Hi all,
I'm in desperate need of advice.
Our female cat is 4 years old and has always been clearly nocturnal. Before we had the cat flap installed, she'd wake us at 3am to let her out.
When I became pregnant, we decided to get a cat flap so she could come and go as she pleased as I didn't need to be disturbed by her and a baby.
All was good until this year she's discovered how to hunt. We've had live and dead mice brought onto our bed, along with baby birds and even a frog.
We went through a phase in the summer of setting the cat flap so she could go out but not in. We then had her scratching at the door for us to let her in at all hours of the morning.
Now it's colder, we've left the cat flap open again as it doesn't seem fair.
However, now she's still bringing things in or meowing to get up the stairs when we leave the stair gate closed and is generally incredibly active.
I don't do well on little sleep and I just no longer know what is the best thing to do.
Could we change her behaviour so she goes out during the day and sleeps all night?
Any advice is gratefully received
Les
Can you change their nocturnal instincts?
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Mollycat
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Re: Can you change their nocturnal instincts?
Hi and welcome to the forum. Sounds like this girl has you wrapped round her little paw just the way she likes at the moment!
Technically cats are not nocturnal they are crepuscular, most active at dusk and dawn, but seems yours didn't get that memo. I can only offer theoretical advice as my girl likes to yowl and squeak for absolutely no reason and nothing has worked, well nothing that I'm prepared to do anyway.
All I can say is the very worst thing you can do is resist and give in eventually - they quickly learn that if they keep on and on eventually human will give in. either respond at once or not at all. That's one of the reasons my cat has never stopped, because if she starts say at 5am and keeps going until I actually have to get up for the day, then in her mind her yowling has worked. Mostly she just wants to play as soon as the lights go out and I am slowly slowly trying to teach her that the last response she will get is "Night-nights time" and then nothing will get me up till morning.
One recommended tip - intense playtime and a high protein snack before bed. This mimicks a hunt-kill-eat-sleep but in my experience doesn't last through the night. Works for some. But one of your challenges is that she goes out to hunt so that may not work.
Locking a cat out of its home really isn't recommended, not just unfair as you say but also potentially dangerous for her and psychologically not great - but could you close the door to the roomwhere the cat flap is so that she can be in but not come into the rest of the house?
Or could you combine the two ideas so once your bedroom door is closed you just do not respond to her in any way whatsoever until morning? Can be done whether she is shut in or the cat flap is open overnight.
Technically cats are not nocturnal they are crepuscular, most active at dusk and dawn, but seems yours didn't get that memo. I can only offer theoretical advice as my girl likes to yowl and squeak for absolutely no reason and nothing has worked, well nothing that I'm prepared to do anyway.
All I can say is the very worst thing you can do is resist and give in eventually - they quickly learn that if they keep on and on eventually human will give in. either respond at once or not at all. That's one of the reasons my cat has never stopped, because if she starts say at 5am and keeps going until I actually have to get up for the day, then in her mind her yowling has worked. Mostly she just wants to play as soon as the lights go out and I am slowly slowly trying to teach her that the last response she will get is "Night-nights time" and then nothing will get me up till morning.
One recommended tip - intense playtime and a high protein snack before bed. This mimicks a hunt-kill-eat-sleep but in my experience doesn't last through the night. Works for some. But one of your challenges is that she goes out to hunt so that may not work.
Locking a cat out of its home really isn't recommended, not just unfair as you say but also potentially dangerous for her and psychologically not great - but could you close the door to the roomwhere the cat flap is so that she can be in but not come into the rest of the house?
Or could you combine the two ideas so once your bedroom door is closed you just do not respond to her in any way whatsoever until morning? Can be done whether she is shut in or the cat flap is open overnight.
Re: Can you change their nocturnal instincts?
Thanks for your reply, really appreciate it.
She well and truly has the run of the house. Last night we decided to ignore her, so she spent most of the night sat at the top of the stairs meowing for us to open the stair gate. We didn't but I did spend all night worrying she'd wake up our 2 year old, he managed to wake at 5:30 all by himself.
It's feels a bit like disciplining a child but it makes sense that it's a learned behaviour. So we'll continue to ignore her during the night.
Just hope she's a quick learner!!
She well and truly has the run of the house. Last night we decided to ignore her, so she spent most of the night sat at the top of the stairs meowing for us to open the stair gate. We didn't but I did spend all night worrying she'd wake up our 2 year old, he managed to wake at 5:30 all by himself.
It's feels a bit like disciplining a child but it makes sense that it's a learned behaviour. So we'll continue to ignore her during the night.
Just hope she's a quick learner!!