Three reasons why a cat will always wake up its owner in the morning. Just don’t think that he decided to replace the owner’s alarm clock

Purrs are amazing creatures. They fill our lives with positivity, bright colors, allow us to get rid of the feeling of loneliness and experience love.

It is believed that they can save us from depressive moods and help us communicate with the other world. What has really been proven is that purrs are excellent orderlies. They catch rats and mice, which are carriers of various infectious diseases.

Despite all the advantages these animals have, there are also some disadvantages that bring discomfort to everyday life. Sometimes the cat doesn't let you sleep in the morning. Then you feel tired and irritable all day due to lack of sleep. Is it possible to improve the situation? Let's try to figure it out.

How can a cat learn to wake you up in the morning?

The script of this drama is as follows. In the morning the cat gets bored and decides to play. For example, he throws something off the table with a crash. You immediately get up and decide to feed him so that he will let you soak in the bed. The cat understands: if you wake up a person, he will give you something to eat. Next time, the mustachioed one will take note of this and will, with special zeal, throw off everything that comes under his paw.

There is another scenario. Let's say the cat didn't want to play, but just wanted to have a snack early in the morning. He climbs into your bed or starts meowing loudly. You get up and give him food. It worked! So, next time you have breakfast, you need to do the same!

Both of these examples clearly demonstrate how we ourselves reinforce the habit of waking us up in the morning in our pets. So the surest way is to change your behavior and break the cause-and-effect relationship between attempts to wake you up and the reward for this in the form of food.

Top How to stop your cat from waking you up in the morning?

The first thing you need to do is make sure that the cat gets his breakfast regardless of whether you wake up or not. This means that food should not be given by you, but by an automatic feeder .

An automatic feeder is a great way to stop your pet from bothering you in the morning.

Program it so that it opens just when your pet starts to bother you. If this time falls in the middle of the night or early morning, it can be adjusted. Simply set your meal service time a few minutes later each week. If at some point the trick did not work, install it again earlier and switch to a later version a little later.

This technique will help your pet understand that it is not necessary to wake you up to get a portion of food. After all, she will appear on her own. Scheduled!

Top What other ways are there?

If the option above does not work, it makes sense to try other methods.

How to stop my cat from waking me up early

Now that you know the reason why your cat wakes you up in the morning, here are some tips and helpful tricks you can use to prevent your cat from waking you up in the morning.

• Take dark curtains or blackout curtains. This will prevent sunlight from entering the room where your cat sleeps, so your cat won't notice that it's actually daytime until you open the blinds.
• If your cat wakes you up out of boredom, don't forget to keep him entertained during the day while you're away with toys, scratching posts, brushing them... However, if you're short on time, enrich the environment by providing your cat with some interactive games, mind games, cat activities grass or cat feeders that they can interact with on their own. Tire your cat as much as possible before bedtime by playing with her.
• Feed your cat right before bed and wait a little while after you get up in the morning. This process may take several weeks, but you will notice your cat adjusting their schedule so that they need food later in the morning.
• Use positive reinforcement at the right time. This means that when your cat meows or tries to wake you up, ignore it. This may seem difficult, but you will need to switch up positive reinforcement during times when your cat is silent. If your cat meows to wake you up, try petting her when she is quiet and has stopped meowing. This will make it clear that they will only be noticed when they are quiet.
• Remember that closing the bedroom door, disgusting or scolding the cat will not bring good results. Be patient, loving and try to understand the psychology of cats. These are the best tools when trying to solve a problem.

Hanging blackout curtains

How to stop a cat from getting up early? Create an artificial night! The first rays of the sun are a signal about the coming of a new day, which the pet perceives in the same way as we do. He may wake up with them and want to have breakfast or play.

To prevent this from happening, you can hang special blackout curtains and close them at night. And then, with the onset of early morning, the pet will think that it is still night and it is not time to get up yet.

Blackout curtains will help create an artificial night so that the cat doesn’t bother you Up We organize evening games

To prevent the cat from disturbing you in the morning, you can keep him busy with active games the night before. The more effort you put in, the better the effect will be.

hunting are best suited . After all, it is after this that cats usually go to sleep.

Up We provide entertainment for the mustachioed

How to wean your cat from waking up early in the morning? Provide toys, and then instead of waking you up, she will have more interesting things to do. Just keep in mind: toys should not create loud sounds, otherwise the effect will be the same.

A good option is interactive games with food . They will solve two problems at once: they will be excellent entertainment, and at the same time they will help you get food on your own in the morning, and then the need to wake you up will disappear by itself.

Toys with food are great entertainment for cats Up

Why does the cat meow and wake you up in the morning?

Hunger

The main source of the problem is the cat's desire to eat early in the morning. When a cat feels hungry, it behaves restlessly, constantly tries to attract the owner's attention and begins to meow frequently. Some people wean their pets from early awakenings associated with the desire to eat by giving them a double portion of food in the evening. But such a measure is not effective, since soon the animal will eat 2 servings at once, and in the morning it will start asking again. Owners should accustom their cat to feeding on a schedule. The digestive system of representatives of the cat family works at a special pace that must be adhered to.

After eating food, a cat needs 6 to 8 hours to feel hungry again. In order for a cat to stop waking up a person in the morning, it is necessary to correctly calculate the time of evening feeding.

Impact of stress

Under the influence of negative emotions, a pet behaves restlessly and can wake up its owners.
Moving, changing the feeding container, and other factors can have a negative impact on the mental state of a kitten and an adult feline. With the constant influence of stress, the animal loses peace and can awaken the owner at the drop of a hat. If the owners woke up in the morning from the meowing of a cat, then they should not scold or punish her; experts recommend setting up a special secluded place in which she could retire and feel safe.

