Mature Cat's Unwelcome Morning Wakeup Calls

halys

Hi there,

Hoping any advice/ insight on this issue.

I adopted my rescue kitty two years ago now, and he is now 11(ish?) years old. I knew he wouldn’t be without his quirks and absolutely love and adore him to bits- the reward of seeing his personality emerge overtime is fab and in my opinion, far outweighs his habits of jumping on top of the counter, sock stealing, etc.

However!

While he has always been a vocal kitty, within the last couple of months he has started to meow at 2,3,4 onward in the morning to be fed- something he never used to do. Ignoring him doesn’t work- he scratches at doors and yowls louder and louder the more you ignore. My partner and I even put earplugs in to no avail.

His surroundings haven’t changed- we have been in our flat since February- and he is an indoor only cat. Diet hasn’t changed, he is on a specifically senior dry formula and half a sachet in the AM of wet, and the other half in the PM.

Vet actually says he’s overweight at 6.3 kilos but reducing his food (down from two sachets to the one) didn’t really do much and I started that over a year ago!

I tried moving the location of his food mat recently, but then he started clawing the carpet.

My only other thought is getting an automatic feeder?

Look forward to anyone’s help!

casseus

Have you taken him to the vet for this issue, I know you mentioned that he has been but that was 1 year ago?

Rubik

Are you sure he's asking for food, and not just feeling a bit lonely and looking for some attention? Could he be cold?

Have you tried leaving your bedroom door open and seeing if he comes in and settles down on the bed instead of yowling ?

NeilCr

Is it definitely for food?

My cat - who is much the same as yours except a bit younger - started yowling at night (he does still do it occasionally). Closer inspection (not much fun) revealed that he had pooed in his dirt tray and he wanted it cleared out. He is very fussy with his hygiene!

Or, sometimes, he is bored and wants attention....

ETA. Cross posted with Rubik

My cat would definitely howl and scratch if the bedroom door was shut. In my experience cats don't do closed doors - especially if their human is on the other side

Fire_Fox

I am on my second food-oriented indoor rescue. My darling Noah was 6.5kg, down to 6kg in six months. The day I lost him to cancer the vet commented how well muscled he was. Lulu is at the top of a healthy weight for her small size (3.5kg+) I am having to start controlling her food and intense activity because she is starting with osteoarthritis.

Indoor only cats get less exercise/ burn fewer calories than outdoor cats. Also without the smells, sights and activities of the outdoors they can get bored or overly focussed on food. One key solution is plenty of playtime to really tire them out. Long wand toys with 'prey' on (birds, mice, insects) really get them moving around the floor area of rooms, and high and low too.

Watch some of the Jackson Galaxy Cats from Hell episodes to see what he recommends to stimulate and tire out indoor only cats (common in the USA) so they don't cause trouble at night.

Food-wise many overweight cats do better on a grain free, wet only and/ or part RAW diet. This may fill them up more than dry biscuits, and keep blood sugar and insulin levels stable (reduce risk of diabetes). You can slow down eating and keep them occupied with special feeders, and/ or some RAW meaty bones (chicken wings and carcasses, turkey necks).

Obviously discuss these changes with your veterinarian if they are prescribing a dry diet.

halys

casseus wrote: »

Have you taken him to the vet for this issue, I know you mentioned that he has been but that was 1 year ago?

He was at the vet’s about 4 months ago when we had that ridiculous heatwave and he got a bladder blockage… It was then I discovered the “diet” I had put him on had been pointless haha!

Rubik wrote: »

Are you sure he's asking for food, and not just feeling a bit lonely and looking for some attention? Could he be cold?

Have you tried leaving your bedroom door open and seeing if he comes in and settles down on the bed instead of yowling ?

Sorry should have clarified…The bedroom door and all doors (obviously other than the front door) are always open… even to the point if you’re the only one home you can’t fully close the door to the toilet or he gets upset… makes for an interesting “relief break” to say the least! He will settle after being fed, but only after. I don’t think cold is an issue because normally he sleeps on top of one of the decorative cushions from the bed I place on the floor overnight rather than his bed!

We tried closing doors as a start point but to no avail.

NeilCr wrote: »

Is it definitely for food?

My cat - who is much the same as yours except a bit younger - started yowling at night (he does still do it occasionally). Closer inspection (not much fun) revealed that he had pooed in his dirt tray and he wanted it cleared out. He is very fussy with his hygiene!

Or, sometimes, he is bored and wants attention....

