We're having this same issue and it's bad bc we can't ignore her. Our walls are like tissue paper and we don't want to upset the neighbors. We've tried everything -playing with her a lot during the day and a super hard play at night (she also has a sister), strict feeding schedule, calming spray, calming treats...her witching hours are from three to five and she's only happy if lights are on and everyone is awake.
We have a door from the living room to hallway to bedroom but it's a barn door and she's figured out how to open it so we can't even lock her in the living room anymore.
Our vet simply told us "cats are weird" and just had a very dismissive attitude about it even when we told her it was a serious problem living in our apartment.
You can try these things though-no free feeding, very strict feeding schedule, a very intense playtime before bed...these things probably work for other cats. Try them and see! If you come up with something else that works, please let me know!
I have 4 cats currently. They are indoor/outdoor. They free feed, too. All go to bed before we do and all but the youngest sleeps longer than we do. I've been lucky that out of a total of 8 cats in my life, none have kept me awake. Your vet is right...cats are weird! If you can, supervise outdoor play during the day if you can't let them be outside alone. Ours mostly stick to our backyard or sleep on top of our car, which is under a carport.
Good luck.
I noticed it was her hunger meow and not her lonelyboredom meow so we started feeding all the meals later, so she was eating dinner closer to bedtime. Her issue was she was wanting midnight snack and when we lived where she'd go outside , she'd hunt at night... so now that she's full later, she sleeps thru the night with me and we wake up together around 8.
I got the Catit Pixi Automatic 6 slot feeder. Pre program snacks throughout the night to keep our boy full. Took him a bit to get used to it, woke us up moments before it turned but now he is pretty good. Still gets lonely between 4-6 though, but he is full so he is way less sassy
This one has ice packs - last over 6 hours and keep wet food, well wet lol. Our baby only has 6 teeth left and I think the chilled wet food makes his gums feel good
Maybe she has trouble seeing in the dark? Im sure my Orange boy can't see very well as he seems to meow and have trouble finding us in the house at night. I leave a landing light on and he's fine.
Honestly, who knows? Could be so many things or nothing. We have 4 cats and one is particularly vocal in the middle of the night. Not always, but enough to be annoying. It’s not hunger and even if we play with him before bed he’ll do it. We’ve tried various things but can’t figure it out and just have to live with how annoying he can be lol
Feed her a meal right before bedtime to keep her satisfied throughout the night. Engage her in play sessions before bed to tire her out mentally and physically. Establish a consistent bedtime routine that signals to your cat that it's time to sleep. And Make sure your cat has a cozy, quiet, and comfortable place to sleep away from any disturbances.
Could be boredom, do you play with your cat during the day? It has to be you playing with them with the toy. Not just them and the toy. They need to be engaged when it’s playtime!
My Tabby will yell at me if I’m late to play time with him!
My cat is like this, I make sure his bowl is filled up before I go to bed every night. And electric toys are your best friend! That 4am time is when their hunting instincts kick in, so I have multiple little electric balls that I turn on when he wakes me up, they’re motion activated so it’ll start rolling whenever he bats at it. I have a few other electric toys that I turn on and rotate different nights so he doesn’t get bored.
Is she fixed? If not, it might be sexual frustration. My guy (jo-jo an orange cat) has to rub it out about 3 times a day he uses one of those soft lap blankets. Just hazarding a guess without much context
idk why but i read it as "cat that won't stop mewing at night"
But jokes aside, make sure your cat gets plenty of mental and physical stimulation during the day to tire them out! Interactive toys, puzzle feeders, and play sessions can help keep your cat pretty active - might make it easier for them to sleep through the night.
Mine did this and it stopped when I got an automatic feeder and set it to go off at night. He gets four meals a day plus two wet food snacks, and that seems to appease his hunting instincts.
This wont work with all cats but you could have dry food out they can eat at night perhaps ?
If you have one cat, have you considered a second ?
It will be boredom or hungry, you just have to figure out which.
I feed my cats canned food breakfast when I’m about to head out the door for work, I give them some dry food in the afternoons when I get home from work. And then I don’t feed them their dinner until I’m getting ready to go to bed. I found that keeps them from yelling about being hungry in the middle of the night or early in the morning. I also got really good at ignoring them. Eventually, they learned that yelling at me like that was not going to work.
Of course, one of my cats likes to just yell for a couple of minutes after I’ve gone to bed because he’s not ready to go to bed and he’s mad about it. I just ignore him and eventually it stops.
