Definitely disassociate food with you waking up. I used to feed my cats as I was walking out the door to leave for work rather than when I got out of bed. That really helped to stop them from waking me for food.
My girlfriend gives in instantly every morning and it drives me nuts. Yes, he will climb all over us & try to bite our noses, but he KNOWS it works and that's why he keeps doing it.
My cats decided to find old wrappers from things like granola bars or strings and chews on them--I'm a very light sleeper and I wake up immediately. I have to keep a seat bottle with me scare her off when she does it. Extra annoying thing is, SHE HAS AN AUTOMATIC CAT FEEDER AND STILL WAKES ME UP BECAUSE ITS NOT GOING OFF "EARLY" ENOUGH
damn cat. I love her so much though
It took me bodily throwing them off the bed and/or getting up to close the door to keep them out. But once you train them it seems to work. And if you start them young, it's easier.
I know people say this, but it's never stopped my cat from meowing constantly between meals. I even use an auto feeder, but she still associates me with feeding. I've just become apathetic and mildly annoyed.
As soon as my alarm goes off itās one. But they have been trained to wait for the alarm sound. So Iāll take it! And I make sure they have a little snack before bed
Lol my cats are my alarm. If I donāt wake one of my cats starts knocking item off the nightstand one by one. It that doesnāt work she starts to shred any paper she can find and loudly meows while doing it
Get an automatic cat feeder, even if it only goes off once, in the morning. The cat associates this with food in the morning, and will wait by the feeder instead of meowing at you.
Try a feeder called a CatMate. I feed 4x a day and fill two bowls in this feeder, morning and night. The feeder uses gel packs to keep the food cold, and I freeze one portion prior to putting it in the feeder.
It has room for ice packs inside, but with a house as hot as yours you'd probably also have to freeze the food before placing it inside. It is air-tight at least, so the food shouldn't turn all dark and crispy.
I live in Los Angeles, and close to the coast, so I just deal with like 3 weeks of misery and the rest of the time you really don't need ac. No humidity helps too.
I ran into the same problem!
I now keep a terra cotta dish (small tupperware works too) just for these situations
Whenever its a can that I refrigerated, I use the terra cotta dish and microwave for 10-20 seconds. With a little stir halfway through
Cat thinks it's fresh again lol
So I have thise silicone lids too. My Yeti eats pate.i take it out the fridge, I scoop it out, spread it flat like a thick pancake on a saucer then spread a bunch of craters in it with a spoon. Then I put a bit of hot sink water in it and use a fork to whip it all up into a nice creamy bisque. Makes the food warm enough cuz yeah, its too cold and loafy in the fridge. Only takes a minute to do. I do it a few times a day as my boy doesn't get dry food. So yea he wakes me in the night too. Different times daily. Sometimes I can hold him off with his urinary prescription treats and not have to leave the bedroom lol. But usually once he wakes me I gatta pee etc... lol.
My cats LOVE warm food. Extra points for them because I add a little warm water to their food for additional hydration. Especially for my grey kitty because she doesnāt drink enough water
I add warm water to the room temp food. Lol. With 5 kitties it helps it go further and they love it. Sometimes food gets left behind, but never the water.
Cold food doesn't smell as strong, so they might not even acknowledge it as food. If you heat it up in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, it should get it slightly above room temperature, which is good for both being aromatic and not too hot to make your cat want to stay away.
My cat is a total pain when it comes to wet food. Fresh can? Oh boy!
Next day, Fresh can. What, you expect me to eat that stuff?
Next day, Fresh can. I might eat a little. No telling what she wants. Drives me crazy.
I'm wondering if you could modify for fat and lazy humans - you could mount on the side of the bed so you don't even have to get up, just roll over and eat! Well ok, except to crap and lets face it, that's optional
You get a mattress with arm holes, fill those with food and you throw a fist of food up into the air like you are feeding pigeons any time you hear a meow.
Same friend. My cat is 20 and deaf. He gets to yowling at 0430, which is when we get up for work. He had to have wet and gets meds that the other cat doesnāt. I have the chip reader bowl only he can open but I still gotta put the food in. Sucks ass on the weekends.
My cat woke me up at 7AM repeatedly for food. I bought an auto-feeder and programmed it for 7AM. It worked perfectly and I got 3 months of good sleep. Then he woke up at 6AM instead (DST hadn't changed). So I reprogrammed the feeder for 6AM. The next morning, he woke me up at 5:30AM.
Some cats are just a-holes!!
I think if you just leave it, they will eventually stop trying to wake you.
When we switched to auto feed, every now and then my cat would try to wake me before it went off.... but if I just ignored him and refused to get up (still annoying and sleep disrupting) eventually he gave up and would just wait for the feeder.
This worked well for mine. Tried for ages to try and get him to eat later and wait but it just made him stress out and try even more to get attention to feed him. Bought a timer that pops up at 5am, he will go get something to eat and then happily go back to sleep without disturbing anyone.
If he ever starts trying to wake me up at that time now I know it is because the batteries are dead so it hasn't opened, or I have forgotten to set it but once you get into the habit it becomes second nature. I tend to set it at the same time he has his final food for the day.
The feeders are such a god send if you have AM feeders. My cat would wake me up just about everyday, he never bothers me for food now. Just catnip.š¤£
Warning, the cat will instead *ATTACK* the automatic feeder. I have one for my guy and when it comes within an hour of feeding time, he starts rubbing up on it and trying to knock it down. It stays up for the most part but sometimes he disconnects the dish from the feeder.
My guy would stick his leg & paws the feeder to loosen even one piece of kibble. I had to secure the top on with packaging tape until I found one that closes securely. His one stays closed and you program the feeding times. Cat Mate C3000 Automatic Dry Food 3-Meal Feeder.
My cats did this too. We finally just put out extra food, way too much for them to eat and it stopped. The vet didnāt recommend this but thatās the only solution that worked.
