Cat Meowing Help!!

[Jazmyn]

Alrighty I’m sure this is asked a lot but I have some questions. My 6mo old cat has been nonstop meowing from about 6am-10am which is when I wake up. Sometimes it’ll start sooner or last longer. I ignore her completely, don’t open my door, don’t yell at her. If I have to go to the bathroom, I make sure she hasn’t been meowing and then go. But it seems like the meowing for four hours nonstop BEGGING for attention doesn’t stop!

And I’ve noticed that sometimes she will meow her head off and when she is finally quiet and I go out to see her, she wants some petting maybe but then it’s as if I could go back in my room and she’s better, doesn’t meow as much.

But the waking me up at 6am and howling like crazy has got to stop. So I know I can reward positive behavior and ignore negative. So I tried one morning to sit by my door as she meowed but as soon as she’d stop for a few seconds I’d open the door and reward her, then shut the door again. I also later in the day would ignore her meows but if quiet give her attention, or I was purposefully walking up to her and if she meowed I would go to the other room, and repeat. If she was quiet, I’d reward her. But through all this I don’t think she’s making the connection that it’s her being quiet that’s doing it?

Soooo, should I not do any reinforcement when it comes to the door, or how should I modify what I am doing? And how do I make sure she knows she’s getting rewards throughout the day for not meowing when I think she is so absentminded about it??? Sorry for long post but THANKS!

 

[minish]

She might not get the cue right maybe she thinks if I meow a lot then wait the reward comes.. I taught my cat to sit still while expecting food but only for 2 min. Tops. Since she was over excited she couldn't do it. Plus I probably gave so many unintentional cues i. e holding breath.. rewarding silence may be difficult I never tried.
For wake up jumping on me and meows what I did:
I closed minish out months 3 to 8 since she attacked my toes. She had plenty of toys sleep spots but tried waking me through the door. Meows I never responded. If I woke for toilet I directly went and ignored her. Im a heavy sleeper so didn't hear much.
What I also did was set my alarm every morning even on weekends for 8 am 13.pm etc. Did not respond to minish in any way before the alarm went off. Let's say I woke up before and she's aware. I set my alarm to 5 min after and then responded.
8 months old I opened my bedroom door since I wanted her near. she already preferred own sleeping place, found some in the bedroom too. but in the mornings she tried to wake me not by meows but by jumping on the bed or me. Never responded before alarm.
As this turned into a habit she waits for the alarm, gets down from the bed if she's on it, comes back into the room with a good morning trill.
This does not prevent ingenuity. She discovered walking on my bladder wakes me. Even if I don't respond right away, she tries just in case
Now minish is also a glutton. The other reason she benefits from my waking is food. Unfortunately I can't leave food for the night. If you can, it would help

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. So, has this been going on since you adopted her or is the something new? And, how long have you had her? If she has always done this or you haven't had her very long makes a difference when compared to if she just started doing this very recently.

I don't think she can necessarily correlate her being quiet for a minute or two after she has meowed for a while with why you then give her attention or a reward. She might actually just being taking a break!

Any reason why you need to lock her out of your room at night?

 

[Jazmyn]

I’ve had her since she’s was about two months old. This kind of meowing has been more recent, in and off in intensity but lately literally nonstop meowing for hours. During the day it’s because she wants outside because she’s in heat and I don’t get her fixed until this Friday. But the nighttime meowing, I can’t let her sleep with me because I get bad pet allergies and she lays on my pillow or by my face and it affects my breathing. Plus when she wakes up before me she’ll start attacking cords and the curtain in my room

 

[FeebysOwner]

Oh, OK! I would suggest waiting and seeing how much of this behavior dies down after she is spayed. Even some of the nighttime meowing is certainly related to that, but you will have a better idea how much she settles down after her spaying. I am not sure of the timeline, but it might take a few weeks afterward for all the hormones to get out of her system. I think you are probably going to need to see how she is then before you can make a plan on how to correct any of the 'leftover' behavior.

 

[Jazmyn]

That actually makes a lot of sense. Gosh I hope it settles down enough after that. I guess we shall see

 

[FeebysOwner]

Keep us posted! I hope that is the answer!

Edit: you might ask the vet the anticipated timeline for her hormones to settle after spaying.