My cat suddenly meows loudly at 5 AM daily. How can I stop it?

HI, thanks for using PetCoach! Sadly this is a very common complaint. It is normal for cats to be vocal early in the morning, especially around the times they know that people get up. Despite appearing to not want your attention there is probably comfort for her knowing you are around. It is likely due to loneliness or boredom. Since she is already confined, you should enrich her environment. Be sure there is an open window to look out, consider putting a bird feeder there so she can watch the birds, get a cat tree for her to climb, etc. You can also close your door and use a noise machine or box fan to drown out her crying. Since she has food and is already confined there is no easy solution to stop this behavior. https://indoorpet.osu.edu/cats I hope this helps and I wish you the best!

How frustrating! Unfortunately this is a common complaint. Cats are notorious for training their people to do all sorts of crazy things when it comes to their food. Right now Albert is requesting food early in the morning and you (reasonably) give him food/attention to quiet him, so he learns that meowing at ungodly hours is a successful strategy and keeps on doing it. What you need to do is change that dynamic. A couple ideas: 1) Ignore Albert until a certain time in the morning that you find acceptable. This is very hard at first and you'll sleep less, but he should get the idea after several days to a week. You must truly ignore him -- no positive or negative responses to his attempts to interact. 2) Switch to an automatic feeder that dispenses a set amount of food at certain intervals and then ignore all Albert's request for you to feed him. He'll learn bugging you doesn't results in food. You'll still need to ignore him in the early morning until he learns you're not available 3) Make sure you're giving him lots of attention and environmental enrichment during the day. The Indoor Pet Initiative (by Ohio State University) has some great ideas for this. If none of this work, consider talking with your vet or a veterinarian behaviorist. Good luck!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your cat. I would recommend a trip to the veterinarian to ensure she is not suffering a medical problem causing this behavior change. A disease known as hyperthyroidism can cause increased vocalizations in a cat. It is usually accompanied an increase in thirst and urination, hyperactivity, possibly vomiting/ diarrhea and weight loss. She will likely have blood work performed to rule out this as well as other internal diseases. If she is found to be healthy, then you can discuss behavioral modifications at home. I hope this information helps!

Nighttime vocalization in older cats is often due to an underlying medical problem such as hyperthyroidism, chronic kidney disease, or high blood pressure. I would recommend taking Samson to the vet for an exam and lab work to check for these problems. If a problem is found, starting on appropriate treatment will often resolve the vocalization issues.

Unfortunately it's impossible to know why Adik is meowing so much! If the cats are not spayed and neutered, he is more likely to reactive if the female is coming into heat or if there are other un-neutered males outside. If they are not spayed and neutered, I recommend to have this done. This may help to decrease reactivity but it may now fully control it. Other things you can do are related to environmental enrichment. Here is a great article about cat's instinctual needs: https://www.petcoach.co/article/why-every-cat-needs-a-place-to-climb/ Use a Feliway diffuser, set aside 30 minutes a day for vigorous play (really get him moving) and/or switch the food to Royal Canin Calm. Try feeding him out of a food puzzle. Hide food for him to find. Provide a stand or resting place by a window so he can look outside. You may also try clicker training him for positive behavior. Here is a link about training cats: https://www.petcoach.co/article/can-i-train-my-cat/ Most cats response best to combination therapy. The veterinarian can also prescribe medications which can help with behavior. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Is he a young cat? If so he may be looking for something to do such as hunting. If he is an older cat then I would be worried about possible hyperthyroidism or diabetes. You may want to consider different toys or tall cat trees that allow him to watch birds out of the window. If you have any concerns that something isn’t quite right then I would encourage you to have him evaluated by your veterinarian to rule out any medical concerns. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

I certainly sympathize with your situation. I have a few suggestions that have helped me with my cats. Remember that cats are naturally nocturnal, so they want to be active at night. Cats are also hunters, so one of the best ways to satisfy both of these instincts is to find ways for Monty to hunt his food at night. One of my favorite things for cats is a no bowl feeding system like Doc & Phoebe ( https://docandphoebe.com/ ) that requires them to "hunt" for their food. You could also try a feeding ball, but those are a little more noisy at night. Finally, I have used a timed feeder to open at 5 am (since that is when my cats start), but you could set that to open at 3:30 am which might give you some peace and quiet. I have used the Cat Mate C20 for years and it works wonderfully. http://pet-mate.com/us/product-category/pet-feeders-us/ Good luck! I hope that was helpful and gives you some ideas. Thanks for using PetCoach.