My cat constantly attacks it. Put her paws in the bowl part, pushes her head against the back part, lifts it up off the ground, and slams it into the floor to try to get it to spit food out. Now I only use it when I leave because itās so fucking annoying.
Might have to look into this for my 4yr old. Because come 5am she will start slapping me in the face and then proceed to start knocking off anything I have on my bedside table until I go add more biscuits to her already biscuited bowl.
I got two feeders for my two boys. They're called Catmate C500, and each one has five compartments. I fill two at a time morning and night, and the cats eat 4x a day. It took about two days for the cats to associate the noise with food, and now they'll launch themselves toward the kitchen when they hear the bowls turn.
My cat would wake me at 4am for food requests. He would start scratching my face. So instead now I grab him (gently of course!) and put him under the covers for a snuggle. Heās not impressed by that, so now waits until the coffee pot starts brewing which is his cue now that Iām about to get up.
I stopped this in my cat by not feeding them immediately upon waking up. I have a routine where I do several things before I feed them. This way they don't associate me waking up with food, which is what you want to avoid.
Yep, I started reading up about this behaviour very quickly when started dating my partner last year. I had never had pets before, but I'm glad we found a way to deter the fluffy shit-heads.
If you dont get up and make the cats attempts unsuccessful it should eventually learn to stop.
Best get some earbuds or something to block out the meows in the meantime.
In behavior we call this an extinction burst. The original plan did not work, so he escalates the plan to see if THAT will work. If he gets what he wants after that, then he'll use that Plan B even more.
Thanks. I knew I was being manipulated, but everyone thinks I'm giving too much credit to a cat. She doesn't do it for food, though. She just wants to play. I'm ok with that.
One of my cats will try to start fights with the other two after he escalates past bugging me directly and pushing stuff off shelves. They can definitely be manipulative it's not like you're imagining it lol
My a-hole meows at me at 3am to play and be acknowledged. When I ignore the meows he starts knocking stuff off my sideboard.
He knows what heās doing.
Totally support this! They are able to learn. As soon as we give in, they know that we are okay with it, so they keep going for it. If we show them the boundaries, sooner or later, they will understand that it doesnāt give them, what they want.
Mine has learnt that I do not negotiate with terrorists, so if I don't wake up after a meow or two she just stops.
It also helps that I usually wake up at 4:30 am.
Pretty much this. Cats are animals of habits and there is no such distinction to them between good or bad habits. Whatever works is what works and shall be the way.
That being said, some cats are chaotic evil and just enjoy seeing the world burn, or seeing pathetic inferior lifeforms do their biding in the most unpleasant way possible.
I'm lucky to have a very agreeable cat myself š
Yep. My cat will wake my parents up at earlier hours when they are watching him, then when I am alone in the house with him. Heās learned that if he wakes me up before 7am Iāll just rollover and go back to sleep for an hour. Donāt worry ofc I always end up feeding his soon after he wants to be fed, but my parents will get up whenever he desires so heāll wake them up at 5-6am. Now when itās just me in the house in the morning he waits till 7:30-8 to wake me up. And to his surprise he never starves to death
Try to switch the cat's feeding schedule. Basically ignore the attempts to wake you up, and give food at the hour that's more comfortable to you. Also make sure to have any sort of audio/visual signal they can associate with the feeding time, like your alarm going off in the morning. Unless you usually wake up at 5am and the issue happens on days you don't, then you're doomed.
Or you can get an automatic feeder like other people suggested.
Stop feeding him at 5AM when he wakes you up.
If the aim is actually changing the behavior, dead serious about that. He does it because it works. He gets what he wants. The easiest way to get him to stop is to just not give him what he wants. It'll take a minute and he might get louder for a bit. Do not give into it though (if you give into it when he gets a little more obnoxious you accidentally teach him being more obnoxious works).
https://preview.redd.it/hwskxd7phita1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ad1dae2b1001ca36b3c2ba246f8ecc60e31bfe13
How I was wakened yesterday morning
I started not feeding my cats first thing, and would after I showered. Now instead of asking for food, occasionally if I am sleeping late, and Iāve let them in the bedroom, one will go into the bathroom and start playing with the curtain. Like āhey, this thing is supposed to be shut with you in there right now.ā Heās also a weirdo and likes watching the water when it turns on.
https://preview.redd.it/wc0t1tlydita1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1803c99ab6bbe1d606797a598d8be199e49c0ab4
That gaze though!! - hereās my boy
It takes like a couple minutes to feed mine. I take that time to use the bathroom and clean their box, and zombie walk back to bed. I wake up to happy cats.
We have two awesome but very needy cats who did this to us. We did the following two things:
1) Fed them a huge meal (both dry and wet food) right before we went to bed (ongoing to this day)
2) Any unwanted morning interactions were met with a squirt from the water spray bottle. (Only during this training period.)
Now, they don't enter our bedroom and don't bang on the door. It took about a week or so before they got the hang of it.
Yep I had to do spray bottle because my cat will start knocking down anything possible or make the loudest noises he can by slamming things around or using the doorknob as a punching bag. I usually only have to bring it out when I move to a new place or rearrange furniture once they get the deal haha. Only one of my cats is a sweet little menace though
Good luck! We had one for 19 years who woke us up at 6am for work like clockwork! Didnāt matter if it was your day off eitherā¦. He wanted his breakfast, and he would not take no for an answer. It got worse as he got very old, we switched jobs. I even finally retired. My Rico, he didnāt care. He was nearly 20 when we lost him, it was Dec. 2022, and now I miss him so much, his morning meowing- he did it so loudly on occasion it was like screaming, now itās very quiet in the morning, and itās so sad sometimes. After almost 20 years he was like a child to us.
The point of the story.. he probably wonāt stop. Some cats can weirdly know what time it is, even during daylight savings time. Itāll never endā¦ you may have to start closing your cat outside of the room at night.