Anxiety: does it affect the problem?

If your cat wakes you up at night, it may be anxiety. This phenomenon is associated with the lack of clear boundaries in the house regarding the territory. In the understanding of a domestic animal, the residential area is divided into the following areas:

• area serving as a refuge;
• place for eating;
• protected area.

Cats clearly separate their sleeping territory from their owner's. If the latter arranges a comfortable sleeping place for the cat, then she will not climb into the owners’ bed and will not disturb her all night and early in the morning. A cat may become restless not only in the absence of a safe and comfortable place to sleep, but also in the presence of loud birdsong, active movements on the street, and under the influence of other external factors that may be less noticeable to humans.

A special rhythm of life

The early awakening of a pet is associated with its rhythm of life and its relationship to the family of nocturnal predators.
Before purchasing a cat, it is worth considering that representatives of this family are nocturnal predators, so it is normal for them to get up at 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning. Such pets are constant and quickly get used to living according to a certain schedule. Over the years, pets have adapted to living together with humans, but sometimes they experience a malfunction, as a result of which the cat wakes up early in the morning, can yell loudly and disturbs the owners’ sleep.

It is possible to wean your cat from waking up early if you engage it in active play for several hours in the evening. This measure will delay sleep, so your pet will sleep longer in the morning.

Some members of the cat family do not sleep at night, which is explained by instinctive behavior. At the same time, they do not disturb the owner and behave quietly. It is important to consider that in autumn and winter cats spend less energy and sleep more. And also in autumn, cats are determined to gain weight, which is required for a comfortable life in the cold.

Pathological conditions

A cat can be woken up early in the morning due to some illness that causes the pet to feel severe pain. A sleepy person would rather scold a screaming cat than understand the true cause of the problem. If this situation repeats repeatedly, and other alarming symptoms are observed throughout the day, then you should consult a veterinarian. Pain syndrome is a consequence of such pathological processes presented in the table:

Don't forget to feed your kitty in the evening

It happens that the owners forget about dinner, and then the pet feels very hungry in the morning, which he lets know by loud meowing. The solution is to monitor the feeding regime . To avoid forgetting anything, you can set an alarm on your smartphone or buy an automatic feeder.

Top Ignore attempts to wake you up

Remember that when you stand up in response to meows and give your kitty food, you are rewarding this behavior . Therefore, the surest tactic is to ignore. Don't get out of bed. Do not add water. Do not pour in food. Continue to lie down, and to ensure you fall asleep, get earplugs and a sleep mask.

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Genetic memory

Another option for why a cat can wake up its owner is genetic memory. Previously, cats were wild, they got their own food when they hunted. They usually did this during twilight/night time. They retained a similar fact in their DNA memory. Early morning is similar to twilight, so at this time the purrs go on a “hunt” for prey, which the owner will put in their bowl.

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Train your pet to rest in another room

To prevent your cat from disturbing you in the morning, organize a place for him to relax in another room. Move the bed, toys and scratching post there. And then there will be less chance of waking up from a plaintive meow.

Up Try to establish a regime

It happens that a cat synchronizes with the owner’s sleep and wakefulness patterns. If it is violated, then the kitty will live according to the appropriate schedule. The reason for the nightly adventures may lie precisely in this. The surest way to correct the situation is to establish a regime yourself .

Top What to do if nothing works?

Sometimes cats' attempts to wake you up early are related to health . Perhaps your pet is feeling unwell or experiencing discomfort. Take your pet to the vet to be sure of its health.

If a visit to a specialist does not reveal any abnormalities, seek advice from a zoopsychologist. He will tell you how best to correct your kitty's behavior and ensure you have a healthy and restful sleep.

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Duration and characteristics of cat sleep

An ordinary domestic cat spends 15-18 hours a day sleeping, so it should not be surprising that this process is perfectly regulated in her. Why is a cat the world record holder for the longest sleep? The answer is simple: she is a predator, small and cute, but still a predator. The herd instinct is not inherent in her. The cat sneaks up on potential prey, catches it, eats it and immediately falls into a sweet sleep.

The length of a cat's sleep is influenced by many factors: playfulness, age, sociability, health status and the psychological atmosphere in the house. The biggest stress for a cat is the absence of its adored owner, to whom it is strongly attached on an emotional level. In this case, the purr can stay awake for days, not finding a place for itself. Overweight pets are unusually lazy - such a couch potato can sleep for 18-20 hours a day, waking up only to eat or go to the litter box.

Cat sleep is divided into two phases, which have their own physiological and behavioral characteristics. The first is napping. The cat lies very quietly, curled up in a ball or on its stomach, the animal's breathing and heartbeat are slowed down, metabolic activity and blood pressure drop. At this stage, the cat can be easily woken up, but after 20-30 minutes the doze turns into deep sleep. The cat's body completely relaxes and she usually rolls over on her side. At the same time, she can twitch her tail, ears and even release her claws, grumble or meow. Waking a cat that is in deep sleep is extremely difficult.

Do cats dream?

Scientists involved in research on cat sleep declare with certainty that cats dream. In them they experience familiar situations: hunting, fighting, exploring the area. Cats often experience rage and fear in their sleep. If a cat suddenly jumped up in a dream and began to catch a non-existent mouse, then it is quite possible that she had an unusual and very vivid dream.

And yet there is one more aspect that cannot be ignored. Do cats realize that their dreams are not reality? I would like to believe that yes. After all, when we wake up our furry pets during sleep, in which they are catching up with someone, twitching their paws, the cats wake up instantly and look at us confused, as if apologizing for their behavior. And we, of course, gladly forgive them.