Constant night crying

[CJ1980]

My 6 month old tuxedo recently started meowing for hours during the night. He’s always been pretty vocal, but now from about 4am-7am he walks around meowing non stop- before and after being fed. I ruled out any health issues. I play with him a lot before bedtime to tire him out. I’m thinking it’s out of boredom. He has alot of toys and things around to play with. I don’t know what else to do. Any suggestions?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. How are you feeding him, and how much? Meowing could be asking for food, but the fact that he is also meowing after being fed could mean that he isn't getting enough to eat to make him happy. At six months, they are still pretty much kittens, so they need a lot of food. And, many people supplement meals by leaving out a bit of dry food for them to eat at their leisure. If you don't want to give him dry food, there are feeders that have compartments to house ice in order to help keep the food from going bad as quickly. But, generally, canned food can be left out for as long as 8 hours without issue.

 

[CJ1980]

Hi. How are you feeding him, and how much? Meowing could be asking for food, but the fact that he is also meowing after being fed could mean that he isn't getting enough to eat to make him happy. At six months, they are still pretty much kittens, so they need a lot of food. And, many people supplement meals by leaving out a bit of dry food for them to eat at their leisure. If you don't want to give him dry food, there are feeders that have compartments to house ice in order to help keep the food from going bad as quickly. But, generally, canned food can be left out for as long as 8 hours without issue.

Hi! He gets a 3oz can of wet food in the morning and again in the evening, and I leave a bowl of dry food out during the day. Should he be eating more?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi! He gets a 3oz can of wet food in the morning and again in the evening, and I leave a bowl of dry food out during the day. Should he be eating more?

Does he eat much of the dry food immediately following each meal? Is the dry all gone by the time of his next meal? Answers to those questions would help to determine if he is getting enough to eat. Although he still isn't an extremely young kitten, many cats/kittens like to eat more than just 2 meals a day. At his age, 3 meals a day would probably suffice. And, he might just not like the dry as well as he likes the canned food. Perhaps, you could try adding more canned in an additional meal.

It is just a very vague guideline, but kittens at that age should eat about 60 calories per pound of body weight. So, at 6 pounds, he could probably use around 350 or so calories a day.

 

[CJ1980]

Does he eat much of the dry food immediately following each meal? Is the dry all gone by the time of his next meal? Answers to those questions would help to determine if he is getting enough to eat. Although he still isn't an extremely young kitten, many cats/kittens like to eat more than just 2 meals a day. At his age, 3 meals a day would probably suffice. And, he might just not like the dry as well as he likes the canned food. Perhaps, you could try adding more canned in an additional meal.

It is just a very vague guideline, but kittens at that age should eat about 60 calories per pound of body weight. So, at 6 pounds, he could probably use around 350 or so calories a day.

He eats the dry, but doesn’t finish it all throughout the day. As soon as I put the wet food down, he eats it so fast like he’s never seen food before. I was afraid of over feeding, but I’ll add a meal during the day and see if that helps. Thanks!

 

[FeebysOwner]

He eats the dry, but doesn’t finish it all throughout the day. As soon as I put the wet food down, he eats it so fast like he’s never seen food before. I was afraid of over feeding, but I’ll add a meal during the day and see if that helps. Thanks!

And, in addition to an extra meal of canned food, you can always cut down the amount of dry you leave out if you are worried about overfeeding, especially since he isn't eating it all anyway. It sounds to me like you might be one of the lucky ones who has a cat that prefers wet food over dry! A lot of kittens get dry food and end up liking it more than the canned foods.

 

[CJ1980]

I am back still having the same issue and I’m at my wits end. He meows for hours on end every night. I tried giving a little extra meal right before bed and he barely eats it, so I know he’s not hungry. I’m guessing he is bored, but I play with him before bed and he has alot of toys around. Getting a friend for him is not an option. I don’t know what else to do. Any suggestions would be great.

 

[di and bob]

Leave a big bowl of dried out that he can snack on. You can't overfeed kittens. He will settle more into your routine as he gets older and sleeps more, but I have a feeling he is just lonely and wants you to get up. Is he maybe hearing or seeing anything outside of your house that is getting him excited? He may be hearing someone else getting up or seeing another nightly visitor, like a cat or raccoon. I get up at 4 anyway, so it doesn't bother me, but my cats have that routine down and will not allow anyone to sleep in!

 

[CJ1980]

Leave a big bowl of dried out that he can snack on. You can't overfeed kittens. He will settle more into your routine as he gets older and sleeps more, but I have a feeling he is just lonely and wants you to get up. Is he maybe hearing or seeing anything outside of your house that is getting him excited? He may be hearing someone else getting up or seeing another nightly visitor, like a cat or raccoon. I get up at 4 anyway, so it doesn't bother me, but my cats have that routine down and will not allow anyone to sleep in!

I leave dry food out for him which he does snack on throughout the night. I live in an apartment building with very thin walls, so it’s possible he could be hearing things. He doesn’t do this during the day at all. I can almost hear him saying “why don’t you play with me” if that makes sense. Other than that he’s a great friend for me. Maybe I’ll just have to go along with him for now!

 

[noani]

What do you usually do when he cries?
Do you get up and interact?

Is he in the room with you or do you have the door closed with him outside your bedroom?

