Kitten crying every morning at 5 am

I got my first kitten back in March. Everyday since then he has been waking me up by crying every morning at around 5 am. I make sure to give him lots of food the night before, and many mornings when I do get out of bed when he starts up I check and see that his food and water are still quite full yet. I thought that maybe he wants more attention, so I make sure to play and pet him for a while before going to bed. But, alas, I am still being woken up every morning.

Since he has gotten bigger, he now puts his paw under the door and rattles it while meowing. I wouldn't mind letting him in the room at night or in the morning if he didn't pounce all over me continuously (thus not letting me sleep--so I lock him out of the bedroom at night).

When he meows in the morning, I simply ignore him, knowing that if I don't give him any attention that I won't reinforce his behavior--but this is still going on! This morning he rattled the door so much that it actually opened and I suddenly awoke to a kitten pouncing on my face....

He is a sweet cat and I think myself lucky to have gotten him, so this is really my only complaint. How do I get him to stop?

Thank you.

"DearLadyDisdain" wrote in message
news

I got my first kitten back in March. Everyday since then he has been
waking me up by crying every morning at around 5 am. I make sure to give
him lots of food the night before, and many mornings when I do get out
of bed when he starts up I check and see that his food and water are
still quite full yet. I thought that maybe he wants more attention, so I
make sure to play and pet him for a while before going to bed. But,
alas, I am still being woken up every morning.

Since he has gotten bigger, he now puts his paw under the door and
rattles it while meowing. I wouldn't mind letting him in the room at
night or in the morning if he didn't pounce all over me continuously
(thus not letting me sleep--so I lock him out of the bedroom at night).


If you had let him in to sleep with you the two of you would have worked it
out. When they are small they really want to please you, so they read your
cues. My kitten has been allowed to sleep with us since she got here at 2
months old, and she began by raising hell, but eventually stopped. I still
think you should let your cat in at night.

On Fri, 28 May 2010 17:09:33 -0400, DearLadyDisdain
wrote:

He is a sweet cat and I think myself lucky to have gotten him, so this
is really my only complaint. How do I get him to stop?

Thank you.

A good fun snuggle, hug usually relax's quiets them
Hope it works?
Petzl
--
"When Governments fail to enforce law and order, common folk take it upon themselves to do so."

"DearLadyDisdain" wrote in message
news

I got my first kitten back in March. Everyday since then he has been
waking me up by crying every morning at around 5 am. I make sure to give
him lots of food the night before, and many mornings when I do get out
of bed when he starts up I check and see that his food and water are
still quite full yet. I thought that maybe he wants more attention, so I
make sure to play and pet him for a while before going to bed. But,
alas, I am still being woken up every morning.

Since he has gotten bigger, he now puts his paw under the door and
rattles it while meowing. I wouldn't mind letting him in the room at
night or in the morning if he didn't pounce all over me continuously
(thus not letting me sleep--so I lock him out of the bedroom at night).

Therein lies your problem.Cats hate closed doors. Food, water, are all fine,
but it'sthe human connection they want and will continue to seek out. The
pouncing will stop eventually, but the door rattling won't. Put up with a
little annoyance now, and prevent a lifetime of annoyance later. I cannot
understand why people shut their cats out of their bedrooms, or any room for
that matter. It just never works.

"DearLadyDisdain" wrote in message
news

I got my first kitten back in March. Everyday since then he has been
waking me up by crying every morning at around 5 am. I make sure to give
him lots of food the night before, and many mornings when I do get out
of bed when he starts up I check and see that his food and water are
still quite full yet. I thought that maybe he wants more attention, so I
make sure to play and pet him for a while before going to bed. But,
alas, I am still being woken up every morning.

Since he has gotten bigger, he now puts his paw under the door and
rattles it while meowing. I wouldn't mind letting him in the room at
night or in the morning if he didn't pounce all over me continuously
(thus not letting me sleep--so I lock him out of the bedroom at night).


When he meows in the morning, I simply ignore him, knowing that if I
don't give him any attention that I won't reinforce his behavior--but
this is still going on! This morning he rattled the door so much that it
actually opened and I suddenly awoke to a kitten pouncing on my
face....

He is a sweet cat and I think myself lucky to have gotten him, so this
is really my only complaint. How do I get him to stop?

Thank you.

--
DearLadyDisdain


He wants to be with you. As the others said, try letting him sleep with
you. I found with each of my cats that I could gently set them beside me
and pet them for a couple of minutes until they calmed down. After a short
period of doing this, they learned not to jump all over me at night. Now
they curl up beside me, and we both enjoy it. It does take some extra time
with kittens because they are still babies, but they will adapt. It can be
helpful to place a very soft blanket beside you to serve as an invitation to
the kitten to knead and curl up. Also, play with him for awhile before
bedtime so he will be tired when it's time for bed.

MaryL

Suddenly, without warning, DearLadyDisdain exclaimed (5/28/2010 5:09 PM):
I got my first kitten back in March. Everyday since then he has been
waking me up by crying every morning at around 5 am. I make sure to give
him lots of food the night before, and many mornings when I do get out
of bed when he starts up I check and see that his food and water are
still quite full yet. I thought that maybe he wants more attention, so I
make sure to play and pet him for a while before going to bed. But,
alas, I am still being woken up every morning.

Since he has gotten bigger, he now puts his paw under the door and
rattles it while meowing. I wouldn't mind letting him in the room at
night or in the morning if he didn't pounce all over me continuously
(thus not letting me sleep--so I lock him out of the bedroom at night).


When he meows in the morning, I simply ignore him, knowing that if I
don't give him any attention that I won't reinforce his behavior--but
this is still going on! This morning he rattled the door so much that it
actually opened and I suddenly awoke to a kitten pouncing on my
face....

He is a sweet cat and I think myself lucky to have gotten him, so this
is really my only complaint. How do I get him to stop?

Thank you.





Instead of barring him completely, try this. Be warned, you'll have
some nights of short sleep, but I did this with Meep when she was 3
months, and at 14 years she still lets me sleep...

Leave the door open when you go to bed. When the kitten pounces on you,
put him out. Wait for 10 minutes of quiet, then let him in. Try to
sleep. If he pounces or otherwise wakes you up, put him back out.
Rinse and repeat. Eventually he'll get the message.

It took about two weeks of gradually decreasing pounces for Meep to be
fully trained.

jmc