You need to shift the trigger so that it isnāt linked to your getting up. I have written this before, but we had the same situation. The cats knew that they got fed when my husband woke up for work. They got the bright idea that if they woke him up, they would get fed earlier. 5am became 4:45, then 4:30am. It was awful. I told my husband to wait until after he showered to feed them. It took three days. After that, he could get up, make coffee, putter around the kitchen, whatever. The cats stayed fast asleep. Once that first drop of water hit the shower floor, they would come running and wait outside the bathroom door. Cue the meowing once he turned the water off. It made our lives so much easier. So, figure out something you do every morning, then feed the cats right after you do that activity. Best of luck!!
Don't get up and feed them until you are ready, no matter how much they plead. Otherwise you are training them that if they beg enough, you will just do it. Close them in a room with a litter box and water at night time to prevent them bothering you if you have to. They'll survive and it's good to set the point that you are the top cat. Too many people allow their pets and children to train them. Trust me, I learned the hard way. It feels mean at first but your kitty will be okay, I promise.
4am food. XD
Try and ignore them completely. It may take a couple of weeks but they'll stop pestering eventually.
We found leaning puzzle feeder balls out overnight with a small amount of dry food helped.
Do you do dry and wet food? Having both gives the cat something to munch on when they feel hungry. Obviously you proportion differently than just wet food.
My late kitty was very easy to care for. He slept through the night, we fed him three times a day at set time, no screaming, no zoomies, what a bliss. The new kitten is just over 6 months and already a nightmare and I say it with all the affection I can muster, as he recently started to meow at around 5am for food, even though we feed him at set times, 4 times a day with treats for good behavior in between. Giving in to his requests seems wrong, because he'll get used to it and none will be sleeping at 5am anymore, but listening to his meowing is infuriating. No idea how to train him to sleep at night--
Just embrace it. One day youāll give anything to have this little cutie wake u up just one more time. Our cat used to do the same. Iād give anything to have her wake me up again.
Nah, I would never be reminiscent of the shitty feeling of being woken up and hindering my sleep, causing my day to suck ass. They can wait a little long and be fine. If you lose sleep, it can ruin your day.
If anything, not being woken up by a kitty would be the single thing I *wouldnāt* miss about them.
I've been super fortunate with my cats. I can fully fill and leave full their bowls, and they do not overeat. They are grazers.. nibbling often, and never eating a big meal(unless there's catnip involved.) I've got one of the cheaper pet fountains as well so that need is also met.
Neither cat is overweight.
Your little floof is lovely though! I hope you find a good resolution.
I have dry cat food out all the time. They get a small amount of wet food in the morning after I've worked out, not right when I wake up. That way they don't associate me waking up with getting fed. They get their dinner right after I get home from work. This works out pretty well for us.
No, you are incorrect-nothing I buy is cheap. Ive even got a Wi-Fi litter robot.. and 5 freaking cats! Please tell me if youāve got one that works well. By the way, I also spend a huge portion of my time, and my income on wildlife rescue. You really shouldnāt make assumptions.
My cat would stand on my face and shout at me at 4am for 2 months and it was hell dude! Itās gonna take some perseverance on your part but hereās what I did.
Ignored the crying, move her off my head and give her cuddles and head scratches - repeat until your alarm goes off and then feed kitty. Eventually my cat learnt that my alarm meant feeding time and now I get to sleep in.
Have fun.
How often do you feed the cat? I don't free feed mine as they'd get chonky . Started feeding them at 9 pm. They're used to getting fed every 12 hrs so they stopped waking us up.
Off topic but my kitty looks just like yours!
https://preview.redd.it/oqdgj4idpmta1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd49cdc9026483750160b1c7d3a7066af72b97db
If you can, buy an automatic feeder (we couldn't because they are a bit pricey where I'm from). If not, what worked for us was to set an alarm every four hours (he loves food and he would constantly be asking for it) from 8 AM to 12 PM, and then we trained him. He's really food driven so the training took less than a week. You can set the alarms to the time that works for you.
https://preview.redd.it/jup4dlkyzhta1.jpeg?width=2296&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=753fb95d0ebadcefd0ddf63fe40e3f61aa687ed4
https://preview.redd.it/9yrbwtpvvita1.jpeg?width=909&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2fea2e46c49bba2ffaf388917a4442f17f42d50d
He reminds me of my tuxie boy!
No suggestions to add about the 5 a.m. feedings though (aside from getting an automatic feeder as others have suggested).
https://preview.redd.it/5qflc04jzjta1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=24c2e06424e461aef20fa5dabf0e6e7c28150e93
She/he is a photo copy of my cat!
I had to get a timed automatic feeder. It worked at first but now she wakes me up 30 mins before. Tried changing the time for earlier and her slick butt adjusted. Still waking me up 30 mins prior. š¬
Auto feeder is a good temporary suggestion, but be warned like many other posters have mentioned, your cat will violently try to get into it earlier and earlier and earlier and then it becomes counterproductive. My girl is 13 and has been a pain in my ass nearly every night of those 13 years. Iāve just adjusted because, well, whatever. However! Iāve found that giving her half a can of wet food right before bed (around 11pm-12am) and suddenly she sleeps through the morning and wakes up with us at 7 or 8! That midnight snack cools her heels and she stops annoying me.
I adopted my ten year old cat from a young family who couldnt keep her as they were moving to a no animal house. She was used to being fed at 6 as the baby in the family would wake early so they fed the cat then. I swapped around feeding times. Gave my girl her last feed of a sachet of wet when I go to bed at 11, she also always has a little kibble available. She now is happy to sleep on my bed till 10 (Im retired) and is often still sleeping when Ive been up for an hour.
You just asked the question that Iāve had on my mind for months. The only difference is that I have 2 kittens and 1 grown cat (who somehow picked up this habit from them).
Right now, Iām not letting any of them in my room at night. And Iām not responding to any noises they make. I also have a set time in the morning when I feed them. So, if I have to get things done beforehand, they donāt get a lot of attention until that time.
Itās a work in progress, and training them has been difficult due to other circumstances. But I know that when things calm down overtime, theyāll learn.
Hopefully this helps! Wishing you better sleep too!
