If you ignore it for a few weeks (100% totally ignore, not move, not make a noise, just pretend you can't hear it) and it is a behavior driven for response then they will learn it doesn't work. It may be that simple for them to stop.

If it is more then just getting a response behind it then it is waiting for them to grow out of the AM wrestling stage. My guys get the zoomies and race around our back yard every morning. Up trees, down fences, around the birds, bat at the rabbit, they are everywhere at the same moment. And they are between 4.5 and 2.5 years old.

It could be trying to wake you up for breakfast as another idea. Getting some sort of timer food container that opens around 4:30am might be another method to stop them. If they know that their food opens around the same time they will leave you alone and watch the food containers.

Yes, my fear is that I might have made it worse by responding to it (it's terribly difficult to ignore!). But in a couple weeks with no reaction on my part, I'm hoping it lessens to some extent. Something else that makes me curious is why this has started happening just about 3 weeks ago, when we've been living in our current residence for about a year now. Thanks for the suggestion about timing their food to be released around that time... I might try it out!

 

[Kieka]

Why start suddenly? Because they are cats.

More likely, it was an accidental happenstance that got a reaction the first time. My guys like to test things from time to time. If I don't curb the behavior back right away they will push continuously for a while. Then they will go back to normal when I enforce it for a few weeks. My boy is especially big on pushing boundaries. I've learned that I have to hold the line with him 100% or he will take advantage. But he is a very self assured Siamese and very smart.