Attention seeking cat

[jon1968]

My parents cat has apparently started waking them up in the middle of the night - doesn't want anything or want to go out, has food, water, cat crunch, a litter tray etc but it just miaows until they wake up then it goes back to sleep?

Is there anyway to stop this? My advice of a swift clout round the head has been rejected.

[yinyang]

Our cat started to do this when she got a bit old and mad. Like yours she would howl until we all got up then go back to sleep.
Somebody told us that she looked upon us as her kittens and was gathering us together to do a head count - once she had reassured herself that we were all ok she was quite happy. We just learned to live with it ,I'm afraid.

No doubt a more knowledgable person will give you a more correct answer but i always liked the idea of this wee cat checking on her huge, two legged kittens.

[jon1968]

Thanks yinyang, they�ll be delighted to hear that!! Lol
It is old and has always been a bit mad!

If it were mine I�d be digging a hole for it right now the little s0d!!

[annavc]

Not sure I can offer much advice except to just ignore it and and hope it gets bored. Although having said that my cat decided to jump on my chest at 3am this morning and started headbutting me. When i turned over, tipping him off me in the process he proceeded to lie down actually on my head and promptly starting snoring in my ear! Don't you just love em!

[jon1968]

Thanks Anna I think they�re all nuts and spoilt and have a far too easy life!!
Just spoke to my Mum and they�ve tried ignoring it but it just doesn�t give up!
And apparently it�s not a normal �miaow� (it doesn�t �speak� much anyway, except when she�s feeding it) but it�s a �whiney growly miaow� - whatever that is!!??

[drgnrdr]

Allot of ppl don't have the patience to ignore the cat...have them checked by vet first, when behavior changes it sometimes means something medically. Once that is addressed, then everything is well, they'll need to start to ignore it, it has gotten what it wants, so the habit/routine has been formed...you have to be more persistent than they are..also shut the door on them, out of your room, keeps them off your head.
Make sure they get exercise during the day, and you don't have to feed them food in a bowl make eating a hunt, put food in a ball that is from a pet store, they have to roll around to get food, or cut L shaped holes in tissue box, enough for paw to get in and kibble inside. 2 to 3 sessions of play 10-15 minutes, use stick with string or feathers or something to get moving. Chek this out..hope it opens for you... http://www.hssv.org/LIBRARY/PDF/Behavior/faq_c at_night.pdf

[southerngirl]

If your cat is old then it may well be senile. When that happens cats get a bit scared of big places, even those they are used to. Your parents could try making a small space for it that it can nestle into and feel more secure. That usually works quite well.

[Nummy]

Apparently as cats get older they can become more insecure, and want physical contact or attention on some way to reassure them...

as southerngirl say, try making a small secure place for her...maybe next to the bed, (maybe even giving her an old shirt or something with her owners scent on) so she feels safe.

[Kimmiebear]

Close the door.... she may yowl but she will get bored. Maybe confine her to a room overnight. My project cat pees at night behind the furnature so he gets loked in the office so he won't. Confine the cat to a room at night with a litter tray and some water. Is she spayed? It could be due to a heat cycle. I think you said that she is old though. They could always try a water gun or a tin can with pennies in it. Cats tend to not like noises like that and it would deter it. Physial correction doesn't have the same effect on cats as it does on other animals. They are more likely to resent the person doing it. A loud noise or a water pistol os much better. Hope your parents can get some sleep.
Cheers
Kim

[wolf63]

my vet advised me to ignore my late cat or use a water pistol. I tried ignoring him, but he pawed/hit me, scratched me, sat on me, bit me etc so ignoring him was hard.

The problem with the water pistol is that by the time you come to your senses after a rude awakening at 3am, trying to find the pistol in the dark and taking aim - the cat is usually half way down the stairs.

George was old and senile when all this started and it drove me nuts.

I once moved my hand to sweep him out of the way, must have used too much force because he went flying through the air and landed on the portable TV. Two nano-seconds later he was back on my bed sitting on my head.

I am really a dog person - but with a cat you never get bored of its antics - frustrated and driven insane maybe, but never bored.

[WendyS]

If it's an elderly cat I'm afraid you can do little about it as they often get a form a dementia and wake feeling confused and insecure, just as an elderly person sometimes does. A little bit of reassurance and stroking will probably help, but short of allowing the cat to actually sleep on the bed where it will be constantly aware of human presence, they will probably have to live with it.

[jon1968]

Thanks all.

Drgnrdr, thanks for your comprehensive answer and the link, I can take it to the vet when I�m down there next week but it seems strange it�s only just started behaving this way, my ill-informed opinion is that it�s psychological rather than medical and it�s just spoilt - it�s always been a lazy little so and so and it�s so thick if it had to forage for it�s food it�d probably starve!!

Thank you Southerngirl, it�s 9 in human years (don�t know what that is in cat years) and has always been daft! They�ve got various well prepared �hidey holes� it goes into which it uses as comfort zones for when there�s thunder or fireworks.

Thank you too Nummy, it doesn�t sleep in their room -it could if it wanted to and does during the day - but even if they talk to it from the bed it doesn�t stop whining until one of them has physically got out of bed and followed it into the living room where it promptly goes and curls up on it�s favourite chair to go back to sleep - but only when one of them is in there with it - and it only does it once a night?!

Hi Kim and thank you, the one thing guaranteed to make it howl and scratch and dig up the carpet is to lock it in somewhere, it�s always had a free run! It�s old and has been spayed so it�s not on heat - I like the idea of a loud noise - something like a shotgun going off whilst being pointed at it perhaps!!? ;-)

Thanks wolf, not sure what sort of a shot my mum and dad are - the wallpaper is likely to get ruined - it�s just a pain for them that it takes a minute to sort out but that minute happens to be at 3am!!

[jon1968]

Hi Wendy and thanks for your reply, it can sleep where it likes and has access to every room in the house but it insists on sitting outside their open bedroom door miaowing �til they get up - it�s always been confused though!!

I think we can just conclude that it�s gone mad - lets see if survives next weekend when I�m down there housesitting �..it might have an unfortunate �accident� if it wakes me up!!! ;-))

Thanks again to all of you for your help and taking the time to answer.

Blimey, I�m all typed out!!

J