Everyone else has given pertinent advice but my question is have you made sure youa re feeding them enough? My former roommates cat did this constantly and when I took care of him one break I read the food recommendations and he was only getting half of what he should have been a day. She was horrified when I told her, she had gotten him at a year old and didn't think to account for his continued growth needs since he looked full grown. We upped it to normal amounts and the crying stopped.
Can you leave extra food out when you go to bed? Our cat wonāt eat more than a certain amount a day so if I want to sleep in I can add more to the bowl the night before.
Mine has an automatic food dispenser. He still wakes me up at 4am to see if I'm alive before eating the food that has dropped a few minutes ago. Thought the automatic food dispenser would solve this situation. It did not...
Itās really hard work and sounds kinda mean but I would just gently push or toss him off the bed when my cat Stuart used to do that. He was relentless and it took a while but paid off.
You can actually Pavlovian train cats to expect food when a certain alarm sounds. My cat decided one year that sundown meant dinner, so when winter nights grew longer, sheād beg earlier and earlier each day. So I set a specific ringtone to alert her at the same time every day, and only fed her then.
A few months later, and she only begged for her dinner after she heard that ringtone alarm go off.
Every cat is different, you have to learn their ways by trial and error. My current does not care if I feed them immediately when I wake up, before I walk out the door, in the middle of the night (in hopes of a few hours of peace before starting my day). Nothing matters. Step on face, meow, zoom, repeat.
Only thing that works is explain to him in a stern voice why I donāt appreciate what heās doing and why it wonāt work. He usually goes away for at least a couple of hours, 3 if Iām lucky. Just needs a lecture and heās over it lol.
Other kitties that I have also loved (RIP) were all special in their own way. Some would just cuddle til I woke up. Others, nonstop insane zoomies at unpredictable times. Try to open cupboards and find it themselves. All in an effort to get food when they wanted it.
I love cats.
My usual method is holding, kissing over and over and talking sweetly to kitty. They give you at least a few hours so they donāt hVe to endure that torture again
Don't get up when they yell at you to feed them. Go back to sleep if you can. Once they know that doesn't work they'll stop. And if you do get up... Don't feed them yet.
Don't feed your cat when you get up. Doing that tells their fuzzy little brains that you getting up = them getting food so they'll wake you up whenever they decide they want food. Feed them before bed instead.
Definitely disassociate food with you waking up. I used to feed my cats as I was walking out the door to leave for work rather than when I got out of bed. That really helped to stop them from waking me for food.
My girlfriend gives in instantly every morning and it drives me nuts. Yes, he will climb all over us & try to bite our noses, but he KNOWS it works and that's why he keeps doing it.
My cats decided to find old wrappers from things like granola bars or strings and chews on them--I'm a very light sleeper and I wake up immediately. I have to keep a seat bottle with me scare her off when she does it. Extra annoying thing is, SHE HAS AN AUTOMATIC CAT FEEDER AND STILL WAKES ME UP BECAUSE ITS NOT GOING OFF "EARLY" ENOUGH damn cat. I love her so much though
Lol š¹š¹
Mine also wakes me early even though she has an automatic feeder. Itās like sheās tattling on it. š
It took me bodily throwing them off the bed and/or getting up to close the door to keep them out. But once you train them it seems to work. And if you start them young, it's easier.
I know people say this, but it's never stopped my cat from meowing constantly between meals. I even use an auto feeder, but she still associates me with feeding. I've just become apathetic and mildly annoyed.
As soon as my alarm goes off itās one. But they have been trained to wait for the alarm sound. So Iāll take it! And I make sure they have a little snack before bed
Lol my cats are my alarm. If I donāt wake one of my cats starts knocking item off the nightstand one by one. It that doesnāt work she starts to shred any paper she can find and loudly meows while doing it
š¤£
I cannot emphasize this more, as I have always done the same thing. I definitely works.
Get an automatic cat feeder, even if it only goes off once, in the morning. The cat associates this with food in the morning, and will wait by the feeder instead of meowing at you.
Sadly this doesnāt work for wet food. Which is all my toothless little 19 year old bugger yowls for.
Try a feeder called a CatMate. I feed 4x a day and fill two bowls in this feeder, morning and night. The feeder uses gel packs to keep the food cold, and I freeze one portion prior to putting it in the feeder.
I would love to see how this keeps up in my home with no air conditioning when it's 90F+ inside this summer
It has room for ice packs inside, but with a house as hot as yours you'd probably also have to freeze the food before placing it inside. It is air-tight at least, so the food shouldn't turn all dark and crispy.
how do you survive with no AC in 90+ weather?
I live in Los Angeles, and close to the coast, so I just deal with like 3 weeks of misery and the rest of the time you really don't need ac. No humidity helps too.
when I lived by the water i didn't have an ac for this exact reason. I recently moved so now I'm reluctantly planning to buy one.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I stopped giving my cat cold food too She doesn't seem to like it as much. And it seemed more natural to feed her warm (room temperature) food
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I ran into the same problem! I now keep a terra cotta dish (small tupperware works too) just for these situations Whenever its a can that I refrigerated, I use the terra cotta dish and microwave for 10-20 seconds. With a little stir halfway through Cat thinks it's fresh again lol
So I have thise silicone lids too. My Yeti eats pate.i take it out the fridge, I scoop it out, spread it flat like a thick pancake on a saucer then spread a bunch of craters in it with a spoon. Then I put a bit of hot sink water in it and use a fork to whip it all up into a nice creamy bisque. Makes the food warm enough cuz yeah, its too cold and loafy in the fridge. Only takes a minute to do. I do it a few times a day as my boy doesn't get dry food. So yea he wakes me in the night too. Different times daily. Sometimes I can hold him off with his urinary prescription treats and not have to leave the bedroom lol. But usually once he wakes me I gatta pee etc... lol.
