4AM Wakeup Horror!!!

I have recently got a cat. The cat has a habit of waking up at around 4 or
5AM. The cat also has a habit of waking the household by her insistent
scratching and meowing. Does any one here know of a way of stopping her
doing this?

Please Help!
Chamal

Well does the cat have plenty of food and water. Also, is she spayed? One
thing you can do is play with her before going to bed. Also make sure she
has plenty of toys as well.

--
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Cat Galaxy: All Cats, All The Time!
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"Chamal Panditharatne" wrote in message
...
I have recently got a cat. The cat has a habit of waking up at around 4
or
5AM. The cat also has a habit of waking the household by her insistent
scratching and meowing. Does any one here know of a way of stopping her
doing this?

Please Help!
Chamal

Well does the cat have plenty of food and water. Also, is she spayed? One
thing you can do is play with her before going to bed. Also make sure she
has plenty of toys as well.

--
Panther TEK: Staying On Top Of All Your Computer Needs!
www.members.cox.net/catprotector/panthertek

Cat Galaxy: All Cats, All The Time!
www.catgalaxymedia.com

"Chamal Panditharatne" wrote in message
...
I have recently got a cat. The cat has a habit of waking up at around 4
or
5AM. The cat also has a habit of waking the household by her insistent
scratching and meowing. Does any one here know of a way of stopping her
doing this?

Please Help!
Chamal

In message , Chamal Panditharatne
writes
I have recently got a cat. The cat has a habit of waking up at around 4 or
5AM. The cat also has a habit of waking the household by her insistent
scratching and meowing. Does any one here know of a way of stopping her
doing this?
The way advocated by most cat books and websites seems to be -- ignore
puss and do not reward for making a fuss. From the cat's point of view,
she's training her owners to come and pay attention to her. Maybe it's
worth checking that nothing is *really* the matter, but then go back to
bed and ignore puss. When puss realises she will not get any more
attention or food, she will probably eventually give up.

Other things to try are, make sure you're feeding the cat regularly and
not on demand (i.e. if you have gone and fed the cat at 4 am to make her
stop making a noise, that's giving the wrong impression), and, if you
can persuade the cat to play (buy a catnip mouse or just toss rolled-up
bits of paper or drag things on strings), make sure there's a scheduled
cat-playtime late evening before you go to bed.

If you have a *very stubborn* cat who thinks *she's* training *you*, and
has already come to a conclusion that if she gets up at 4 am so will
you, it may not work, but cats can be habituated to the human diurnal
cycle if they realise that nothing interesting is likely to happen in
the early morning (5 am) when wild cats would naturally be hunting.
--
Woof B

In message , Chamal Panditharatne
writes
I have recently got a cat. The cat has a habit of waking up at around 4 or
5AM. The cat also has a habit of waking the household by her insistent
scratching and meowing. Does any one here know of a way of stopping her
doing this?
The way advocated by most cat books and websites seems to be -- ignore
puss and do not reward for making a fuss. From the cat's point of view,
she's training her owners to come and pay attention to her. Maybe it's
worth checking that nothing is *really* the matter, but then go back to
bed and ignore puss. When puss realises she will not get any more
attention or food, she will probably eventually give up.

Other things to try are, make sure you're feeding the cat regularly and
not on demand (i.e. if you have gone and fed the cat at 4 am to make her
stop making a noise, that's giving the wrong impression), and, if you
can persuade the cat to play (buy a catnip mouse or just toss rolled-up
bits of paper or drag things on strings), make sure there's a scheduled
cat-playtime late evening before you go to bed.

If you have a *very stubborn* cat who thinks *she's* training *you*, and
has already come to a conclusion that if she gets up at 4 am so will
you, it may not work, but cats can be habituated to the human diurnal
cycle if they realise that nothing interesting is likely to happen in
the early morning (5 am) when wild cats would naturally be hunting.
--
Woof B

in article , Chamal Panditharatne at
wrote on 9/2/03 4:34 AM:

I have recently got a cat. The cat has a habit of waking up at around 4 or
5AM. The cat also has a habit of waking the household by her insistent
scratching and meowing. Does any one here know of a way of stopping her
doing this?

Please Help!
Chamal


Can you set up a room with a litter box, bed food and water that when this
happens, you put kitty in until you wake up? She will get the idea soon,
that if she wants to stay out, she must wait until you are awake.

Karen

in article , Chamal Panditharatne at
wrote on 9/2/03 4:34 AM:

I have recently got a cat. The cat has a habit of waking up at around 4 or
5AM. The cat also has a habit of waking the household by her insistent
scratching and meowing. Does any one here know of a way of stopping her
doing this?

Please Help!
Chamal


Can you set up a room with a litter box, bed food and water that when this
happens, you put kitty in until you wake up? She will get the idea soon,
that if she wants to stay out, she must wait until you are awake.

Karen

"Chamal Panditharatne" wrote in message
...
I have recently got a cat. The cat has a habit of waking up at around 4
or
5AM. The cat also has a habit of waking the household by her insistent
scratching and meowing. Does any one here know of a way of stopping her
doing this?

Grit your teeth and ignore it. The first two weeks I had Jack, my sleep
routine was out of whack, and I would wake up about 4:00, unable to go back
to sleep. Jack figured this was wake-up time. When I did get back to
sleeping regularly, he got increasingly upset when I wouldn't get up at the
"regular": he would climb on the bed and yell in my ear. After a few weeks
of frustration, I started ignoring him, and after four or five days, he
would leave me alone and go amuse himself until I did get up.

Another tip is to not feed your cat immediately after getting up, but
rather, wait until a set, later time. That way, he or she won't directly
associate you getting up with feeding, and will be much less inclined to
cheat back your wake up call.

"Chamal Panditharatne" wrote in message
...
I have recently got a cat. The cat has a habit of waking up at around 4
or
5AM. The cat also has a habit of waking the household by her insistent
scratching and meowing. Does any one here know of a way of stopping her
doing this?

Grit your teeth and ignore it. The first two weeks I had Jack, my sleep
routine was out of whack, and I would wake up about 4:00, unable to go back
to sleep. Jack figured this was wake-up time. When I did get back to
sleeping regularly, he got increasingly upset when I wouldn't get up at the
"regular": he would climb on the bed and yell in my ear. After a few weeks
of frustration, I started ignoring him, and after four or five days, he
would leave me alone and go amuse himself until I did get up.

Another tip is to not feed your cat immediately after getting up, but
rather, wait until a set, later time. That way, he or she won't directly
associate you getting up with feeding, and will be much less inclined to
cheat back your wake up call.

My Smudge used to do that a lot. I found that if I hugged her she would
stop bothering me for several hours. I also learned to keep a blanket
between me and her doing this as she really hates being held and what is
hugging but a form of being held.

Larry Osborne

*Exactly* what I do with Frank. I hug him and say, "I l-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-v-e you
too, Frankie boy." He sounds like your Smudge.

Sherry