Cat crying at night

[Rosielou77]

We got a rescue cat about three weeks ago. She was very timid at first but much better now, spends most of the day on my bed, and when I go to bed and read at night she'll sit with or on top of me. But when I go to sleep I need her in her own room downstairs, door shut, at night, I have small children and am not comfortable with her being able to roam the house while we sleep. The problem is she cries a lot, mainly from around 5 in the morning, wanting to be let out. I have no cat flap yet as she has barely dared venture outside, but I intend to once she has got better at that. Will that help? She has a bed, food, water, litter tray. Is there anything else I can do stop the crying?

[Mollycat]

So she starts crying at 5am and continues until the time when you get up and feed her, is that right?

Unfortunately this puts you in a very difficult position. Normally to break a crying habit you have to either respond immediately, or not at all. Just like children, if you say no and they have a tantrum and then you give in, you're giving the message loud and clear that if they have a tantrum and they keep on you will eventually give in, it makes them really persistent. Unfortunately, you have a time to get up, your cat knows the time and starts yelling, and in her mind her insistence is what's making you get up and feed her.

Can I ask the reason for not wanting the cat to be roaming free around your house at night? Not that there's anything wrong with it and many cats get used to it and are perfectly happy, only that many especially mature cats settle and are no trouble at all at night as long as they are not confined. My girl objects to a closed door to the extent that even if she is asleep and I go to the toilet and close the door, I open it again to find her camping outside. If I leave it open, she doesn't so much as open an eye. An old one of mine actually growled at me for trying to remove her from one room so I could set the burglar alarm. they sometimes feel pretty strongly about confinement.

[Rosielou77]

Thank you. She cries for attention rather than food - isn't really hungry in the morning. I have been leaving her til my usual getting up time so she shouldn't be making any association between crying and a response. I don't know why but I'm not comfortable with the idea of her being able to get onto my children's beds. If they wake with a start or a bad dream and startle her I worry she could scratch (she can be a bit nippy and scratchy). She is only young, a little over 1, so this could eventually change.

[Mollycat]

That's fine, I don't believe there's any real risk but I don't have children and don't know your cat so it doesn't matter what I believe, it's what you are happy with.

I might have misunderstood, does she have a little whinge and then stop before you get up? I was assuming she started and kept going until you appeared downstairs. Not that I have any helpful advice anyway, Molly has yowled at bedtime and sometimes in the middle of the night for the whole 7 years I've had her and the only thing that could reliably stop her was my other cat (now gone) going in to play with her. Always with one of her toys in her mouth, calling. No idea why or how to stop it.