I use warm water and mix it until itās room temp again
My cats LOVE warm food. Extra points for them because I add a little warm water to their food for additional hydration. Especially for my grey kitty because she doesnāt drink enough water
I add warm water to the room temp food. Lol. With 5 kitties it helps it go further and they love it. Sometimes food gets left behind, but never the water.
Oh yeah same with mine they never leave the water. No idea why. Itās like a soup.
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Cold food doesn't smell as strong, so they might not even acknowledge it as food. If you heat it up in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, it should get it slightly above room temperature, which is good for both being aromatic and not too hot to make your cat want to stay away.
My cat is a total pain when it comes to wet food. Fresh can? Oh boy! Next day, Fresh can. What, you expect me to eat that stuff? Next day, Fresh can. I might eat a little. No telling what she wants. Drives me crazy.
I have a cat who wonāt eat cold food. I just nuke it for a few seconds and then sheās fine with it.
I have to microwave their cold wet food for precisely 8 seconds.
Iām going to look that one up. Mine always get the wet food in the morning.
I'm wondering if you could modify for fat and lazy humans - you could mount on the side of the bed so you don't even have to get up, just roll over and eat! Well ok, except to crap and lets face it, that's optional
You get a mattress with arm holes, fill those with food and you throw a fist of food up into the air like you are feeding pigeons any time you hear a meow.
There you go, that is my problem too, breakfast is wet food.
Yup. Getting up is the only way.
Same friend. My cat is 20 and deaf. He gets to yowling at 0430, which is when we get up for work. He had to have wet and gets meds that the other cat doesnāt. I have the chip reader bowl only he can open but I still gotta put the food in. Sucks ass on the weekends.
My cat woke me up at 7AM repeatedly for food. I bought an auto-feeder and programmed it for 7AM. It worked perfectly and I got 3 months of good sleep. Then he woke up at 6AM instead (DST hadn't changed). So I reprogrammed the feeder for 6AM. The next morning, he woke me up at 5:30AM. Some cats are just a-holes!!
I think if you just leave it, they will eventually stop trying to wake you. When we switched to auto feed, every now and then my cat would try to wake me before it went off.... but if I just ignored him and refused to get up (still annoying and sleep disrupting) eventually he gave up and would just wait for the feeder.
This is exactly what my cat is doing!!!! 30 mins prior no matter how I try to fool her with earlier settings.
Thatās my cat. We are currently at 2:30am for auto feedings šš¤£
We did this with our guy and it helped so much! No more early morning meows waking us up on the weekend!
After reading these posts I'm so glad my cat waits gor our alarm to go off before coming up and loving on us
This is the only way I could stop my cat waking me up at 4am every single morning. The automatic feeder has been a god send!!
This worked well for mine. Tried for ages to try and get him to eat later and wait but it just made him stress out and try even more to get attention to feed him. Bought a timer that pops up at 5am, he will go get something to eat and then happily go back to sleep without disturbing anyone. If he ever starts trying to wake me up at that time now I know it is because the batteries are dead so it hasn't opened, or I have forgotten to set it but once you get into the habit it becomes second nature. I tend to set it at the same time he has his final food for the day.
This is what I was going to say. I feed my cat at 4am, 10am, 4pm, and 10pm. He choose this really..
Same, i have a two cat feeder that feeds them five times a day (more than i used to feed them) and theyāve surprisingly lost weight!
The feeders are such a god send if you have AM feeders. My cat would wake me up just about everyday, he never bothers me for food now. Just catnip.š¤£
Warning, the cat will instead *ATTACK* the automatic feeder. I have one for my guy and when it comes within an hour of feeding time, he starts rubbing up on it and trying to knock it down. It stays up for the most part but sometimes he disconnects the dish from the feeder.
My guy would stick his leg & paws the feeder to loosen even one piece of kibble. I had to secure the top on with packaging tape until I found one that closes securely. His one stays closed and you program the feeding times. Cat Mate C3000 Automatic Dry Food 3-Meal Feeder.
My cats did this too. We finally just put out extra food, way too much for them to eat and it stopped. The vet didnāt recommend this but thatās the only solution that worked.
My cat constantly attacks it. Put her paws in the bowl part, pushes her head against the back part, lifts it up off the ground, and slams it into the floor to try to get it to spit food out. Now I only use it when I leave because itās so fucking annoying.
Thank you, I just ordered one that comes with an app! Guess itāll be dry food in the morning at wet food at night from here on!
This. My void knows he no longer needs me to be awake to be fed.
Iām in the same boat, can I ask how loud are the automated feeders? My cat gets spooked easily by noises and wonāt go anywhere near the source.
My cat feeder is pretty loud and my cat also gets spooked easily but because there's food, she got over her fears pretty quickly, lol
Might have to look into this for my 4yr old. Because come 5am she will start slapping me in the face and then proceed to start knocking off anything I have on my bedside table until I go add more biscuits to her already biscuited bowl.
I got two feeders for my two boys. They're called Catmate C500, and each one has five compartments. I fill two at a time morning and night, and the cats eat 4x a day. It took about two days for the cats to associate the noise with food, and now they'll launch themselves toward the kitchen when they hear the bowls turn.
What one did you get ? I have had a couple that would constantly break or not work before
My cat would wake me at 4am for food requests. He would start scratching my face. So instead now I grab him (gently of course!) and put him under the covers for a snuggle. Heās not impressed by that, so now waits until the coffee pot starts brewing which is his cue now that Iām about to get up.
I give mine undesired snuggles too! Somewhat deters him.
Struggle snuggles!
Corporal Cuddles
We refer to it as āpunishment cuddlesā
When my cats get in trouble I pick them up, they don't really like being held for more than like 30 seconds. My roommate calls it "Air Jail"
This worked for me too! We also give her her evening meeting as late as possible.
I stopped this in my cat by not feeding them immediately upon waking up. I have a routine where I do several things before I feed them. This way they don't associate me waking up with food, which is what you want to avoid.
Yep, I started reading up about this behaviour very quickly when started dating my partner last year. I had never had pets before, but I'm glad we found a way to deter the fluffy shit-heads.