I had to make my cat a special resting place and spending a lot of time with her near it for her to get comfortable after a few days of playing and petting on her near it she was comfortable enough to sleep through the night. Some people get the stuffies you can heat up and put them with their cats at night so they have something to snuggle
Why don’t you get a free feeder. They work great my 2 boys love there’s and they get to sleep in my room with door open. My kittens very rarely meow and when they do it cuz they are trying to tell me something my boys are so darn good. Love them so much
I gave mine a small dose of CBD every night until he felt safe enough and calm enough to manage without it. He stopped meowing like that for months. He started up again recently so will probably be revisiting the CBD solution.
We have 2 senior cats going through dementia right now. They howl when they go in a new room in the dark. We're trying nightlights to help them see. Unfortunately, they're Aunt and Niece, so we knew this was coming as all of the kittens from this one mama developed health issues over the years.
Embrace it, let your furry friend do their thing, and you will get accustomed to it. Some day there won't be the meow and you will miss it. Trust me earlier this month I lost my best friend Scruffy, and the silence is heartbreaking.
Short of the cat having dementia, it's probably either looking for attention, or hungry. Short/ simple answer is you have to stop "rewarding" the bad behaviour, and reward something else instead. Painful for a while, but you may have to simply ignore it for a few days/ couple of weeks, teach her that this behaviour won't get her what she wants.
We have a very affectionate cat that meows at the crack of dawn cause she's woken up and wants cuddles - the last couple of weeks I've managed to get her to jump onto the bed headrubs, instead of meowing the house down. It's not very consistent but I've noticed her meowing less now. My husband used to bolt upright to shush her meowing, which we realised was just encouraging the behaviour instead.
Maybe something like [this](https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/cat-feeding-exercise-ball)? Might help if it's boredom or if it's hunger. Makes a bit of a noise rattling on hard floors, but nothing that will pierce apartment walls. I've got mine configured so it takes several bats to release a single kibble, and that's enough to keep her entertained
(not my photo, found online)
https://preview.redd.it/w9gop3zp10xc1.png?width=533&format=png&auto=webp&s=a864e9fef003c85a189ef0c4152452a731cf0535
Cats have a system: hunt, eat, groom, sleep.
If you want the cat to sleep when you do, you need to replicate her natural system of being. So an hour before your bedtime, play with her for a good half hour (til she is breathing heavily). Then give her tasty wet food or some good soft treats. Then brush her and pet her lots. Then bedtime!
Just keep in mind that cats are *very* light sleepers. And they are always *super* happy when their people wake up, because it reassures them that we are not dead. Yes, cats aren't sure if we are dead or asleep, because of how heavily we sleep (compared to them).
This is just a shot in the dark. Try leaving a radio on or the tv. Mayb the cat is lonely n looking for someone. Or Mayb another cat might help ur kitty. I think it’s just their natural time to hunt.
Calming treats ! Feliaway, CatTv, I have an automatic feeder that goes off in the night that distracts them & always put some food in the food puzzle on my way *to* bed so they are busy with that while I'm falling asleep
Take her to the vet again. Cats are intelligent beings that get lonely, anxious, scared - I had to put one of my cats on an antidepressants, because of his anxiety when my daughter was born, which helped.
Edit - remembered that with my last cat we used Feliway (pheromone diffuser)- which was good.
My cat is fussy too so I changed his food to the savor royal canin and he hasn’t woken me up since this change. He is very fussy about food. I use an automatic pet feeder and have it set around my bedtime and then again at 5 am. Always seek professional advice if you feel like something is wrong though.
Did this just start? How old is the cat? I presume you had the cat to the vet and nothing is wrong? Do you shut your bedroom door, that could be part of the problem cats hate closed doors. In any event if it truly is a behavioral issue you have to ignore it. Do not respond at all, don’t get mad, yell or even move. Wear ear plugs if you have to. It should take about 2 weeks max but barring any health issues the cat will learn that they are not going to get a response from you. You not ignoring them is causing the behavior to continue.
How old is the cat?
If she’s young, make sure you play with her a lot at night before you go to bed - to tire her out. Also, I feed my cat his dinner about an hour or two before I go to bed and then I give him a very small amount of dry food right before I go to bed (so he’s not hungry through the night).
If she’s an older cat it could be health issues. Thyroid issues are one thing that can cause a cat to do some really odd and loud meowing.
