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I need some sleep!
Species: cat | Category: nutrition | Submitted: 05-Feb-07 04:43PM | viewed 1534 times
Q Elizabeth asks about Wella (cat - not known, N) :
We re-homed a 2 year old cat around 3 months ago from a rescue sanctuary. The first few days we had her Wella slept on our bed but after about 2 days we kept our bedroom door closed and she would be silent for the whole night until she heard our alarm in the morning at which point she would meow until we opened the door. Around a week ago Wella started waking us up in the night with a very loud meow. We tried getting up and giving her some attention, then closing the door and going back to bed - she continues meowing, we have tried feeding her (she eats then comes back and howls) and encouraging her to go outside - she comes back in and howls (she has a cat flap which she uses). The only thing that stops her meowing is letting her into the bedroom. But she doesn't settle - she'll then proceed to walk around, play, walk all over us on the bed, stand on the pillow and meow at us- and then eventually sleep at the end of the bed - allowing us to get a bit of sleep until she wakes up starts the process again - I think she is trying to get our attention, as soon as we get up to acknowledge her, she is quiet - she is also a cat who likes attention - she follows us around and will always sit near us. Something must have changed in the last few days to stop her happily spending the night doing whatever cat's do and leaving us in peace to get some sleep - ideally we would like to go back to keeping her out of the bedroom at night and for her remaining quiet until the morning. What do you suggest has changed? The reason we keep her out of our bedroom is this (our second problem)... In the first few days Wella had a habit of leaving marks sometime when she sat down - we put it down to an upset tummy following the fact she was getting used to a new family surroundings. It stopped then only seemed to happen a few times, until it started happening frequently again. We took her to the vet who expressed her anal glands. However, the problem remains - I don't think it is
Q Samantha says: Young cats such as Wella can sometimes be playful at night. Remember that cats are nocturnal by nature and may happily be active at night then sleep all day. I think that Wella wants your time and attention during the night and since you have rewarded her nocturnal behaviour with your attention and food you will have reinforced the behaviour. You will now have to try to encourage Wella to behave differently at night and this may not be easy! Try to give Wella some attention and active games such as chasing a string or ball in the early evening followed by a good meal before you go to bed. At night you should keep your bedroom door closed and not go to her or acknowledge her in any way (including shouting at her). Her behaviour will probably get worse for a while but don't give up. Keep on ignoring her completely at night and do not get up to her, talk to her or feed her. If you give in to her demands at all you will have taken yourself right back to the beginning so make sure you and anyone else in the house are fully committed to the process (and ready for some really bad nights at first). You could also try to make sure she is in another part of the house completely so that she does not disturb you by crying outside your bedroom door (if this is possible). If this does not work you could try getting another cat to keep her company- it does sometimes work but is obviously a commitment you should think about carefully. As regards her leaving marks where she has been sitting it would be worth checking that she does not have diarrhoea and getting her anal glands expressed regularly (they can fill up quite quickly) failing this talk to your vet again about it. I hope it works out for you and Wella.

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