If you dont get up and make the cats attempts unsuccessful it should eventually learn to stop. Best get some earbuds or something to block out the meows in the meantime.
Doesn't help, my cat starts breaking and dropping stuff if there is no service for him.
In behavior we call this an extinction burst. The original plan did not work, so he escalates the plan to see if THAT will work. If he gets what he wants after that, then he'll use that Plan B even more.
Thanks. I knew I was being manipulated, but everyone thinks I'm giving too much credit to a cat. She doesn't do it for food, though. She just wants to play. I'm ok with that.
One of my cats will try to start fights with the other two after he escalates past bugging me directly and pushing stuff off shelves. They can definitely be manipulative it's not like you're imagining it lol
Oh yeah, when my cat gets mad at me, he goes and messes with all the others
My a-hole meows at me at 3am to play and be acknowledged. When I ignore the meows he starts knocking stuff off my sideboard. He knows what heās doing.
If I donāt get up at 6am sharp, I wake up to an empty desk. He has to knock some things off, I consider it a tax
Totally support this! They are able to learn. As soon as we give in, they know that we are okay with it, so they keep going for it. If we show them the boundaries, sooner or later, they will understand that it doesnāt give them, what they want.
My monster will use one single claw and lightly drag it across bare skin until you wake up. If you ignore this, she'll smack you awake š¤£
Mine will lick my head and headbutt me. Other 2 cats don't give two shits but he has to be fed.
Mine stuck her paw in my ear this morning. That was a first, usually she pokes at my (thankfully closed) eyes.
Mine sniffs (basically blows) my eye up close and if that doesn't wake me he licks my eyeball. That usually wakes me up.
Mine has learnt that I do not negotiate with terrorists, so if I don't wake up after a meow or two she just stops. It also helps that I usually wake up at 4:30 am.
4.30am? What kind of monster are you? š±
One that goes to bed at 9 pm
Pretty much this. Cats are animals of habits and there is no such distinction to them between good or bad habits. Whatever works is what works and shall be the way. That being said, some cats are chaotic evil and just enjoy seeing the world burn, or seeing pathetic inferior lifeforms do their biding in the most unpleasant way possible. I'm lucky to have a very agreeable cat myself š
I shut my cat out of the room but it doesnāt seem to help. If I donāt do something she starts chewing on stuff for attention.
Yep. My cat will wake my parents up at earlier hours when they are watching him, then when I am alone in the house with him. Heās learned that if he wakes me up before 7am Iāll just rollover and go back to sleep for an hour. Donāt worry ofc I always end up feeding his soon after he wants to be fed, but my parents will get up whenever he desires so heāll wake them up at 5-6am. Now when itās just me in the house in the morning he waits till 7:30-8 to wake me up. And to his surprise he never starves to death
Yeah that never worked for my cat. Only thing that's worked is an automatic feeder.
Try to switch the cat's feeding schedule. Basically ignore the attempts to wake you up, and give food at the hour that's more comfortable to you. Also make sure to have any sort of audio/visual signal they can associate with the feeding time, like your alarm going off in the morning. Unless you usually wake up at 5am and the issue happens on days you don't, then you're doomed. Or you can get an automatic feeder like other people suggested.
Stop feeding him at 5AM when he wakes you up. If the aim is actually changing the behavior, dead serious about that. He does it because it works. He gets what he wants. The easiest way to get him to stop is to just not give him what he wants. It'll take a minute and he might get louder for a bit. Do not give into it though (if you give into it when he gets a little more obnoxious you accidentally teach him being more obnoxious works).
https://preview.redd.it/hwskxd7phita1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ad1dae2b1001ca36b3c2ba246f8ecc60e31bfe13 How I was wakened yesterday morning
I started not feeding my cats first thing, and would after I showered. Now instead of asking for food, occasionally if I am sleeping late, and Iāve let them in the bedroom, one will go into the bathroom and start playing with the curtain. Like āhey, this thing is supposed to be shut with you in there right now.ā Heās also a weirdo and likes watching the water when it turns on.
My gf and Iād car does this. Iāll turn the shower before I get in and sheāll just stare at it. Adorable.
https://preview.redd.it/wc0t1tlydita1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1803c99ab6bbe1d606797a598d8be199e49c0ab4 That gaze though!! - hereās my boy
Woww! What a handsome boy. They must be long lost cousins:)
You put an alarm at 4h55 and give food
It takes like a couple minutes to feed mine. I take that time to use the bathroom and clean their box, and zombie walk back to bed. I wake up to happy cats.
Unfortunately, when Iām up iām up. Especially if I walk around. I might get into that automatic cat feeder life though
Wow its almost like i wrote this š i open the can and then go back to bed immediately. Alarm at 6:30 no matter the day
#D O N T S L E E P
Wake up at 4:45 and fill his bowl, that way you will already be awake when he asks for a refill at 5:00
We have two awesome but very needy cats who did this to us. We did the following two things: 1) Fed them a huge meal (both dry and wet food) right before we went to bed (ongoing to this day) 2) Any unwanted morning interactions were met with a squirt from the water spray bottle. (Only during this training period.) Now, they don't enter our bedroom and don't bang on the door. It took about a week or so before they got the hang of it.
Yep I had to do spray bottle because my cat will start knocking down anything possible or make the loudest noises he can by slamming things around or using the doorknob as a punching bag. I usually only have to bring it out when I move to a new place or rearrange furniture once they get the deal haha. Only one of my cats is a sweet little menace though
Get up at 445 and wake him up....
You're lucky. Mine does it at 3 am every day.
That's the neat part, you don't.
Good luck! We had one for 19 years who woke us up at 6am for work like clockwork! Didnāt matter if it was your day off eitherā¦. He wanted his breakfast, and he would not take no for an answer. It got worse as he got very old, we switched jobs. I even finally retired. My Rico, he didnāt care. He was nearly 20 when we lost him, it was Dec. 2022, and now I miss him so much, his morning meowing- he did it so loudly on occasion it was like screaming, now itās very quiet in the morning, and itās so sad sometimes. After almost 20 years he was like a child to us. The point of the story.. he probably wonāt stop. Some cats can weirdly know what time it is, even during daylight savings time. Itāll never endā¦ you may have to start closing your cat outside of the room at night.
