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Charly
LOVE!
Member since 5/05 12578 total posts
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Help me with my cat!!
My cat wakes us up every morning at 5am meowing loudly! I have a 2 and 3 year old and they sleep later than the cat! My DH is about to boot her out (well I'd never let him) and I don't know what to do because it's always causing a fight between us.
ETA: She always has food out and she's an indoor only cat. She just runs around like a lunatic meowing loudly. She's fixed and it's not a "heat" meow.
We have a raised ranch and can't really lock her downstairs or anything. We sleep with our door open because she does sleep with me some nights (and to be honest closing our door only makes things worse.)
Any suggestions????
Message edited 7/15/2010 9:41:19 PM.
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Posted 7/15/10 9:40 PM  |
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Kara
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Member since 3/07 13217 total posts
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Re: Help me with my cat!!
How much exercise is she getting? My cats wake us up at the crack of dawn screaming when they don't get enough exercise. (Well, they are half Siamese, which is a VERY vocal breed - so the crying isn't always related to that -- but it's 99% better when they get a lot of interactive play time.)
My cats need a good 30-45 minutes per day minimum of interactive play - chasing a laser pointer, playing with their wands, etc. I would increase her daily exercise for two weeks or so and see if that helps.
There are various things you can try if that doesn't work, but usually the crying is a symptom of another problem, not the actual problem in and of iteself. You can try squirting her with a water bottle -- That doesn't work for my guys b/c they are smart enough to meow from downstairs. (If you've never heard a Siamese cry - it sounds like a baby crying only 1,000 times louder. They could probably wake us up from the basement!) You can also try ignoring it completely. Any attention - even negative attention - could be what she is seeking. If she gets no reaction at all, she may learn that is not an effective way to get attention. It will involve some patience and a week or more or sleepless mornings.
Good luck.  I really do know how frustrating this is.
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| Posted 7/15/10 9:47 PM |
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SweetTooth
I'm a tired mommy!
Member since 12/05 20105 total posts
Name:
Lauren
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Re: Help me with my cat!!
I'd ignore it.
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| Posted 7/15/10 9:53 PM |
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Charly
LOVE!
Member since 5/05 12578 total posts
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Re: Help me with my cat!!
Posted by SweetTooth
I'd ignore it.
we do ignore it, but it never helps. Lately my husband has started threatening her life and that doesn't work either
As for exercise - I'll be honest we don't "play" with her much We try but she gets bored after a few minutes - so we gave up. She's only 5. We try giving her extra attention and stuff but it doesn't usually help.
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| Posted 7/15/10 10:00 PM |
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Andrewz00
Look! I changed it!
Member since 4/10 1789 total posts
Name:
Andrew
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Re: Help me with my cat!!
you just have to play with her more... get a laser pointer, mine go NUTS for it.... she needs more attention/exercise/play....
mine go crazy too, normally at about 2am... but its mostly because they want food or something... but sometimes just no reason at all....
good luck...
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| Posted 7/16/10 12:35 AM |
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MeeshMosh
last month on leave!
Member since 6/08 4551 total posts
Name:
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Re: Help me with my cat!!
my cat used to do this ALL THE TIME!
i started spraying him with water from a water spritzer everytime he meowed & after about a week, he eventually got it and shut up haha
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| Posted 7/16/10 9:10 AM |
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wo0shply
LIF Adult
Member since 11/08 2702 total posts
Name:
Tass
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Re: Help me with my cat!!
Dont reward her meowing... if she meows at 5am and you feed her she will say oh if I meow at this time I will get fed or get attention.
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| Posted 7/16/10 12:11 PM |
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queensgal
Smile
Member since 4/09 3287 total posts
Name:
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Re: Help me with my cat!!
I totally understand. My little guy finally got the hint about meowing because we doused him with water enough times - once he was so bad and we sprayed him so much it was like he took a bath!
But now instead of meowing, he digs at our feet, bites my nose, does ANYTHING to wake us up.
Maybe we will try playing with him more but he does this every single day and we do exercise him a lot.
One tip to help them play, is if you get a new toy, spray it with cat nip spray. That will get them interested and then they will chase it around the house. You can get a toy hanging from a fishing line then you can sit and relax and move the string around to move the toy.
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| Posted 7/18/10 4:23 PM |
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Jenn627
Laaaaaaaambert!
Member since 5/08 9818 total posts
Name:
Jenn
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Re: Help me with my cat!!
Do you have strays around your house? My cat usually meows like a mofo when there is a stray on the porch or something...
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| Posted 7/19/10 11:22 AM |
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wo0shply
LIF Adult
Member since 11/08 2702 total posts
Name:
Tass
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Re: Help me with my cat!!
Message edited 7/26/2010 2:01:48 PM.
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| Posted 7/26/10 2:01 PM |
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