ETA. Cross posted with Rubik

My cat would definitely howl and scratch if the bedroom door was shut. In my experience cats don't do closed doors - especially if their human is on the other side

Definitely for food. He seems to obsess over it, always has. His past is very sketchy (I have little to no information on him, so everything has been through trial and error) and since adopting him, you could literally feed and feed and feed him till he goes off pop if you were so inclined. Even after he has his dinner (first thing I do once I’ve put my bag down and gotten home) he will sit and watch what you are doing in the kitchen, hoping some scrap or morsel will be dropped for him… he will then investigate said counters when it’s bedtime, and my partner and I have witnessed him “hoovering” crumbs of possibly dropped miniscule bits of food in the kitchen, despite having a nearly full bowl of dry food! Even when we are in bed, after giving him nighttime fusses, we hear him snacking, going away, coming back. Ten minutes later, more snacking, until he settles…

halys

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I am on my second food-oriented indoor rescue. My darling Noah was 6.5kg, down to 6kg in six months. The day I lost him to cancer the vet commented how well muscled he was. Lulu is at the top of a healthy weight for her small size (3.5kg+) I am having to start controlling her food and intense activity because she is starting with osteoarthritis.

Indoor only cats get less exercise/ burn fewer calories than outdoor cats. Also without the smells, sights and activities of the outdoors they can get bored or overly focussed on food. One key solution is plenty of playtime to really tire them out. Long wand toys with 'prey' on (birds, mice, insects) really get them moving around the floor area of rooms, and high and low too.

Watch some of the Jackson Galaxy Cats from Hell episodes to see what he recommends to stimulate and tire out indoor only cats (common in the USA) so they don't cause trouble at night.

Food-wise many overweight cats do better on a grain free, wet only and/ or part RAW diet. This may fill them up more than dry biscuits, and keep blood sugar and insulin levels stable (reduce risk of diabetes). You can slow down eating and keep them occupied with special feeders, and/ or some RAW meaty bones (chicken wings and carcasses, turkey necks).

Obviously discuss these changes with your veterinarian if they are prescribing a dry diet.

So sorry to hear about your loss--- always hard to lose a fur baby L


I will definitely take a look- and I 100% understand what you’re saying. I took the decision prior to our move to the flat to keep him indoors after several instances of him showing his wuss-puss side and having everything from the fluffy kitty next door to a fox using him as a punching bag, and I was afraid I would come home one day to no kitty. He has loads of toys, laser mice, iPad games, etc, but he gets bored after about 5 minutes?


I have him on a really decent grain-free, fish based dry kibble, but cr*ppy wet food as he will literally eat nothing else.
Again, not knowing about his past, when I first adopted him we went through the pricey different wet foods (Lillys Kitchen, vet recommended one, and some other frou frou one) before trying him on Felix, Whiskas and finally (what he eats now) Gourmet Gold, but it has to be gravy based for some reason- and often he will munch on the gravy and not eat the meat! Since his bladder blockage, we have had a bit more success by adding some water with the wet food, which makes it "soupier" and he seems to eat more of it.


Very interesting regarding the raw diet...will definitely look into it

NeilCr

Sounds just like my cat

He was a long term stray who was fostered before I got him. His foster mum said he was the best food scrumping cat she'd ever had! He went from being skinny to svelte while he was with her.

I assume you don't ever give in to it. I am strict with him with snacks and my food. He does have Dreamies, though!

ETA.

A vet I saw a while back recommended adding water to wet food. It is a really good idea. My guy isn't the best water drinker so it ensures he gets some during the day.

Marmaduke123

I would take him to the vets and ask if they think a blood test is indicated. He's at the age when long-term conditions like thyroid or kidney problems, or diabetes might start.

May be he's in discomfort and confuses it with hunger

DD265

I think a vet check might be a good first port of call.

One of ours - also indoor cats - is a PITA in the early hours but we do have our bedroom door shut. 99% sure he just wants attention. We've taken to shutting them in downstairs, but that won't be possible when we move.

I've bought them some of these: https://docandphoebe.com/

I got them for £30 a set on eBay but you can get them on Amazon and at Pets At Home too, or you could use other treat vessels. The idea is that by hiding a 'mouse' with kibble in it, the cat has to hunt for their food. It seems to be geared towards an exclusively dry-food diet, whereas we feed wet food too, but figure it'll help with portion control and stimulation.

They only arrived today, but so far the biscuit-oriented one has gotten to grips with it and been very keen. Our other boy (the noisy mog) ate most of the wet food so he wasn't as fussed.