How to Get Your Cat to Stop Waking You Up
Does your cat wake you up every morning (like every. single. morning)?
Well the good news is you’re not alone.
This is a very common problem for cat parents! And there are many things we can do to minimize this behavior so you can get some much-needed sleep.
In order to understand how to stop our cat from waking us up every single morning or during the night, we also have to understand what is causing it.
Cats are naturally crepuscular, meaning they are most active at dusk and dawn.
However, cats will often adjust their sleeping schedule based on their environment and routine, just like us hoomans do! This means that we can take actionable steps to help our cat’s routine fall more in line with our own.
1. See Your Vet
If your cat suddenly starts having trouble during the night, such as meowing constantly or having litter box accidents, it could indicate pain and/or a medical issue.
You should speak with your vet if you notice any sudden changes in your cat’s behavior.
Behavioral problems or sudden behavior changes could be a sign of many medical issues and should always be taken seriously!
2. Play, Play & More Play!
Make an effort to really play with your cat at least once a day every single day. Even if it is just for 5 minutes at a time.
So many cats live mundane lives without any real stimulation and enrichment. This leads to stress and boredom, and some cats will eventually “act out” as a result.
This is not something we should blame our cats for. Instead, we should focus on changing the environment to fix the root of the problem.
Our cats need to expend their energy and be both mentally and physically stimulated on a daily basis.
Imagine how bored you would be if you were stuck in the house all day with nothing to do — no phone, Netflix, or Wifi! I’m sure you might start to act out a bit too.
And it will be even more beneficial if you can play with your cat a little bit before bedtime and then give them their last meal of the day (depending on your feeding schedule).
Cats will generally have a spike in energy before mealtime, making it a great time to play with them. Cats tend to become more tired after mealtime.
When you consider the daily habits of the African Wildcats from which domestic cats descend (Felis Sylvestris Libica, specifically), this makes a lot of sense.
A wildcats schedule tends to look something like this:
- Hunt their prey
- Feast on their kill
- Groom themselves
- Sleep
- Repeat
So if you can get your cats natural energy cycles to line up with your bedtime, then your cat may just let you get some sleep for once!
3. Adjust Mealtimes
Your cat may wake you up every night because they are actually very hungry!
In general cats should eat at least every 12 hours or else their stomach can become very acidic, which can lead to nausea and vomiting.
So consider how often your cat is getting fed and how long they have to wait between meals. Because if your cat is going a long time without food they may actually be very hungry—and we obviously don’t want our pets to go hungry, right?!
You can try increasing the meals your cat is getting by splitting up your cat’s daily food into smaller portions.
This may also help adjust your cat’s schedule to be more aligned with your own.
If you give your cat their last meal of the day just before your bedtime not only is your cat less likely to go hungry overnight, but cats also tend to get tired and rest after mealtime.
And it is even better if you can play with your cat just before giving them their last meal of the day.
You can also leave puzzle toys out during the night with some dry food or yummy treats to provide your cat with something fun to do in case they get bored while you’re trying to catch some Zs.
**Any change in feeding should be done gradually and with the guidance of your veterinarian.
4. Ignore Them
Once you’ve ensured that all of your cat’s needs are being met (A.K.A. your cat is completely healthy, well-fed, and given adequate stimulation & enrichment on a daily basis), your cat may still try to wake you occasionally, especially at first.
Your cat has learned that this tactic has worked in the past to get food or attention of some kind. Cat parents often don’t realize when they are actually reinforcing unwanted behavior.
For example, If your cat wakes you up every morning at 5am by meowing in your face loudly, then you probably reinforced this behavior at some point.
We’ve all been there. Our cat won’t stop meowing or pawing at our face to get up and we’re just oh so tired. So we get up and feed our cat just to make them stop bothering us so we can go back to sleep! Well by doing that we essentially just communicated to our cat that this is a good way to get food. This behavior has been reinforced.
Every single time we respond to this behavior, we are strengthening it more.
It’s really no wonder that so many cats start picking up on this and decide to keep trying it!
So how do we fix this once we’ve made the mistake of giving in? By IGNORING IT.
Don’t respond to your cat in any way. This means no yelling either.
Remember, it’s not your cat’s fault!
It won’t be easy, and it may seem to get worse before it gets better (old habits die hard, as they say). But if you stop reinforcing this behavior, your cat will eventually stop seeing it as a way to get attention from you.
Some More Helpful Tips:
👉 Automatic Feeders can teach your cat over time to associate food with the automatic feeder instead of you. You may soon find your cat sitting by the automatic feeder all morning waiting for their food. Automatic feeders are also beneficial because their food will always be given at the same time (the automatic feeder won’t give in to your cat no matter how annoying they get!)
👉 Blackout shades to help keep light from coming in that will signal to your cat that it’s daytime.
👉 Lock your cat outside of your room at night. They should still have everything they might need and free reign of the house during the night (this is not meant to be a punishment, just a way to help you get some sleep).
👉 Use earplugs, noise cancelling headphones, or a white noise machine temporarily while your cat learns that waking you up every night will not be rewarded with extra attention and/or food.
