Senior kitty wakes me up all night for no reason

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Gwinny
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Senior kitty wakes me up all night for no reason

Post by Gwinny »

Hi, my 16 year old cat Nora has gone from only occasionally torturing me at night to doing it pretty much every night. To get these questions out of the way: she does have hypothyoidism and arthritis, and has been to the vet recently (February) with a clean bill of health.

Nora likes to wake me up by purring loudly and extending her claws on my face/arms, or by pulling her claws through my hair. When I try to touch her or get her to relax, she bites me. I try to push her away and say NO, but she just comes back. Sometimes she just wants to take over my pillow, but soon she is back to the clawing. By this time I am wide awake and will usually have to get up to go to the bathroom, but she's there waiting for me upon my return. She starts doing this as early as 4 AM; if it's later (i.e. closer to breakfast), my other two cats will eventually get in on the fun in their less intrusive ways.

I read a post about someone having a similar issue a few months ago, but Nora's behavior doesn't seem to be food-motivated... because if I do feed her at 6 AM or whatever, she will then leave me alone for a bit but then eventually decide that I simply must get up for other reasons. Again, she is purring the whole time. I can't figure out what her agenda is, or what I can do to stop her. I've tried a spray bottle - no good. I've tried decamping to my living room sofa - then she just meows piteously at me from the bedroom. This is both about what I can do to get a good night's sleep AND what I can do to make her feel less anxious (?) in the middle of the night. She pretty much ignores me during the day, of course... thanks for your thoughts!
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fjm
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Re: Senior kitty wakes me up all night for no reason

Post by fjm »

Do you give her a late evening meal, or leave food down for her overnight? And is she allowed out at night?
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Mollycat
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Re: Senior kitty wakes me up all night for no reason

Post by Mollycat »

I don't have any suggestions except to ignore, hard as it is, and pretend to be asleep. No reaction whatsoever, just play dead. But in her case I don't think it will work, there is something else that seems to go on with some seniors that just defies every trick.

The only thing I have found written about older cats becoming more needy, other than health problems, is that as they lose their physical sharpness ie senses, movement and even body warmth, we become like a solid dependable anchor for them. No suggestions how to reassure them though. I thought maybe treat them like a kitten and give them a heat pad (not a hot water bottle obviously!) and a plush bed maybe with a spray of PetRemedy for calming effect, but my instinct says this is unlikely to work too if what they need is us.

Molly expects me to get up even if my OH is up and has fed her. She has always yowled in the night, mostly as soon as the lights go out. That turned out to be because she wanted to be in the bedroom with me but her nervousness stopped her - it stopped when she got brave enough to come in and settle. She also sits and squeaks at me relentlessly if I am concentrating on something that isn't her. She has issues.

Another one years ago took to caterwauling from the bottom of the stairs, she didn't want food or out she just needed to know we were there, she got very old, deaf, nearly blind and senile, possibly hyperthyroid, and absolutely nothing worked on her.
Gwinny
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Re: Senior kitty wakes me up all night for no reason

Post by Gwinny »

fjm wrote: Thu Apr 23, 2020 8:19 pm Do you give her a late evening meal, or leave food down for her overnight? And is she allowed out at night?
Like I said, she is not particularly food motivated. I do feed her at night, as I always have, but I have a kitten who is food-aggressive, so leaving food out for just Nora is impossible. I live in an NYC apartment so she and the others are indoor-only. But thank you for your thoughts!
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Re: Senior kitty wakes me up all night for no reason

Post by Gwinny »

Mollycat wrote: Fri Apr 24, 2020 5:43 am I don't have any suggestions except to ignore, hard as it is, and pretend to be asleep. No reaction whatsoever, just play dead. But in her case I don't think it will work, there is something else that seems to go on with some seniors that just defies every trick.

The only thing I have found written about older cats becoming more needy, other than health problems, is that as they lose their physical sharpness ie senses, movement and even body warmth, we become like a solid dependable anchor for them. No suggestions how to reassure them though. I thought maybe treat them like a kitten and give them a heat pad (not a hot water bottle obviously!) and a plush bed maybe with a spray of PetRemedy for calming effect, but my instinct says this is unlikely to work too if what they need is us.

Molly expects me to get up even if my OH is up and has fed her. She has always yowled in the night, mostly as soon as the lights go out. That turned out to be because she wanted to be in the bedroom with me but her nervousness stopped her - it stopped when she got brave enough to come in and settle. She also sits and squeaks at me relentlessly if I am concentrating on something that isn't her. She has issues.

Another one years ago took to caterwauling from the bottom of the stairs, she didn't want food or out she just needed to know we were there, she got very old, deaf, nearly blind and senile, possibly hyperthyroid, and absolutely nothing worked on her.
I've definitely tried the playing dead thing... but she is literally drawing blood with her sharp little claws! So you can see how that is difficult.

She sleeps on my bed all night. I do have a kitty heating pad for her on my bed (which she loves)... she stays on it or on other places on my bed throughout the day. At night, she is either on the pad, up near my head, or under the covers next to my legs. At some point, none of these suffice and she starts with the clawing. As a side note, I adopted her when she was 12. Her previous owner had to move into a cat-free situation; I couldn't stand to see a senior kitty going to a shelter, so I took her in...when I first got her I tried things like Feliway etc. but it didn't work. Honestly, the hormones have never worked on any cats I've had. She's always done the clawing thing intermittently since I've had her, but now it's every night. I appreciate your thoughts, though!
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fjm
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Re: Senior kitty wakes me up all night for no reason

Post by fjm »

Have you tried putting her heated bed and other comforts in another room, and accustomising her to sleeping there? Perhaps a bathroom, if your flat is small. Then she could have tray, food and water as well as a very comfortable bed all within easy reach, without the kitten having access to the food. She will probably howl for the first few nights, of course! It doesn't sound as if she wants to bounce around playing all night, though, so at least you won't have that problem.
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Mollycat
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Re: Senior kitty wakes me up all night for no reason

Post by Mollycat »

Feliway doesn't work on mine, so I was sceptical about the PetRemedy but that did seem to do something. It doesn't sound like her problem though, it sounds like she has become very needy as she is getting on in years. Claw caps maybe? Just to prevent the damage to you!
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