{"id":15702,"date":"2023-08-07T15:05:52","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T20:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/?p=15702"},"modified":"2024-11-13T17:37:12","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T23:37:12","slug":"stop-your-cat-meowing-all-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/blog\/behavior\/training\/stop-your-cat-meowing-all-night\/","title":{"rendered":"Untraining Your Pet: Stop Your Cat Meowing All Night"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to our \u201cUntraining Your Pet\u201d series, where we help you \u201cuntrain\u201d your pet from those naughty or annoying bad habits and get them back to being the goodest boys and girls. <\/em><\/p>\n

Are you awakened during the night by relentless wails and open your eyes to find a small furry thing with glowing eyes<\/a> staring at you? It probably takes you a few seconds to realize that no, you\u2019re not in a horror movie \u2014 it\u2019s just your cat. It\u2019s certainly not the most relaxing way to be woken up, especially when it\u2019s hours before your alarm goes off.<\/p>\n

Your cat probably has a reason for their middle-of-the-night meows \u2014 the trick is working out what that reason is. Are they bored, hungry, playful, or do they have something else going on that your veterinarian should check out? We\u2019ll go through some of the possibilities for your cat\u2019s midnight meows and suggest some ways to help untrain them from this sleep-disrupting habit.<\/p>\n

It’s Because Cats Are Nocturnal, Right?<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s a popular myth, but cat\u2019s aren\u2019t nocturnal<\/a>, they\u2019re crepuscular. Originating from the Latin word crepusculum<\/em>, which means twilight, crepuscular animals are most active at dawn and dusk. Your cat may have their own definition of \u201cdawn\u201d and \u201cdusk\u201d though\u2026<\/p>\n

Is Everything Good in Their World?<\/h2>\n

Cats like to have everything juuuust right. So it\u2019s possible that their late-night calls are to complain about something being amiss with their environment. Do they have enough food? Is their water bowl full and clean? If they get hungry during the night, try giving them a food puzzle before you go to bed so that they\u2019re entertaining themselves and snacking at the same time. Or you could use a timer food box that distributes food in the middle of the night so you don\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n

Cats (particularly older cats) can be very<\/em> particular about their bathroom space and will let you know when a dirty litter box<\/a> is not up to their standards. So your pre-bedtime routine might want to involve scooping the litter box.<\/p>\n

A safe place to hide is also important for cats. If your kitty is feeling anxious and doesn\u2019t have a place they feel comfortable escaping to, this might be why they want your attention. Their bed should be in a quiet place that is away from other pets. They should also have plenty of opportunities to fulfil their natural climbing and scratching instincts.<\/p>\n

On the Hunt for a Peaceful Night<\/h2>\n

If you think your cat\u2019s trying to wake you up to play with them, forestall their request by having an energetic play session before bed. You can engage their brain and their muscles by getting them to act on their natural hunting instincts. For example, feathers on a wand can look like a bird and get your cat leaping after it. A wind-up mouse can get them chasing it all around the room and a flopping fish toy will have your cat pouncing on their prize catch.<\/p>\n

A laser pointer can mimic the movements of prey while giving your cat a good workout running all over the house, across furniture or up and down their cat tree. Whichever hunting method you choose, make sure you throw them a treat or kibble occasionally so that they feel like they successfully made a \u201ckill\u201d and can celebrate their hunt.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a good idea to leave out some self-play toys so that if they get bored during the night, they will (hopefully) play with those instead of meowing for you. Make sure you rotate the toys every few days so your cat doesn\u2019t become bored playing with the same toys all the time.<\/p>\n

Sweet Catnip Dreams<\/h2>\n

If your cat is full of beans and zooming around the house in the late evening, you could try giving them some catnip. For some cats, catnip makes them feel mellow and calm<\/a> \u2014 sprinkling their bed with catnip at bedtime could help them feel relaxed and ready for sleep. You may want to test it out earlier in the day, though, as some cats experience aggressive playfulness instead \u2014 definitely not what you want before bedtime. It\u2019s also possible that catnip won\u2019t affect your cat<\/a> at all.<\/p>\n

A Noisy Kitty Could Be a Sick Kitty<\/h2>\n

If behavioral and environment issues don\u2019t seem to be the reason for your cat\u2019s midnight meows, it\u2019s possible that there is a medical reason for them, especially if you notice other symptoms along with it. Hyperthyroidism<\/a> (overactive thyroid), kidney disease<\/a> and hypertension<\/a> (high blood pressure) can all cause increased vocalizations in cats. A checkup with your veterinarian can help rule out (or confirm) a medical reason for your cat\u2019s nighttime meows.<\/p>\n

If you have a senior cat that meows loudly at night, they could have cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS). Indoor Pet Initiative (at Ohio State University), explains that a\u00a0diagnosis of CDS<\/a> is made when cats have cognitive decline (dementia) that isn\u2019t due to a medical disease. There is no cure for CDS, but environmental enrichment, diet changes or medication may slow its progression.<\/p>\n

But I Reawwy Miss You<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019ve ruled out all of the other things we\u2019ve talked about here, it\u2019s possible that your cat just really<\/em> wants your attention. There are two options here: give in or ignore them. The problem with giving in is that you\u2019re rewarding their behavior. So now that they know you\u2019ll respond to their nighttime meows, they\u2019ll keep meowing until you get up. If you ignore their attention-seeking behavior, over time they should learn that all that meowing is not getting them anywhere and they\u2019ll stop.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hopefully these tips help you get a full night\u2019s sleep and your cat\u2019s needs met. If your cat is still meowing all night, ask your veterinarian or an animal behaviorist for tips on training your cat<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

RELATED POST: 5 Reasons Your Cat Sleeps with You<\/a><\/p>\n

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Welcome to our \u201cUntraining Your Pet\u201d series, where we help you \u201cuntrain\u201d your pet from those naughty or annoying bad habits and get them back to being the goodest boys and girls. Are you awakened during the night by relentless wails and open your eyes to find a small furry thing with glowing eyes staring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":15705,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Untraining Your Pet: Stop Your Cat Meowing All Night","_seopress_titles_desc":"Are you tired of your cat's meowing keeping you up at night? Read on to learn a few tips that may help you keep your kitty happy and quiet throughout the night.","_seopress_robots_index":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[201,282],"tags":[100,461,805,12,134],"class_list":["post-15702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behavior","category-training","tag-cat","tag-cat-behavior","tag-cat-communication","tag-cats","tag-diamond-pet-foods"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}