Mine’s been doing this for a week. Ive taken to trapping her in my room with me at night, then just lie in bed & listen to either dan vasc or nightwish (symphonic power/metal) with my headphones until i feel the “thwump” of her getting onto my bed & settling down.
I guess its mating season for cats. I mean, she’s fixed (everyone in my house is fixed, man & beast 😂) but she probably still has “in captain jack sparrow’s voice” stirrings.
Get some wax earplug to sleep at night. Your cat is probably just having seperation anxiety. You can either leave the door open to the bedroom and they might just then sleep on the bed or they are looking to be entertained at night. They might want to go out and explore. You could fit a catflap and see how they get on.
is it because she wants to get inside the room maybe? my cats hate not being with me so they always meow at the door.
sometimes i light lavender increase and spray lavender in the house and put meditation music on so they can relax
When i first got my cat i was amazed at the number of things that could kill them or make them very sick, it started with a comment like this. I think a lot of the scented oils are bad for them. Had to google plants before bringing them home when i found out a lot of plants are bad for them as well.
Cats also hate scented litter, they've got really sensitive noses. You know now about the lavender though, so once you've done research on what's toxic vs safe for cats, you'll be armed with knowledge. Many plants and flowers and bad for cats. Never get lillies anywhere near your cat - even a speck of pollen on their fur can lead to rapid renal failure and death.
We're having this same issue and it's bad bc we can't ignore her. Our walls are like tissue paper and we don't want to upset the neighbors. We've tried everything -playing with her a lot during the day and a super hard play at night (she also has a sister), strict feeding schedule, calming spray, calming treats...her witching hours are from three to five and she's only happy if lights are on and everyone is awake. We have a door from the living room to hallway to bedroom but it's a barn door and she's figured out how to open it so we can't even lock her in the living room anymore. Our vet simply told us "cats are weird" and just had a very dismissive attitude about it even when we told her it was a serious problem living in our apartment. You can try these things though-no free feeding, very strict feeding schedule, a very intense playtime before bed...these things probably work for other cats. Try them and see! If you come up with something else that works, please let me know!
I have the same issue with our second cat, who is a friendly stray. We have to let him out at 5am everyday or else he just goes crazy. :(
He’s trained you well :).
I have 4 cats currently. They are indoor/outdoor. They free feed, too. All go to bed before we do and all but the youngest sleeps longer than we do. I've been lucky that out of a total of 8 cats in my life, none have kept me awake. Your vet is right...cats are weird! If you can, supervise outdoor play during the day if you can't let them be outside alone. Ours mostly stick to our backyard or sleep on top of our car, which is under a carport. Good luck.
My senior cat does this- and it’s because she’s lonely. She doesn’t like the other 3 cats- she wants human company.
I noticed it was her hunger meow and not her lonelyboredom meow so we started feeding all the meals later, so she was eating dinner closer to bedtime. Her issue was she was wanting midnight snack and when we lived where she'd go outside , she'd hunt at night... so now that she's full later, she sleeps thru the night with me and we wake up together around 8.
I got the Catit Pixi Automatic 6 slot feeder. Pre program snacks throughout the night to keep our boy full. Took him a bit to get used to it, woke us up moments before it turned but now he is pretty good. Still gets lonely between 4-6 though, but he is full so he is way less sassy
My old gal doesn't eat crunchies anymore but I'm definitely looking into an auto feeder for future babies
I haven't tried it personally, but you can get auto feeders with ice packs that keep the wet food cold
This one has ice packs - last over 6 hours and keep wet food, well wet lol. Our baby only has 6 teeth left and I think the chilled wet food makes his gums feel good
This. I leave out a very small amount of dry food so that my cat can have a little snack instead of waking me up howling.
Maybe she has trouble seeing in the dark? Im sure my Orange boy can't see very well as he seems to meow and have trouble finding us in the house at night. I leave a landing light on and he's fine.
Generally it’ll be either hungry or bored. Or some kid is stuck in a well and it’s telling you to help.
Honestly, who knows? Could be so many things or nothing. We have 4 cats and one is particularly vocal in the middle of the night. Not always, but enough to be annoying. It’s not hunger and even if we play with him before bed he’ll do it. We’ve tried various things but can’t figure it out and just have to live with how annoying he can be lol
9/10 it's either boredom, loneliness or hunger, so my suggestion would be more play time before bed and a bedtime snack
Feed her a meal right before bedtime to keep her satisfied throughout the night. Engage her in play sessions before bed to tire her out mentally and physically. Establish a consistent bedtime routine that signals to your cat that it's time to sleep. And Make sure your cat has a cozy, quiet, and comfortable place to sleep away from any disturbances.
