New cat wakes us up at night, any ideas?

Gavin83

We have a similar issue with our rescue cat. I’m sorry to say but we’ve now had her for 2 years and it’s still an issue, although not to the same degree. 

Initially we let her sleep in our bedroom but when it became too much of a problem we started shutting the bedroom door at night but she just scratches and meows at that door instead. In our old house we could shut her downstairs but that’s not an option anymore.

We’ve tried pretty much everything so I’m interested to see what suggestions people come up with.

Brambling

If you get up and go downstairs with her every time she is learning that her behaviour gets a reward in your attention, have you tried ignoring her and pretending to still be asleep to see if she stops it may take a few nights.  My rescue cat has unlearnt some of the habits he came with but after 2.5 years I know some I'm stuck with, it's just as well he's cute 

Savvy_Sue

Honestly, I don't know if this will help at all, but would keeping a low wattage light and / or a radio on low help? 

HM2020

Hi all,
Thanks to everyone for the advice and similar tales!
She has started sleeping on our bed and that seems to really help - last night she didn't miaow at all, only in the morning when it was time for her breakfast.
We are planning on getting her a cat tree in the bedroom so she can chill out on that and keep an eye on us! Hopefully this means she is starting to settle in and we can get some beauty sleep!

Aranyani

Has she got access to the outside?

KiKi

She'll almost definitely start to settle.  She's still very new, getting her bearings, learning new smells and how you'll respond to her.  Generally, I'd say don't shut a cat out of a bedroom.  The more you shut them out, the more curious they tend to get.  It's usually better to let them have access to your bedroom, and put up with a few weeks of being woken up (reassure her, but don't get up for her), and once they realise there's nothing exciting, and that you won't get up for them - but have the reassurance of being with you - they tend to settle.  You can also try a Feliway plugin in your bedroom and the room she spends her time in at night.  Create a nice place to sleep for her in your room - a soft bed or one of your jumpers on the bed (or even a jumper on the sofa downstairs) so that it feels like a treat, and somewhere she'll want to settle so she doesn't wake you. 

When one of my old girls started to get very anxious, I left Radio 4 on low for her all night, and when I went out, and left a light on because I think she was losing her sight a bit.  It definitely helped.

You may just need to wait a few weeks - keep your door open, put up with the being woken up, be patient, don't get up for her - and she will almost definitely settle; she's probably just needing reassurance.  If you give up too soon and shut her out, she'll just scratch and will probably do that more than just miaowing to wake you, and it can get into a bit of a cycle.  Short term pain and all that!

Good luck, and well done for taking her in, hopefully she has a more permanent home, now.    

TripleH

Giving her a den in your bedroom hopefully will help especially if only you and her go in.
Alternatively make her a couple more dens throughout your home.

tealady

Hide any baseball bats (only joking - check out the Simon's Cat cartoons on YouTube, they are hilarious, especially the one about the cat waking the owner).
Anyway, being serious now, it sounds as if your pet is starting to settle so well done you for persevering.

Catsacor

Cats are sensitive to change and yes, she's got anxiety due to being placed in new environments.
Provide this cat with an exclusive sleeping space, ideally somewhere she can tunnel into and hide away - her own sanctuary is very important, get her one of those long, soft, tunnels that she can curl up in the back and she'll love it.

There is a plug in pheromone device that emits calming smells and they can help a lot, not cheap though - but when you have pets cheap is definitely not a word that ever comes into any sentence anyway.

Age related vocalising is something all cat owners know about, it's a sound like a Siamese cat and very, very, annoying - my black cat does it and it drives me to distraction, if this is what your pusscat's doing you've got a 24/7 situation.

Vocalising is also done when the female cat comes into season and she's calling for a mate - has she been spayed ?

I would buy some of the Feliway pheromone devices and place them in specific areas, her sleeping space and her relaxing space.

HM2020

Just a further update in case anyone is interested - we took some  of your advice and it's worked so well!

In particular, playing with her and then feeding her just before bedtime has made a huge difference. I'm not sure how much playtime she was getting before she came to us so I think it was pent up energy and boredom at night, as well as being nervous the first few weeks.
We also got her a cat tree in the bedroom as I said but she wasn't really interested so it has moved downstairs and we use it to play with her
She doesn't miaow anymore, she now sleeps on our bed the whole night through and only gets us up when she wants her breakfast (enthusiastically and early but still) 
Thank you all for your help