Help - our cats are fighting on top of us in bed every morning!

TobyTims

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Hi All

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this and might be able to give me some advice!

I have two lively young cats, approx. 18 months. I adopted them separately, the second cat has only been with us about 8 months but she has settled in really well. Both cats love to chase and play together, give each other nose kisses and (very occasionally) snuggle.

Over the past month or so, they have started this weird habit where they play/fight on top of us in bed in the morning at about 5am. It seems to be predominantly caused by the second cat (who is generally a bit more dominant and also very food obsessed). She seems to get a bit aggressive, swiping at the first cat and seemingly pushing her off the bed. Its not super aggressive, but it seems a little bit more than just playing, like she is annoying the first cat who is happy to just sit there.

I don't think its a territorial thing, because they regularly both sleep next to each other on the bed throughout the night - without any issue. Its just like they suddenly get cranky before breakfast (which is usually at 6am). I am wondering if they are doing it to get our attention?

I have tried ignoring it and sometimes locking them out of the bedroom when it starts, but then I worry about my first cat and don't want to leave her if the second cat really is being aggressive.

Has anyone experienced this? Any ideas on what might be causing it, and how I can stop them? Thank you!
 

ArtNJ

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You can look at hunger being an issue. If you are lucky, that has something to do with it and you can fix it.

Unfortunately, in my experience two young adult cats waking you up by playfighting is part of owning two young adult cats. The solution is excluding them from the bedroom. That can involve a painful transition with weeks of whining/scratching, and of course they can *still* wake you up by playing in the early am, but it can definitely help.

There are people on here with 2 to many many cats that allow them to sleep on the bed that don't have problems, but I wouldn't expect any insightful secrets. As near as I can tell, that is more of a magic powers thing, at least when it comes to very young cats like yours. I certainly never learned any of these magic powers, and my cats have slept in the finished basement for many many years now.
 
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TobyTims

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Thanks you for the tips, ArtNJ! We could try and increase the Second Cat's dinner - she is incredibly food obsessed and would eat all day if we let her. I think she is getting enough food, but the anticipation of breakfast is definitely a factor in riling her up in the morning...so it's worth a try.

I'm glad to hear it is fairly normal to experience this issue. I was concerned when it started happening quite suddenly. Perhaps we were just lucky up until now!
 

Caspers Human

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Casper is an only cat but there is something I notice about his behavior that might be relevant.

Whenever Casper's Girl-Human and I get close, Casper seems to get jealous. Whenever I pay more attention to her than the cat or if she pays more attention to me, Casper will come and "insert" himself between us as if to say, "Hey! There's attention going on and I'm not part of it!"

If BOTH of us pay attention to Casper, he acts like he is in heaven but, if we pay attention to each other, he acts like a three year old kid.

When the two of us are lying in bed, Casper will happily lay in the middle and purr. Maybe one of your cats wants to be like Casper but, when the other sees what's happening, he wants to be part of the action. Then, the first cat says, "Hey! These are MY humans!" That's when the wrestling match begins.

Could it be that there is an attention or jealousy issue going on between your cats?
 

ArtNJ

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What is fed when? Generally, we recommend 3 meals a day, with the final meal being close to your bedtime. It can also help if the final meal is moist food, which takes up more volume for the calories and can help cats feel full perhaps. Unfortunately, its probably not real likely its a food issue given that its play rather than meowing thats waking you, but it can't hurt to look at the issue.
 
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TobyTims

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Right now, they get about 30 grams of dry food at breakfast (6am) and one pouch of 'Hills Science Diet Neutered Young Adult Salmon' at dinner (5pm). No food left out during the day.

They both keep a stable weight, but are on the smaller side (9 pounds).

We've tried an extra late night meal before, to try and delay the morning wakeups - it hasn't worked, but I will admit we didn't keep it up consistently, probably over a few days. How long do you think it would be useful to trial an extra meal? A week, or two weeks?
 
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TobyTims

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Casper is an only cat but there is something I notice about his behavior that might be relevant.

Whenever Casper's Girl-Human and I get close, Casper seems to get jealous. Whenever I pay more attention to her than the cat or if she pays more attention to me, Casper will come and "insert" himself between us as if to say, "Hey! There's attention going on and I'm not part of it!"

If BOTH of us pay attention to Casper, he acts like he is in heaven but, if we pay attention to each other, he acts like a three year old kid.

When the two of us are lying in bed, Casper will happily lay in the middle and purr. Maybe one of your cats wants to be like Casper but, when the other sees what's happening, he wants to be part of the action. Then, the first cat says, "Hey! These are MY humans!" That's when the wrestling match begins.

Could it be that there is an attention or jealousy issue going on between your cats?
Thanks Casper - I think this could definitely be a factor! The weird thing is they are fine with all four of us being in the bed snuggling in the night - they happily snooze and coexist. Its really just this one hour from 5-6am in the morning. The witching hour! haha
 

ArtNJ

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It may not ever work TBH, but 13 hours is a long time for a cat to go between meals, and moving to three meals a day at consistent times might help with the food obsession some, eventually.
 
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TobyTims

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That's good to know. I'll have a think about how we can adjust their meals so they aren't eating too much, but also spreading out the meals...
 
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