If your cat has the annoying habit of waking you up at night, it is vital to get him to stop this behavior. However, it is vital not to punish him, which will only deteriorate your relationship, on the contrary, make sure that your cat can stop by using softer solutions.
Here’s everything you can do to stop your cat from waking you up during the night so you can sleep normally without your cat’s nightly complaints.
How do I get my cat to stop waking me up? What to implement
Several solutions can be implemented so that your cat is calm at night or at least does not disturb you. Here’s everything you can do to stop your cat meowing or scratching at the door at night .
Ignore it
This is the basis, because if you answer, even negatively, he will take it for a success. For him it’s a sign that you hear him and that you react to his meows, so make sure you don’t answer him and keep total silence until he stops, he should normally take the habit of not meowing anymore.
Generally, your cat will meow less and less or scratch the door less and less and eventually give up, as the days go by, he will lose his habit and leave you to sleep easy. But if that’s not enough, then bear with me, there are plenty of other solutions to stop your cat from waking you up during the night.
Set up a bedtime routine
Setting up a bedtime routine, like with children, will allow your cat to understand the difference between day and night, the younger your cat, the more effective this technique will be for your cat who will understand that night is for sleep.
For example, you can slow down the activities before going to sleep, to allow your cat to understand the transition between day and night and to make him understand that it is time to sleep, especially in summer when he will naturally be more restless during at night, wanting to hunt and take advantage of the night to bring back prey.
Close the door
If you sleep with your cat or he has access to the room, he will inevitably be more likely to wake you up while you sleep. So if your cat does, close the door and if he scratches it, place foil or cat repellent so he gets disgusted and stays away. You can also apply a cat repellent to leave you alone while you sleep;
He may continue to meow for the first few days but if you ignore him as said before, he will completely stop his little game and let you sleep until morning.
Feed it
By feeding your cat before sleeping, you allow him to have a full stomach and avoid his meows to eat in the early morning. Giving him food he likes before sleeping is ideal for keeping him calm and quiet. Feeding him also helps him digest, reducing his energy during the night and promoting his sleep.
If your cat is used to you giving it food when it begs, it will naturally be in the habit of begging. So feed him at fixed times and not when he wants so that he does not make the association between his requests and the results he obtains.
Put a cat flap
If your cat is used to waking you up to go outside, you can put a cat flap so that he can come and go independently, a second solution is to leave the shutters ajar if it’s safe, finally, if your cat goes out all night ( and it’s not dangerous ) you can take him out before going to sleep so that he doesn’t complain.
Make it spend
By exercising your cat, he will naturally be less active during the night, so start by exercising him in the late afternoon with games such as electric fish or the cat wheel, allowing him to play autonomy.
Young cats often need a lot of exercise, because in their young age, cats exert themselves to practice hunting. So if your cat doesn’t exert itself, it will often clamor to play at night, as the night is a place they love to hunt, their eyes giving them a big advantage over their prey.
Use ultrasound
Ultrasound for cats consists of emitting a noise to repel them, they are available in the form of a torch, this is not the solution to put in place in the first place because it does not treat the problem at the root and is very unpleasant for them , but it remains a solution to keep on hand if your cat is acting up.
Ultrasound for cats does not damage their hearing but is very unpleasant, so if your cat really does not want to understand anything, you can use it to get some peace.
Create his personal space
A cat that has a personal space will be less likely to want to see you at night. By personal corner, I mean a basket, a litter box, its food and water corner, ideally a cat tree and toys to complete the picture.
Make sure that his personal space is in a quiet place, where he will not be disturbed, and healthy and above all that it is personal to him because cats hate to share their territory, being territorial animals by nature, and even more so if the yours is neutered.
Be careful that he is not afraid of anything
Maybe your cat is afraid of something and wants to come home to you to feel safe, in which case there are several things to put in place.
First of all, if your cat has his personal space in a cramped place or near a source of noise, such as the fridge or the dishwasher for example, make sure that he is away from it.
If your cat is afraid of another animal, get them to tame by spending time with both of them and going gradually so that they associate their presence with positive things.
There may also be objects that scare him, such as a cucumber , take a good look at what could potentially scare him and remove it from his field of vision.
He can also tolerate loneliness badly, which is the case with the most social cats and in this case, your cat will absolutely have to get used to it as he will understand that it is only temporary. You can also make your cat have a presence, like watching a TV show as long as the sound doesn’t keep him from sleeping.
Give him a scratching post
If your cat scratches at the door, he may need to scratch, so in this case, make sure he has a scratching post available to always scratch his claws are damaging the furniture and the door or even even the couch.
Let him sleep with you
If you and your cat are very close, you can let him sleep with you, as long as you don’t mind, you can put his basket at the foot of the bed for example and leave the door open so he can go out at any time. which will prevent him from coming to wake you up by meowing or licking you so that you open the door for him, especially since cats can get up very early, see at night, when they love to hunt in the state. savage.
Give him something to calm down
If he is very agitated by nature, you can give him calming cat candies which will allow him to calm down, but in any case you will have to solve the problem in depth so that he stops agitating and wake you up on the way.
If nothing really helps, and he shows signs of constant nervousness, like chewing on the blankets , take him to the behaviorist so he can stop his habits. Badly weaned cats often have maladaptive behaviors and if yours has had a bad weaning, the behavioral problems must be corrected quickly so that they do not become anchored in the personality of your tender feline.
How do I get my cat to stop waking me up? The final word
If your cat keeps waking you up, it’s vital that the problem can be addressed at the root, so keep an eye on your cat’s behavior to stop the problem for good. The time when the cat wakes you is also a good indicator of why it wakes you up, usually to go out at night, to join you in the middle of the night and to eat when it does at dawn.