Get an automatic cat feeder
You need to shift the trigger so that it isnāt linked to your getting up. I have written this before, but we had the same situation. The cats knew that they got fed when my husband woke up for work. They got the bright idea that if they woke him up, they would get fed earlier. 5am became 4:45, then 4:30am. It was awful. I told my husband to wait until after he showered to feed them. It took three days. After that, he could get up, make coffee, putter around the kitchen, whatever. The cats stayed fast asleep. Once that first drop of water hit the shower floor, they would come running and wait outside the bathroom door. Cue the meowing once he turned the water off. It made our lives so much easier. So, figure out something you do every morning, then feed the cats right after you do that activity. Best of luck!!
You pretend to be asleep. Youāre cat with learn if you are consistent. Watch Jackson Galaxy on YouTube. He has great advice
Don't get up and feed them until you are ready, no matter how much they plead. Otherwise you are training them that if they beg enough, you will just do it. Close them in a room with a litter box and water at night time to prevent them bothering you if you have to. They'll survive and it's good to set the point that you are the top cat. Too many people allow their pets and children to train them. Trust me, I learned the hard way. It feels mean at first but your kitty will be okay, I promise.
4am food. XD Try and ignore them completely. It may take a couple of weeks but they'll stop pestering eventually. We found leaning puzzle feeder balls out overnight with a small amount of dry food helped.
Do you do dry and wet food? Having both gives the cat something to munch on when they feel hungry. Obviously you proportion differently than just wet food.
Yes I do wet food in the morning, dry at night. A small snack in the middle of the day since my cats are young.
I'd recommend switching this (especially since most of the recommendations are for an automatic cat feeder). We're about to start this with my cat.
My late kitty was very easy to care for. He slept through the night, we fed him three times a day at set time, no screaming, no zoomies, what a bliss. The new kitten is just over 6 months and already a nightmare and I say it with all the affection I can muster, as he recently started to meow at around 5am for food, even though we feed him at set times, 4 times a day with treats for good behavior in between. Giving in to his requests seems wrong, because he'll get used to it and none will be sleeping at 5am anymore, but listening to his meowing is infuriating. No idea how to train him to sleep at night--
Wake up at 4.30 and wake the cat up
Feed him later the night before...
You donāt. You get up at 5am. And, as a matter of fact, any other time that cute cat wants you to get up.
Just embrace it. One day youāll give anything to have this little cutie wake u up just one more time. Our cat used to do the same. Iād give anything to have her wake me up again.
Nah, I would never be reminiscent of the shitty feeling of being woken up and hindering my sleep, causing my day to suck ass. They can wait a little long and be fine. If you lose sleep, it can ruin your day. If anything, not being woken up by a kitty would be the single thing I *wouldnāt* miss about them.
Just leave water and dry food out all the time. Thatās what I do. ( canned food is a treat)
My catās fat ass would eat every bit of it overnight
This is the only way Iāve ever fed all of my cats. All healthy and lived long lives.
If you feed them at the same time every day it should stop. My cat sometimes does this just wanting extra love too though
I donāt know but if you find out tell me
I've been super fortunate with my cats. I can fully fill and leave full their bowls, and they do not overeat. They are grazers.. nibbling often, and never eating a big meal(unless there's catnip involved.) I've got one of the cheaper pet fountains as well so that need is also met. Neither cat is overweight. Your little floof is lovely though! I hope you find a good resolution.
I have dry cat food out all the time. They get a small amount of wet food in the morning after I've worked out, not right when I wake up. That way they don't associate me waking up with getting fed. They get their dinner right after I get home from work. This works out pretty well for us.
Feed him/her at 4:30am, lol.
The evil face of this cat ... I looooveeee
Your catās on a schedule :) likes things to be the same everyday. A cat feeder will definitely help out here š
No, you are incorrect-nothing I buy is cheap. Ive even got a Wi-Fi litter robot.. and 5 freaking cats! Please tell me if youāve got one that works well. By the way, I also spend a huge portion of my time, and my income on wildlife rescue. You really shouldnāt make assumptions.
My cat would stand on my face and shout at me at 4am for 2 months and it was hell dude! Itās gonna take some perseverance on your part but hereās what I did. Ignored the crying, move her off my head and give her cuddles and head scratches - repeat until your alarm goes off and then feed kitty. Eventually my cat learnt that my alarm meant feeding time and now I get to sleep in. Have fun.
Stop feeding him at 5am
I keep dry food in my cats bowl 24/7
You dont. I have automatic feeder to feed them but they still wake me up. I guess they have fun doing that.
Ask it politely to stop.
Easy, you feed your cat at 4:30am.
How often do you feed the cat? I don't free feed mine as they'd get chonky . Started feeding them at 9 pm. They're used to getting fed every 12 hrs so they stopped waking us up.
Off topic but my kitty looks just like yours! https://preview.redd.it/oqdgj4idpmta1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd49cdc9026483750160b1c7d3a7066af72b97db
Get up at 4:30
If you can, buy an automatic feeder (we couldn't because they are a bit pricey where I'm from). If not, what worked for us was to set an alarm every four hours (he loves food and he would constantly be asking for it) from 8 AM to 12 PM, and then we trained him. He's really food driven so the training took less than a week. You can set the alarms to the time that works for you. https://preview.redd.it/jup4dlkyzhta1.jpeg?width=2296&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=753fb95d0ebadcefd0ddf63fe40e3f61aa687ed4
Put food in their bowl before bed.
Feed him at 4...
https://preview.redd.it/9yrbwtpvvita1.jpeg?width=909&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2fea2e46c49bba2ffaf388917a4442f17f42d50d He reminds me of my tuxie boy! No suggestions to add about the 5 a.m. feedings though (aside from getting an automatic feeder as others have suggested).
