Meowing at night...

This is a place to gain some understanding of cat behavior and to assist people in training their cats and dealing with common behavior problems, regardless of the method(s) used. Keep in mind that you may be receiving advice from other cat owners and lovers...not professionals. If you have a major problem, always seek the advice of a trainer or behaviorist!

Hunter- *Dreamboat- #82*

Master of- Disaster!

Purred: Fri Jul 30, '10 6:18am PST


	I'm so tired! Hunter meowed most of the night last night. I don't know why. I was up at 3, 4, 5 and then I got fed up and woke up at 5:30 to get ready for work. Nothing distracts him. I got up, he ran to me. I put him in bed with me, he jumped off, ran to the livingroom and started again. He did it Wednesday night too. I feel like a walking zombie. I thought he was hungry, so I fed him early @5:00am. He stopped for about 15 minutes, then it started again. Thats when I got up. The minute I'm up, hes fine. Chases his tail, is stuck to me like glue, the normal morning routine. How can I get him to stop so I can get some sleep? He has kibble overnight so he shouldn't be starving. We do have stray/feral cats outside my house that yeowl, and fight, sream etc... Could that be part of it? Hunter is fixed. But sometimes I think he has the symptoms of a tom cat trying to "roam". I know he is fixed for sure, I brought him to the vets to get it done. Maybe they didn't do it correctly? Hunter goes to the vets regularly, everything is fine. He eats, uses his litter box. No problems. I've never had a cat like Hunter. He expresses himself in so many different ways that I don't understand. Sometimes Im just at a loss, I don't know what to do. Edited by author Fri Jul 30, '10 6:30am PST

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Pookie

Psycho-kitty

Purred: Fri Jul 30, '10 12:53pm PST


	Hi Hunter, Here's a link to a cat behaviorist's website. Maybe she'll have some tips that will help? http://catbehaviorassociates.com/try-this-if-kitty-wont-let-you-slee p.html I don't really have any advice--I sleep with my bedroom door closed and a fan on so I don't hear Pookie. If he meows loud enough for me to hear him over the fan, I know something's wrong and check on him. I do wonder if Hunter's is related to the cats he's seeing outside, though. Is there a way to keep him from getting under the shades/curtains/window hangings so he can't see them? Good luck! Edited by author Fri Jul 30, '10 12:55pm PST

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Ambassador at- the Kitty U.N.

Purred: Fri Jul 30, '10 2:08pm PST


	My guess is that this is related to your "I'm bored" post. A lot of nights right around bedtime BK will start meowing at me. It usually means he wants me to get up and play with him and give him attention. I'm fortunate that he doesn't do it in the middle of the night. Have you tried playing before bed to tire him out? The only other thing I can suggest is another kitten. At least in pairs they keep themselves occupied, but I know that's not always the best solution for the people involved, even if it might be for the kitty.

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Finnegan- (Finney)

I am a- CARNIVORE! Not a- Cornivore!

Purred: Fri Jul 30, '10 2:28pm PST


	I've never had a cat like Finn and Lacey also. They do the same thing! I have to close the bedroom door and put earplugs in! They bash on the door and try to break it down. They don't want anything in particular, they just hate the door being closed. But if I leave it open, forget it! Lacey jumps on my head, Finn scratches the bottom of my mattress, they drive me nutso. the only thing I can tell you is that mine are only a little over 2 years old and are definitely a little more mellow than they used to be. So try to be patient, it stinks not getting sleep, I know. Use some earplugs like I do. Finnegan was so bad when I first got him at a couple of months old, I had to put his food and litter box in the bathroom and close the door on him at night. I hated it but he was truly terrible and destroyed my house and cried all night long.

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Mufasa

not really a- lion

Purred: Fri Jul 30, '10 4:09pm PST


	I see Hunter is six months old? He probably does need play time before bed, to wear off some of that kitten energy. I was 10 months old when I got here, and Mommie said I talked all the time, but especially loudly at night when she was trying to sleep. She wasn't sure what to do either. I would roam the house, tackle the kitchen curtains, and yowl. She tried everything she could think of, including play in the evening, and nothing seemed to help. Finally, she decided she would just have to get used to it and try to tune me out. But that didnt' work so well, as she tends to have insomnia anyway and my vocalizations didn't help. Then suddenly, at about age two, I stopped! Now I only occasionally meow at night, although I still make my presence known during various times of the day! Mommie says I must have just outgrown my night noise-making. Hopefully Hunter will too. In the meantime, evening play won't hurt to try!

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Boris

I'm cute and I- know how to use- that :)

Purred: Sun Aug 1, '10 4:28pm PST


	Agreed with the above. Also, with a kitty who cries for attention at night, the last thing you want to do is: talk back, get up and pet them, pick them up and put them on the bed. It sounds counterintuitive, but anything other than ignoring the crying only reinforces the idea that if Hunter cries, he can manage to wake you up. The only thing that has ever worked with Boris was to ignore, ignore, ignore the night crying and general shenenigans (he would knock things off the furniture, and also bat at my face when the crying alone wouldn't work). For a while, that only made the behavior worse (it's a phenomena the behaviorists call "extinction period"), but once Boris realized that no matter how loud he was, mom was asleep, something unexpected happened: once he learned "mom" goes to bed at 11 and doesn't get up until 7 or 8, no matter what he did, he started dividing his time between sleeping on the bed with me, and bringing toys up on the foot of the bed so he could play while he waited for "mom" to wake up (it was the cutest thing ever). Nowadays, we have 2 cats, so he divides his time evenly between sleeping on the bed with me and playing with the other cat in the wee hours of the morning. Needless to say, Gracie (our other kitty) was never a problem for me at night, but she sure would exasperate Boris when he would try to sleep with his mom and she wouldn't let him!

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Hunter- *Dreamboat- #82*

Master of- Disaster!

Purred: Mon Aug 2, '10 5:25am PST


	Well I think I figured it out. My dad brought over some "meow mix" (yuck) to feed the stray cats outside my house. And at night I close the door, don't want Hunter getting into it. Well he sits infront of the door crying, waiting for me to open it. He can smell that stuff a mile away!!! its definately getting better though. Not as loud. I ignore him. And then at night he carries/drags his toys all over the place. I woke up to a red furry mouse on my bed, and his fleece wand toy in the livingroom. he is so different from my other angel kitty Hanna. I have to learn how Hunter is and not rely on what I learned with Hanna. Two completely different cats!!

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Hunter- *Dreamboat- #82*

Master of- Disaster!

Purred: Mon Apr 9, '12 4:28am PST


	Its happening again, almost 2 years later. I'm exhausted once again. Now, I know what the problem is but I really don't know how to resolve it. For the past week, since its been nice out "Meow meow meow meow meow" all night long. The longer he gets ignored, the louder he gets. I've been up since 2:00am. At that point I just said forget it. I got out his toy and he was fine!!! Not meowing. He played for HOURS. I feel as if my hand is attached to his wand toy. Thats all he wants at night, is to play. I play with Hunter all the time. I come home from work and I play with him for hours. Literally, hours. He doesn't get tired. I'm going to try to get him to run, jump, leap in the air tonight before I go to bed. But honestly I do that everyday. I need some sort of automatic toy that goes on at night to keep him occupied. I can't keep on getting up at 2:00am to play with him. I'm exhausted. He has so much energy. Wish he'd give me some! Any suggestions on good toys that'll keep him busy??

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