Cat constantly waking me up at 6am

[Clover]

Hi,

I've had my cat for just over a year, I love her more than anything but she constantly is screaming and meowing at 6am like clockwork every morning. She's got food, water, toys, everything and it doesn't stop. I try let her out and she's not interested. She's got constant access to everything she needs, and she has no health problems or anything.

I'm really struggling to deal with this, I already suffer with insomnia so when i finally manage to sleep she wakes me up and its affecting my already very poor mental health.

Is there anything else I can do?

As much as I hate to even think of rehoming her, I'm worried it may be my only option because it's getting to the point where I don't sleep and I just don't have anything else to offer her.

Please please help, I can't go on like this anymore

[fjm]

What time do you go to bed? And what happens when she does get you up? Games? Cuddles? Food? Ignoring her? Is there something that happens at 6am to trigger her - a neighbour getting up, boiler or other machine switching on? If she has plenty of play and stimulation at other times of day, and there is no external trigger, it sounds as if she could simply be bored and has learned that yelling gets you up. In that case the only solution I can think of, if you really cannot bear to go to bed earlier and start the day at 6am, is to wait her out. Get some really good earplugs, close your bedroom door, and ignore her. If you are awake, read a book till 6.20 or so then get up and greet her calmly. Push the time later over a few weeks - if you can sleep through her demands all the better. Expect the howling to get worse before it gets better - if it has always worked in the past she will try harder to make it work now. I know they say that we are our cats' servants, but there are limits, and sometimes you need to prioritise your own health over your cat's whim!

One other possibility - a timed treat or toy dispenser. I don't know of one that combines everything you would need - timer, exciting, random intervals but frequent enough to keep her riveted - but there may be one out there, or something you could adapt. It would make a good school technology project...