There's No Snooze Button On A Cat Wanting Breakfast.

Are you one of those cat loving people who are woken up in the wee hours of the morning by your furry feline rolling around on your face?  Their cold little nose stuck up one of your nostrils, their tails caressing your ear while they purr loud enough to wake the neighbors.  Possibly you have one of the more aggressive cats who gets a running start before they plow into your face with their heads or stand on your chest "fluffing" you with great purpose and intent as if you are a big lump of dough?  So, why is your cat sounding reveille like they own the house?  Pretty much it's because you, the parent, have taught it bad habits.  At some point you made kitty think it was ok to wake you.  I know that's difficult to swallow.  In prior blogs I have talked about cats being awake to hunt at dawn and dusk when their prey is up and about.  Well, if kitty is up at the crack of dawn then he may think you need to join him.  

There are some things that can be done to alleviate this early morning problem:

1. Install blackout blinds or curtains to prevent sunlight in the room where cat sleeps. This may help prevent the sunrise from triggering the cats instincts.

2. If the cat is fed on a schedule, you can change the schedule so that the morning feeding is later in the day and the evening feeding is right before bedtime. In this way, you can gradually train the cat to expect to eat later in the day so you don't get those early morning wake up calls.  It will take several weeks before the cat learns its new schedule. If you free feed, it would be advisable to fill the cat bowls with fresh food and water immediately before bedtime.

3. Try to prevent boredom by spending a lot of time playing with your kitty. Play, play, play.  Lots of attention and lots of exercise makes for a very happy kitty.  Lots of toys to keep him/her entertained is also a good thing.

4. The last suggestion is the easiest fix:  Don’t allow your cat to sleep in the room with you.  Most rooms in your house have a really cool device known as a Bedroom Door.  The bedroom door has two positions:  Open and closed.  If you don't want kitty coming into the room while you are sleeping, then put it in the closed position.  I know this might be a hard thing for some cat lovers to do, however, your cat will adjust and find a new, comfortable place to sleep.  

Last little note:  If your cat begins taking your door off the hinges or removing the door knob, you might consider hiding your tool box!!

Have a purrable day...

Nick