AT my wits end!!!!

[Sarlon]

my boycat has lately been driving me up the bloody wall....

hes a 3 year old fixed cat, and almost right on the dot at 5am EVERY SINGLE DAY no matter what time I go to bed, he starts meowing at the top of his voice and rattling the door wanting to go outside. Will even go as far as jumping into bed with me to meow even louder.

I've tried the water bottle (works for maybe 10 minutes no matter how much I use), I've tried locking him out of the room (works for all of 2 seconds then he sits there at my door and meows even louder).

I'm at my wits end. Hes an indoor cat that I OCCASIONALLY let outside, no hes not declawed.

I've also tried not giving in and letting him outside, and won't let him out when I have things to do outside the house that day where I know I'll be gone most if not all day.

I'm SERIOUSLY debating getting rid of him....heartless as that is....I NEED my sleep, my health as well as my sanity is suffering because of this which has been going on for 4 MONTHS now.

I'm ashamed to even admit this, but a few times even I've snapped and literally thrown him across the room by the scruff of the neck. THATS how bad its getting.

PLEASE any advice you can give.....before I do something drastic.

[FormerCallingCardRep]

I have a 3 year old female cat that has a habit of getting me up at 6:00 am every motning. If you can get any good advice please share. She will lick and nibble on my nose until I get up.

[Mikkel]

One of mine will stick a paw under my covers and scratch my behind if he want me to get up and feed him .
I have tried closing the door and scolding him and so on. I'm afraid I have lost that fight. I get up when he tells me to. If it's a holiday I'm allowed to slip back again for a hour or so after I have fed him.

[SteeleDragon78]

build a window box for him, something that sits just outside the window, kind of like a window airconditioner, can be made of lexan with a plywood base or screen on 3 sides with same base and wood framing, my cat loves hers

[ShadowBall]

All my cats would start howling around 4-5 in the morning, so that's why they've had to sleep in the garage for the last several years. They will howl to come in to someone's room, march around for five minutes, and then howl to go back out. Repeat the cycle over and over. My mother is far less patient than me and she'd come out of her room after being woke up and boot their asses across the room.

In the garage, they can whine all they want and no one has to hear them. Ignoring them rarely works because they know someone is around and will respond if they just keep on meowing. I don't know if you live somewhere where there's a garage you could lock him in, though.

I've heard of other stuff like Feliway and Comfort Zone to make loud cats shut up, but I have also read some mixed reviews - some say it works beautifully and others say it doesn't work at all and it's a waste of money.

[Falor]

build a window box for him, something that sits just outside the window, kind of like a window airconditioner, can be made of lexan with a plywood base or screen on 3 sides with same base and wood framing, my cat loves hers

This.

Its an obscene pain in the neck, especially when the bottom of the window you're attaching it to is above your head, but oh my word was it worth it (just don't tell my wife I admitted that ).

Ours has a cat-flap door installed in plywood painted and attached over the window, a wood base for kitties to stand on, horse panel walls and ceiling (1"x2" sections, heavy gauge metal fencing grid) with a piece of corrugated plastic mounted on four corner poles angled over the top as a roof. One day project with the appropriate power tools (I'm not sure when I last used a nail, I love me my drill ).


Five out of our six go out there and lounge or bug hunt. Now if only I could get a vine to grow over it besides poison oak. Grows like a weed, that stuff does...

[Sapphire Silk]

Every cat I've ever had has woken me up at the crack of dawn.

I think it's important for cat lovers to remember that cats have different sleep cycles than us. They don't sleep eight hours through the night like we do. When they're up, they're up. And by 5-6 am, they are so bored of watching us sleep they're willing to do anything for a change of pace.

The window box sounds like a good idea. The only other option is a "time out", put them out of the bedroom and close the door, and ignore them or put them in the bathroom or garage (don't leave them in there after you get up, esp in summer--gets waaaay too hot).

Or let them out.

Basically, them's the choices.

Some mornings I have to kick Taz out of the bedroom because she wants to play and I want to sleep. Stumps and Jasmine knew I wasn't interested at that hour: they settled for sitting by my head and purring, which didn't bother me much. Taz will meow for a few minutes then stop, then start again if she hears me get up.

[XCashier]

Would a cat flap in the door so he can let himself out be out of the question?

[Moirae]

My cat tries that. Doesn't work the way she plans, though. lol. Usually I grab her and hold her, pulling her under the covers with me and wrapping my arms around her. She starts purring like you wouldn't believe, and will try to get away for a minute or two, then relaxes and twists till she's comfortable, then cuddles. Usually she falls asleep, I can go back to sleep, and then she runs off when the alarm goes off. No, I won't force her to stay, I'm not that mean. What she really wants is attention. She always has at least a little hard food so she's never hungry.

[sylvier]

My three furballs are also early risers, and will start howling for breakfast around 5 or 5:30. I get up, turn on the coffee and go back to bed for awhile, without paying any attention to them. They know that I'll up "for real" soon once the coffee starts brewing, so they quit with the pathetic "we're starving" nonsense.

[Eireann]

If you can have a cat flap, why not go all the way and create an enclosed run for him? That way, he can go outside without you having to worry that he'd get lost. Get some chick wire, or something like it, and have a space that's surrounded on all sides so he can run around.

[Sarlon]

problem with window boxes, and cat flaps.

Boxes: All the windows that would hold them are WAY high up from the ground....high up as almost second story on my bedroom window(back of the house), to almost half a story up at the front of the house.

cat flap: both my front and back door have screen doorsso I'd have to put doors on both and I can't afford that.

as for locking him in the garage...not possible either, I don't have a garage.

as for locking him in the bathroom...WAY to close to my bedroom still and would greatly disturb my tenant ( i live in a duplex).

[spark]

Honestly, if you can find a home for him where somebody will care for him, I see nothing wrong with rehoming him. One shouldn't casually dump pets, but right now neither you nor the cat is happy, it sounds like.