Cat won’t stop waking me up at 4 am!

[Zylalove18]

How can I get my cat to stop waking me up at 4 AM? She drives me nuts! I feed her at 6 AM everyday but some days she decides she wants food at 4. Today she was meowing in my face then when I didn’t get out of bed she attacked the window, started scratching aggressively at my bed then ran around the apartment knocking things over! I was so mad. I keep reading articles saying “ignore her” but in such a small space it’s impossible! I’m a light sleeper and her ruckus keeps me awake. Any tips?

 

[ArtNJ]

Firstly, rule out actual hunger. What do you feed when?

 

[Millie005]

I understand. both of my cats wake me up some point or another at night. honestly I dont think theres much you can do. Try feeding her late at night so shell be satisfied and if she wakes you up at 4am pet her a little and show her you need to go back to sleep. Remember that cats arent nocturnal, they are crepuscular creatures so they are active before the sun rises and after the sun sets. She will probably do this just occassionaly and may stp this habit by time. hope this helps!

 

[Zylalove18]

Firstly, rule out actual hunger. What do you feed when?

She eats friskies dry food. I feed her 3 times a day, last meal at 10 PM

 

[Zylalove18]

I understand. both of my cats wake me up some point or another at night. honestly I dont think theres much you can do. Try feeding her late at night so shell be satisfied and if she wakes you up at 4am pet her a little and show her you need to go back to sleep. Remember that cats arent nocturnal, they are crepuscular creatures so they are active before the sun rises and after the sun sets. She will probably do this just occassionaly and may stp this habit by time. hope this helps!

I hope she does! I assume her age has something to do with it. She’s a year old and always wants attention and to play. Hopefully she grows out of this bad habit lol.

 

[LTS3]

Here's a TCS article with tips:

How To Stop My Cat From Waking Me Up At Night (step-by-step Plan)

 

[ArtNJ]

She eats friskies dry food. I feed her 3 times a day, last meal at 10 PM

Is the dish always empty when she wakes you up? Does the cat have a weight problem? If the answers are yes and no, I'd go ahead and test out increasing the size of the final meal. If you think the cat would simply eat the increased amount too quickly, you could try a timed feeder. If there is a weight issue, you could sub in wet food for the final meal instead of increasing the amount of dry. Wet food helps cats feel full while providing fewer calories. There are even timed feeders designed for wet food.

I am not saying its especially likely its hunger, just that ruling it out is worthwhile, because if its hunger, the fix is easy, and if its not hunger, the issue can linger.

 

[molly92]

In my experience, it's a battle of wills. I know you hate the "ignore her" advice, but it's truly the most permanent solution. You have to convince your cat that nothing she does is going to work, so she will eventually give up. Give her any indication that her attempts are having an effect, and she'll keep it up. That means no responding to her at all. No getting up, no talking to her, preferably moving as little as possible. Just lay there and pretend you're sound asleep.

I did this with my cat who liked to bite me to ask for breakfast, and I somehow trained myself to ignore even that. It took a few weeks, but now she leaves me alone until I get up in the morning.

(As mentioned, wet food will definitely be more filling and satisfying, not to mention healthier, than Friskies dry food.)

 

[cataholic07]

I'd suggest feeding some wet food as well, you can check out a list of cat food and the quality of ingredients at catfooddb.com. Play with her before bed until panting, give one last meal and just ignore her completely until you get up to give her breakfast.

 

[Dian]

Did anything work? My cat also wakes me up very early by jumping on the bed, chirping in my ear and rolling around for pets (the only time of day he’s affectionate!). If I try to ignore him, he scratches at the window treatments, furniture and rugs. He is not hungry because when I get up to feed him, he usually ignores his food for a while. And he always has dry food out. He just wants to play. And when I finally give in and get up, he goes back for a nap! Any advice on how to stop this behavior?
I should mention we adopted this cat at age 5 and for the first 6 weeks he NEVER woke me up. This is new behavior.

 

[Bolts]

I had the same problem with a ex street cat I adopted, I got a automatic feeder and he rarely wakes me up now.

 

[kayjayc]

Automatic feeders were my friend! I figured out my cats were trying to wake me up earlier and earlier because they knew we would feed them as soon as we woke up. So we got automatic feeders that turned at 6am. They quickly figured out we wouldn't feed them, but the feeders would. So they sit in front of the feeders and wait for them to turn. We have had them for four years now, and I wouldn't go back! I have Home Intuition 6 Meal Automatic Pet Feeder with Programmable Timer (from Amazon), but any feeder should work!