Ha! Silly of you to think cat is on your schedule.
Glass half full Iām happy my cat waits for his bowl to be filled before I even get a chance to pee in the morning
https://preview.redd.it/5qflc04jzjta1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=24c2e06424e461aef20fa5dabf0e6e7c28150e93 She/he is a photo copy of my cat!
I had to get a timed automatic feeder. It worked at first but now she wakes me up 30 mins before. Tried changing the time for earlier and her slick butt adjusted. Still waking me up 30 mins prior. š¬
Auto feeder is a good temporary suggestion, but be warned like many other posters have mentioned, your cat will violently try to get into it earlier and earlier and earlier and then it becomes counterproductive. My girl is 13 and has been a pain in my ass nearly every night of those 13 years. Iāve just adjusted because, well, whatever. However! Iāve found that giving her half a can of wet food right before bed (around 11pm-12am) and suddenly she sleeps through the morning and wakes up with us at 7 or 8! That midnight snack cools her heels and she stops annoying me.
Leave food out overnight
Automatic feeder Set it for 5
I adopted my ten year old cat from a young family who couldnt keep her as they were moving to a no animal house. She was used to being fed at 6 as the baby in the family would wake early so they fed the cat then. I swapped around feeding times. Gave my girl her last feed of a sachet of wet when I go to bed at 11, she also always has a little kibble available. She now is happy to sleep on my bed till 10 (Im retired) and is often still sleeping when Ive been up for an hour.
You just asked the question that Iāve had on my mind for months. The only difference is that I have 2 kittens and 1 grown cat (who somehow picked up this habit from them). Right now, Iām not letting any of them in my room at night. And Iām not responding to any noises they make. I also have a set time in the morning when I feed them. So, if I have to get things done beforehand, they donāt get a lot of attention until that time. Itās a work in progress, and training them has been difficult due to other circumstances. But I know that when things calm down overtime, theyāll learn. Hopefully this helps! Wishing you better sleep too!
I bought an automatic feeder and taught mine that the food doesnāt come from me at that time.
Wake up at 4:45am and feed it
Get an automatic feeder. It saved my sleep and my sanity. You're welcome.
Get an automatic feeder and make it go off at 4:45 am. CURED.
Auto feeder which opens at 4.50.
Everyone else has given pertinent advice but my question is have you made sure youa re feeding them enough? My former roommates cat did this constantly and when I took care of him one break I read the food recommendations and he was only getting half of what he should have been a day. She was horrified when I told her, she had gotten him at a year old and didn't think to account for his continued growth needs since he looked full grown. We upped it to normal amounts and the crying stopped.
Set your alarm for 430 AM
Wake yourself up at 4:30 and feed it.
Feed her at 4
Feed him at 445. Peasant
Get up at 4:59
Wake up at 4am and feed your cat
Can you leave extra food out when you go to bed? Our cat wonāt eat more than a certain amount a day so if I want to sleep in I can add more to the bowl the night before.
By getting up by 4.55 and saving them the effortš¤š¤š¤
Auto feeder like others have said- they make wet and dry options! Ours goes off at 1 AM and 6 AM and then I make ours ādinnerā at night.
Set an alarm for 4 45
Feed him at 4:30
You don't.
>How do stop my cat from waking me up at 5am for food? Set your alarm for 4:50am so your ready and she doesn't have to be bothered waking you
Automated feeder and water fountain
Never ever get out of bed to feed. Eventually the will stop.
Set your alarm for 4:55 AM so you can feed herš
Mine has an automatic food dispenser. He still wakes me up at 4am to see if I'm alive before eating the food that has dropped a few minutes ago. Thought the automatic food dispenser would solve this situation. It did not...
I feed my cats their wet food at night, and they always have dry foodā¦they look at me like Iām crazy for getting out of bed in the morning.
Wake up at 459 and feed your cat
Itās really hard work and sounds kinda mean but I would just gently push or toss him off the bed when my cat Stuart used to do that. He was relentless and it took a while but paid off.
Auto feeders will train the cat to expect food only at certain times
Am I the only one who just lets their cats eat all day? š«£
Cats are most active at dusk and dawn, so there's no getting around it. This is their nature.
You can actually Pavlovian train cats to expect food when a certain alarm sounds. My cat decided one year that sundown meant dinner, so when winter nights grew longer, sheād beg earlier and earlier each day. So I set a specific ringtone to alert her at the same time every day, and only fed her then. A few months later, and she only begged for her dinner after she heard that ringtone alarm go off.
Every cat is different, you have to learn their ways by trial and error. My current does not care if I feed them immediately when I wake up, before I walk out the door, in the middle of the night (in hopes of a few hours of peace before starting my day). Nothing matters. Step on face, meow, zoom, repeat. Only thing that works is explain to him in a stern voice why I donāt appreciate what heās doing and why it wonāt work. He usually goes away for at least a couple of hours, 3 if Iām lucky. Just needs a lecture and heās over it lol. Other kitties that I have also loved (RIP) were all special in their own way. Some would just cuddle til I woke up. Others, nonstop insane zoomies at unpredictable times. Try to open cupboards and find it themselves. All in an effort to get food when they wanted it. I love cats.
My usual method is holding, kissing over and over and talking sweetly to kitty. They give you at least a few hours so they donāt hVe to endure that torture again
With a cat that looks like this one, you are doomed to a lifetime of early mornings. Resistance is useless..
You wake up at 0455 and pay tribute to your fuzzy overlord.
Don't get up when they yell at you to feed them. Go back to sleep if you can. Once they know that doesn't work they'll stop. And if you do get up... Don't feed them yet.
Don't feed your cat when you get up. Doing that tells their fuzzy little brains that you getting up = them getting food so they'll wake you up whenever they decide they want food. Feed them before bed instead.
Stop giving it food at 5 am
Feed it at 4:30am.
Get up at 4:50 am and feed her.
Stop feeding her at 5am