How to Keep a Cat from Waking You Up
Understand why your cat disturbs you at night., Do not feed her., Remove temptation., Minimize your cat's access to vermin., Keep your cat out of your bedroom if possible.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Understand why your cat disturbs you at night.
Most cats have basic, obvious reasons for being up at night.
Your cat is most likely bored or hungry, or she may need you to clean the litter box.
Your cat is quite often left inside the house all day while you are at work or school with little interaction.
She sleeps all day and may be bored at night with no one to play with. -
Step 2: Do not feed her.
One of the worst things you can do is jump up as soon as she meows or pounces on you and feed her.
She will think that is the best way to get more food and will continue the behavior.
Holding out for a long time before giving in is also a bad choice.
This may even encourage her more than giving in right away.
She will think it is a game to see how long it will take you to finally wake up and give her food.
The delayed gratification is more like a chase, which speaks to her instincts.It's better not to give in at all. , Cats like to jump from high places and pounce on things.
When you are sleeping, you are the perfect target.
Look around your room to see if there are common places that your cat pounces from.
Look for high shelves, headboards, or dressers that she might climb on to get to you at night.
If possible, you can remove them from your room or re-position them so she can't jump on you.
If that isn't possible, put slippery cloth on them or cover them with items that she can't knock off.
This will deter her from jumping up to those areas and pouncing on you., If your cat wakes you up by bringing you vermin, you need to stop the behavior.
Keep the cat indoors at night if she's an indoor/outdoor feline.
This will remove her ability to bring you kills in the middle of the night.
If your cat uses a cat flap to have outside access instead of a litter box, this may not be an option.
If this is the case, keep the cat in the room that has the cat flap.
This will allow her to get out but keep her away from your bedroom so she can't bring you mice in the middle of the night. , You can try to give her access to a secure room at night.
Leave her in a nice, warm place with some food, water, and comfortable places to sleep.
This will keep her out of your room at night and let you get a good night's sleep.If you want to reward your cat for good behavior, you can reach a compromise.
Keep your cat out of your sleeping space on weeknights, but allow her in on weekends when you can at least sleep in if you are woken up during the night. -
Step 3: Remove temptation.
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Step 4: Minimize your cat's access to vermin.
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Step 5: Keep your cat out of your bedroom if possible.
Detailed Guide
Most cats have basic, obvious reasons for being up at night.
Your cat is most likely bored or hungry, or she may need you to clean the litter box.
Your cat is quite often left inside the house all day while you are at work or school with little interaction.
She sleeps all day and may be bored at night with no one to play with.
One of the worst things you can do is jump up as soon as she meows or pounces on you and feed her.
She will think that is the best way to get more food and will continue the behavior.
Holding out for a long time before giving in is also a bad choice.
This may even encourage her more than giving in right away.
She will think it is a game to see how long it will take you to finally wake up and give her food.
The delayed gratification is more like a chase, which speaks to her instincts.It's better not to give in at all. , Cats like to jump from high places and pounce on things.
When you are sleeping, you are the perfect target.
Look around your room to see if there are common places that your cat pounces from.
Look for high shelves, headboards, or dressers that she might climb on to get to you at night.
If possible, you can remove them from your room or re-position them so she can't jump on you.
If that isn't possible, put slippery cloth on them or cover them with items that she can't knock off.
This will deter her from jumping up to those areas and pouncing on you., If your cat wakes you up by bringing you vermin, you need to stop the behavior.
Keep the cat indoors at night if she's an indoor/outdoor feline.
This will remove her ability to bring you kills in the middle of the night.
If your cat uses a cat flap to have outside access instead of a litter box, this may not be an option.
If this is the case, keep the cat in the room that has the cat flap.
This will allow her to get out but keep her away from your bedroom so she can't bring you mice in the middle of the night. , You can try to give her access to a secure room at night.
Leave her in a nice, warm place with some food, water, and comfortable places to sleep.
This will keep her out of your room at night and let you get a good night's sleep.If you want to reward your cat for good behavior, you can reach a compromise.
Keep your cat out of your sleeping space on weeknights, but allow her in on weekends when you can at least sleep in if you are woken up during the night.
About the Author
Anna Wright
Creates helpful guides on DIY projects to inspire and educate readers.
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