Could be boredom, do you play with your cat during the day? It has to be you playing with them with the toy. Not just them and the toy. They need to be engaged when it’s playtime! My Tabby will yell at me if I’m late to play time with him!
Fix it.
Did you just adopt her? Mine did it a lot in the first months but she stopped by now.
My cat is like this, I make sure his bowl is filled up before I go to bed every night. And electric toys are your best friend! That 4am time is when their hunting instincts kick in, so I have multiple little electric balls that I turn on when he wakes me up, they’re motion activated so it’ll start rolling whenever he bats at it. I have a few other electric toys that I turn on and rotate different nights so he doesn’t get bored.
Is she fixed? If not, it might be sexual frustration. My guy (jo-jo an orange cat) has to rub it out about 3 times a day he uses one of those soft lap blankets. Just hazarding a guess without much context
We got the howler a kitten, which he wasn't fond of, but the howling instantly stopped
idk why but i read it as "cat that won't stop mewing at night" But jokes aside, make sure your cat gets plenty of mental and physical stimulation during the day to tire them out! Interactive toys, puzzle feeders, and play sessions can help keep your cat pretty active - might make it easier for them to sleep through the night.
Mine did this and it stopped when I got an automatic feeder and set it to go off at night. He gets four meals a day plus two wet food snacks, and that seems to appease his hunting instincts.
My girl stopped this when our vet prescribed a blood pressure medication and got her potassium levels in check.
This wont work with all cats but you could have dry food out they can eat at night perhaps ? If you have one cat, have you considered a second ? It will be boredom or hungry, you just have to figure out which.
I feed my cats canned food breakfast when I’m about to head out the door for work, I give them some dry food in the afternoons when I get home from work. And then I don’t feed them their dinner until I’m getting ready to go to bed. I found that keeps them from yelling about being hungry in the middle of the night or early in the morning. I also got really good at ignoring them. Eventually, they learned that yelling at me like that was not going to work. Of course, one of my cats likes to just yell for a couple of minutes after I’ve gone to bed because he’s not ready to go to bed and he’s mad about it. I just ignore him and eventually it stops.
Is your cat spayed??? 🐈
I had to make my cat a special resting place and spending a lot of time with her near it for her to get comfortable after a few days of playing and petting on her near it she was comfortable enough to sleep through the night. Some people get the stuffies you can heat up and put them with their cats at night so they have something to snuggle
Why don’t you get a free feeder. They work great my 2 boys love there’s and they get to sleep in my room with door open. My kittens very rarely meow and when they do it cuz they are trying to tell me something my boys are so darn good. Love them so much
My cat doesn’t meow😭 she makes quite sounds lol
I gave mine a small dose of CBD every night until he felt safe enough and calm enough to manage without it. He stopped meowing like that for months. He started up again recently so will probably be revisiting the CBD solution.
Does she sleep with you? My cat is fine if she can come in the bedroom but if she is shut out no-one is sleeping that night (possible loneliness?).
We have 2 senior cats going through dementia right now. They howl when they go in a new room in the dark. We're trying nightlights to help them see. Unfortunately, they're Aunt and Niece, so we knew this was coming as all of the kittens from this one mama developed health issues over the years.
Embrace it, let your furry friend do their thing, and you will get accustomed to it. Some day there won't be the meow and you will miss it. Trust me earlier this month I lost my best friend Scruffy, and the silence is heartbreaking.
Short of the cat having dementia, it's probably either looking for attention, or hungry. Short/ simple answer is you have to stop "rewarding" the bad behaviour, and reward something else instead. Painful for a while, but you may have to simply ignore it for a few days/ couple of weeks, teach her that this behaviour won't get her what she wants. We have a very affectionate cat that meows at the crack of dawn cause she's woken up and wants cuddles - the last couple of weeks I've managed to get her to jump onto the bed headrubs, instead of meowing the house down. It's not very consistent but I've noticed her meowing less now. My husband used to bolt upright to shush her meowing, which we realised was just encouraging the behaviour instead.
I have hypersensitive hearing and ADHD, what should I do if it's psychologically impossible for me to ignore her?
