Cats

[Hey Adrien!]

I love my cat, but ever since he's seen the cardboard cutout of his face, he's been acting like a spoiled prince.

Since mid-May, he's been waking me up pretty much every day at 4 AM to feed him, despite the fact that I never cave and we keep a pretty regular schedule feeding him between 6 AM-6:30 AM daily. Usually, he just hangs out and once we’re up he gets excited and runs downstairs for breakfast.

Any recs on how to curb this? I've tried having honest conversations with him, but those don't seem to help.

Or, is caving and feeding him at 4 AM daily worth it to ensure I don't spend 4-6 AM half-awake with him clawing and meowing. My guess is that the earlier sunrise + bird activity are the main culprits to his hassling.

We're spending two nights away starting today, so I'm hoping the time away will help him take stock and see how lucky he is.

 

[Hoophound]

Try feeding him later at night so he isn’t hungry so early in the morning.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Do you give him portioned meals at specific times or let him graze? My cat grazes and only bugs me at night if I space on feeding him. Make sure they have a full bowl before bed

 

[Dove]

See if Humane Society has vacancies. Live vicariously through that cardboard cutout.

 

[geohusky]

Get a dog

 

[HuskyHawk]

Sunrise and sunset are their natural active times. Fill bowl before bed and that should help.

 

[OviedoFLHusky]

Here's what one of the experts says:

Train Your Cat to Let You Sleep

If this doesn't work, I saw an episode of "My Cat From Hell" where the cat had a similar issue. The solution was to keep the bedroom door shut, and put this small canister just outside the door. The canister has a motion sensor. When the cat gets too close to the door, the canister senses it and sprays air at the cat (harmless, but the cat doesn't like it and is startled). After a while, the cat stops its undesired behavior.

I suppose you can Google for where to find such devices; I've seen them at PetSmart.

If that doesn't work... keep the door shut, plus earplugs!

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Get a dog

how would that help? dogs require exponentially more attention.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Get a dog

Yeah because dogs do nothing like the OP

Good lord lmao

 

[gwhuskyfan]

We had automatic feeders for our cat. Makes just enough noise they know food is coming out but not enough to wake you up. Takes a couple rounds to get them used to it, but ours loved hers.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

If your cats don’t over eat, I recommend putting out food enough food all day long and letting them graze. Many cats know when to stop eating, but some don’t. The trick is knowing which kind you have, and hopefully not the over eating kind that will balloon to an unhealthy weight.

 

[Dove]

Put mouse traps on your comforter.

 

[Yardigan]

I know this is OT on this OT thread...but we got a golden retriever puppy about 3 months ago. We've been crate training her and she's been great. She taught me early on that it was much better to get up in the morning when she barked, than to clean the crate afterwards. She's been pretty regularly waking me up around 630-7...whether I liked it or not...for 3 months In a couple weeks, we're heading up to Maine and won't have a crate. I decided to bring her bed into our bedroom and let her sleep on the floor next to me. (I have a gate across the end of the bed to the wall). Done that for three days...and she's slept until 830 every morning...and that was because I woke her up...

I like the auto-feeder idea. Distribute the food over 5-6 cycles, including one that aligns with his early AM hassle time...

 

[Yardigan]

how would that help? dogs require exponentially more attention.

far better return for that attention though

 

[CL82]

I know this is OT on this OT thread...but we got a golden retriever puppy about 3 months ago. We've been crate training her and she's been great. She taught me early on that it was much better to get up in the morning when she barked, than to clean the crate afterwards. She's been pretty regularly waking me up around 630-7...whether I liked it or not...for 3 months In a couple weeks, we're heading up to Maine and won't have a crate. I decided to bring her bed into our bedroom and let her sleep on the floor next to me. (I have a gate across the end of the bed to the wall). Done that for three days...and she's slept until 830 every morning...and that was because I woke her up...

I like the auto-feeder idea. Distribute the food over 5-6 cycles, including one that aligns with his early AM hassle time...

Why not just pack a crate, or even buy there, just keep up on the training? Do you walk her right before bed? Eight hours is a long time for a dog that age but it is better than 10 or 12.

 

[Yardigan]

Why not just pack a crate, or even buy there, just keep up on the training? Do you walk her right before bed? Eight hours is a long time for a dog that age but it is better than 10 or 12.

She's a little over 5 months old now. I do take her out right before bed (key). I guess my point was, I'm not sure she needs it anymore. Trust me, if that pup makes the slightest noise, I'm up and ready to take her out, and for the first couple months, up until 3 days ago, there were fairly frequent middle of the night takeouts with early wakeup (way better than crate cleaning). Since I've moved her to the bedroom...she just seems to sleep longer. She's going a good 10 hours overnite, no problem.

 

[Dove]

how would that help? dogs require exponentially more attention.

Dogs love when you're home. Cats...couldn't care less

 

[BoukofJames]

Dogs love when you're home. Cats...couldn't care less

My cat does somersaults on my feet the instant I walk in the door from work

 

[Deepster]

Make it an outdoor cat and toss it out the door before you go to bed.

 

[Bezzz]

Make it an outdoor cat and toss it out the door before you go to bed.

My Ex had an outdoor cat in Simsbury. It got eaten by a coyote.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

far better return for that attention though

This is like one of those NBA playoffs posts where someone chimes in just to say how much they hate the NBA.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Dogs love when you're home. Cats...couldn't care less

I have a dog. I’m familiar with the phenomenon. But I got a newsflash for you - your dog greets the guy coming to rob your house the same way he greets you. Don’t be too flattered.

 

[NC_Uconn_Fan]

This is like one of those NBA playoffs posts where someone chimes in just to say how much they hate the NBA.

Cats suck almost as much as the NBA.

 

[storrsroars]

I've had 4 cats and 5 dogs. The cats never bothered me. But they were really crappy hiking trail companions.

 

[uconnfan68]

I love my cat, but ever since he's seen the cardboard cutout of his face, he's been acting like a spoiled prince.

Since mid-May, he's been waking me up pretty much every day at 4 AM to feed him, despite the fact that I never cave and we keep a pretty regular schedule feeding him between 6 AM-6:30 AM daily. Usually, he just hangs out and once we’re up he gets excited and runs downstairs for breakfast.

Any recs on how to curb this? I've tried having honest conversations with him, but those don't seem to help.

Or, is caving and feeding him at 4 AM daily worth it to ensure I don't spend 4-6 AM half-awake with him clawing and meowing. My guess is that the earlier sunrise + bird activity are the main culprits to his hassling.

We're spending two nights away starting today, so I'm hoping the time away will help him take stock and see how lucky he is.

Good luck with that. We left the cats home for a vacation (with someone to check on them and feed them daily), and still came home to a dump on our bed.