 

[Marvsmom]

I am back still having the same issue and I’m at my wits end. He meows for hours on end every night. I tried giving a little extra meal right before bed and he barely eats it, so I know he’s not hungry. I’m guessing he is bored, but I play with him before bed and he has alot of toys around. Getting a friend for him is not an option. I don’t know what else to do. Any suggestions would be great.

Is Tuxedo fixes? This behavior generally happens with unaltered makes about that age if a cat is in heat in the area. This happened to our deaf cat about the same age and it was exhausting as he is extra loud. We did have good luck with a compression jacket to calm him but the long term fix was a”fix”!

 

[Marvsmom]

 

[Marvsmom]

I understand your exhaustion. The treats and jacket really made a difference for Echo at night. Got us to his neuter appt date. After so long without sleep we were at wits end. Try the treats and jacket!

 

[CJ1980]

What do you usually do when he cries?
Do you get up and interact?

Is he in the room with you or do you have the door closed with him outside your bedroom?

I usually whisper “stoooooppp” all night At first I would get up and feed him, but I didn’t want him getting into the habit of a 3am feeding time so I try to ignore as much as I can. He’s mostly in the room e with me, but roams in and out. If I keep my door closed, he just cries and scratches at it.

 

[CJ1980]

Is Tuxedo fixes? This behavior generally happens with unaltered makes about that age if a cat is in heat in the area. This happened to our deaf cat about the same age and it was exhausting as he is extra loud. We did have good luck with a compression jacket to calm him but the long term fix was a”fix”!

Yes is he fixed. This behavior only happens for a few hours during the night, which I know isn’t a lot, but can be exhausting!

 

[LTS3]

Try the tips here: How To Stop My Cat From Waking Me Up At Night (step-by-step Plan) – TheCatSite Articles

 

[noani]

Can you try sleeping with earplugs?
Even "negative" response (like stop, which, if whispered without tone of voice a cat might not even understand but even if they do they may not care) may continue to reinforce this habit.

You've tried the meal schedule, play before bed route, so the next step could be to just. Ignore. Him. Until he realizes he will not get any reaction from you whatsoever. Like literally lie there and play fast asleep.
You won't see immediate results with this so consistency is key. It still may or may not work, but you won't know until you try it for a bit with absolutely NO response at all.

If you suspect it may be anxiety, you could also get a calming diffuser such as feliway or give him some calming product such as zylkene (natural powder).

My cat learned (not as quickly as I would have liked but anyways) that whatever he does I will not be getting up or even looking at him until I decide to do so. It took a couple of months I think. Earplugs helped and it is draining to lie there and ignore the meowing and all that.
I can sleep in on the weekends a little bit, he never even wakes me up. His cue is now my alarm clock. When that goes off he jumps on my bed and starts purring.
The semi feral I took in two months ago has also learned already.

I'd suggest trying the ignoring and maybe calming product route and see if it gets you results, too.

 

[CJ1980]

Can you try sleeping with earplugs?
Even "negative" response (like stop, which, if whispered without tone of voice a cat might not even understand but even if they do they may not care) may continue to reinforce this habit.

You've tried the meal schedule, play before bed route, so the next step could be to just. Ignore. Him. Until he realizes he will not get any reaction from you whatsoever. Like literally lie there and play fast asleep.
You won't see immediate results with this so consistency is key. It still may or may not work, but you won't know until you try it for a bit with absolutely NO response at all.

If you suspect it may be anxiety, you could also get a calming diffuser such as feliway or give him some calming product such as zylkene (natural powder).

My cat learned (not as quickly as I would have liked but anyways) that whatever he does I will not be getting up or even looking at him until I decide to do so. It took a couple of months I think. Earplugs helped and it is draining to lie there and ignore the meowing and all that.
I can sleep in on the weekends a little bit, he never even wakes me up. His cue is now my alarm clock. When that goes off he jumps on my bed and starts purring.
The semi feral I took in two months ago has also learned already.

I'd suggest trying the ignoring and maybe calming product route and see if it gets you results, too.

Thanks I think ignoring is the only option left. When I tell him to stop, he looks at me, stops for a minute, then starts all over. So I guess he’s getting the attention he wants. I do have earplugs. I’ll use those and maybe look into a calming product if needed.

 

[CJ1980]

Thanks I think ignoring is the only option left. When I tell him to stop, he looks at me, stops for a minute, then starts all over. So I guess he’s getting the attention he wants. I do have earplugs. I’ll use those and maybe look into a calming product if needed.

I’ve only had one cat prior to him who was very quiet. Ran around at night but never this vocal so I thought something had to be wrong.

 

[Sajast]

Just to add, when you play with him before bed - does he get so tired he can’t play anymore? Or do you put the toy(s) away when he seems a little calmer but still has some energy? When my girl was 6 months she required a 2 hour play session every. Night. A good hardcore play session every night or else she would pick on her older brother and I’d listen to cats fussing all night or else her actively destroying my home. I would get her to where she was panting, give her a 5-10 minute break, and if she wanted to keep playing after that then we’d keep going. If she was too exhausted to care then we were finished. I’d have her jumping up on objects as much as possible to try and wear her out faster (jump up on the cat tree, jump on the bed, etc) and tunnels. So much tunnel pouncing. It was a chore honestly but it kept everyone happy. My current 1 year old cat likes to jump in the air after her feather toy so she’s a little easier to wear out.