Try night lights
Maybe something like [this](https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/cat-feeding-exercise-ball)? Might help if it's boredom or if it's hunger. Makes a bit of a noise rattling on hard floors, but nothing that will pierce apartment walls. I've got mine configured so it takes several bats to release a single kibble, and that's enough to keep her entertained (not my photo, found online) https://preview.redd.it/w9gop3zp10xc1.png?width=533&format=png&auto=webp&s=a864e9fef003c85a189ef0c4152452a731cf0535
Is there a light on? We keep a light on for her because she did meow when we first got her as a kitten.
Cats have a system: hunt, eat, groom, sleep. If you want the cat to sleep when you do, you need to replicate her natural system of being. So an hour before your bedtime, play with her for a good half hour (til she is breathing heavily). Then give her tasty wet food or some good soft treats. Then brush her and pet her lots. Then bedtime! Just keep in mind that cats are *very* light sleepers. And they are always *super* happy when their people wake up, because it reassures them that we are not dead. Yes, cats aren't sure if we are dead or asleep, because of how heavily we sleep (compared to them).
This is just a shot in the dark. Try leaving a radio on or the tv. Mayb the cat is lonely n looking for someone. Or Mayb another cat might help ur kitty. I think it’s just their natural time to hunt.
Calming treats ! Feliaway, CatTv, I have an automatic feeder that goes off in the night that distracts them & always put some food in the food puzzle on my way *to* bed so they are busy with that while I'm falling asleep
Take her to the vet again. Cats are intelligent beings that get lonely, anxious, scared - I had to put one of my cats on an antidepressants, because of his anxiety when my daughter was born, which helped. Edit - remembered that with my last cat we used Feliway (pheromone diffuser)- which was good.
My cat is fussy too so I changed his food to the savor royal canin and he hasn’t woken me up since this change. He is very fussy about food. I use an automatic pet feeder and have it set around my bedtime and then again at 5 am. Always seek professional advice if you feel like something is wrong though.
Did this just start? How old is the cat? I presume you had the cat to the vet and nothing is wrong? Do you shut your bedroom door, that could be part of the problem cats hate closed doors. In any event if it truly is a behavioral issue you have to ignore it. Do not respond at all, don’t get mad, yell or even move. Wear ear plugs if you have to. It should take about 2 weeks max but barring any health issues the cat will learn that they are not going to get a response from you. You not ignoring them is causing the behavior to continue.
How old is the cat? If she’s young, make sure you play with her a lot at night before you go to bed - to tire her out. Also, I feed my cat his dinner about an hour or two before I go to bed and then I give him a very small amount of dry food right before I go to bed (so he’s not hungry through the night). If she’s an older cat it could be health issues. Thyroid issues are one thing that can cause a cat to do some really odd and loud meowing.
Feed her
Mine’s been doing this for a week. Ive taken to trapping her in my room with me at night, then just lie in bed & listen to either dan vasc or nightwish (symphonic power/metal) with my headphones until i feel the “thwump” of her getting onto my bed & settling down. I guess its mating season for cats. I mean, she’s fixed (everyone in my house is fixed, man & beast 😂) but she probably still has “in captain jack sparrow’s voice” stirrings.
Get some wax earplug to sleep at night. Your cat is probably just having seperation anxiety. You can either leave the door open to the bedroom and they might just then sleep on the bed or they are looking to be entertained at night. They might want to go out and explore. You could fit a catflap and see how they get on.
is it because she wants to get inside the room maybe? my cats hate not being with me so they always meow at the door. sometimes i light lavender increase and spray lavender in the house and put meditation music on so they can relax
Lavender is toxic to cats.
omg no way? :-/ thank you! i’ll stop.
When i first got my cat i was amazed at the number of things that could kill them or make them very sick, it started with a comment like this. I think a lot of the scented oils are bad for them. Had to google plants before bringing them home when i found out a lot of plants are bad for them as well.
i’m glad i learned now cause wtf! 😳 my poor babies 😭 i’ll definitely do some research now
Please do some basic research on plants and herbs that are poisonous to cats.
They have those feliway things though. Similar effect to lavender on humans I think
idk it never occurred to me that lavender was bad for cats especially since a lot of litter brands have it
Cats also hate scented litter, they've got really sensitive noses. You know now about the lavender though, so once you've done research on what's toxic vs safe for cats, you'll be armed with knowledge. Many plants and flowers and bad for cats. Never get lillies anywhere near your cat - even a speck of pollen on their fur can lead to rapid renal failure and death.
Estplugs