Question:
Ok, this is something that I have been dealing with for over 2 years and I have finally decided that I am not going to deal with it anymore!
My cats have 3 feeding times, in the morning, at dinner, and right before bed time. Max has been waking me up as early as 4:15am to eat his breakfast even though he usually eats around 11:00pm the night before. He starts by tapping my face, hand, etc. with his paw until I wake up. If that doesn't work, he finds something to destroy, like a receipt, piece of cardboard, etc. If that doesn't work, which it usually does, he will come over and jump on me and walk around on my stomach until I get up. Now, I know that he has been training me to get up when he wants but I am tired of it and my sleep is suffering. He is not really hungry I don't think because he goes much longer during the day without food than he does overnight. Anyway, Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to break this habit? I would just like to be able to feed him at 7:00am when I get up...only 3 hours more is all I need. I have no idea what to do.


Answer:
How about shutting him out of the bedroom at night? I know it's kinda mean, but it won't take too long for him to realize that he's not going to get fed at 4 in the morning. After a week or two you could let him back in and if he starts up again, just shut him out again.


Answer:
I make sure Hank has dry food available @ all times. That way she can snack all night long if she likes while I sleep.


Answer:
he will come over and jump on me and walk around on my stomach until I get up
well no wonder you have stomach pain in the morning!
I have the same problem with my dogs! I beg & plead with them to just let me sleep but it doesn't work...Koko gets on my chest and jumps up & down (good thing she only weighs 2.5 lbs)...I've tried locking them out of the room and they just stand at my door and bark so I'm assuming your cat would do the same or even more annoying scratch on the door! It's worth a try though...
I've just come to the realization that my pets have ME trained just the way they like it and I have to deal with it I would try to ignore them for as long as I can for 1/2 hour later each morning until you're finally at 7am...sucks doesn't it?


Answer:
Candy Aspen does the same thing. although he waits for his daddy to get up to feed him in the mornings when Im not home... but when I am he insists on waking me up. he will mostly meow like crazy.. a little at first then more if I dont get up.
maybe when he does that.... get up pretend like your going to feed him and go back to bed. see if maybe he changes his mind that its not worth it to wake you up. they say to do this with babies to keep them sleeping thru the night. well to give them water instead of milk in the middle of the night when they wake up and cry. hope it helps!!


Answer:
Thanks everyone...
Nikki, I couldn't lock him out at night for a few reasons. First, the next person he would bother would be my bf's mom and that would be rude. Secondly, he would try to scratch the door or carpet and lastly, I would feel horrible. I know that sounds really bad but he is very anxious about seperation (he even goes in the bathroom with me) and I think that he would get very upset.
Neuro, I can't leave food out for Max because he completely gorges himself on it. Even when he was a kitten he would stuff himself and then come back for more. I think it is because he was a runt and pretty much abandoned by him mom when he was younger. I'm sure that his siblings pushed him around (especially when food was present) so now he takes as much as he possibly can. Sydney would be fine with free-feeding but Max would be grossly overweight.
Sue...thanks for the explanation for my tummy problems. The thing is, I can't ignore him...the more I ignore him, the more persistant he is.
Pam, I have tried faking it but it doesn't work!
I guess I was looking for some kind of behavior modification that I could implement. He's a smart cat...almost too smart.


Answer:
My friend's cat used to knock things off her dresser @ 4 am to get a snack. When she got him a companion, it stopped.
But Max has feline company, so I am not sure what else to suggest?
Perhaps playing a radio would help calm him down. I suspect it's attention, not food, he truly wants, & the radio can keep him company human-style while you sleep. I know it sounds weird, but it works in my experience with chinchillas & racehorses, so why not give it a try?


Answer:
I already tried that but it was mostly classical...maybe he needs an actual DJ? Max will also knock things off of my dresser, desk, night stand, etc. I even tried spraying him with water and that didn't work.


Answer:
Hmmm...does he have a special treat that he especially likes? Maybe you could give him a treat at 7 when you feed him, but not if he wakes you up at 4. Maybe he'll learn that if he waits he'll get the treat. That's how we got Rye to stay still long enough to shave him....we gave him some of his favorite treats and that kept him happy long enough to shave the mats out.
Does he know what "No!" means? Could you try just repeatedly saying "No!" when he bugs you and putting him on the floor until he clues in that you're not getting up. It's still work on your part, but hopefully eventually he'll give up.


Answer:
What about an exciting new toy? They are pricey but cat trees always kept my 5 cats happy through the night- no begging or fighting!!!