Some furry owners complain that their beloved pet has a habit of waking everyone up early in the morning. All this to beg for food or get a dose of affection. As a result, every day in the morning you can hear stomping, creaking doors, and the scratching of claws on door frames in the house. There are also other signs of activity. Early in the morning the animal begins to beg for food, meow almost in the ear, and climb on the bed. The owner has to get up to feed his animal. But this is wrong - the cat should wait until everyone wakes up, pays attention to it and feeds it. How to wean a cat from this behavior?
Eating behavior
Pets often start screaming at 5-6 in the morning to be fed, and they also become indignant and fight if feeding time is delayed. An animal can cause a scandal when it is given the wrong product for hunting. Other reasons are possible (requires treats, impaired hunger).
Solution
In any case, you need to behave the same:
- Animals should not be allowed into the kitchen during food preparation or human meals;
- throwing, screaming, scratching must be ignored;
- if you refuse food, you cannot exchange it for a treat;
- the treat should not serve as food, it is given to the pet during training;
- the treat is given on a full stomach;
- do not show any reaction to your pet’s howls;
- food intake must be regulated and adhere to an hourly schedule;
- if the pet begins to behave violently, it can be locked in a separate room (toilet) and placed on the landing.
How to determine the age of a kitten?
The surest way to determine the age of a kitten is by looking at its teeth. Babies are born without them. The first to appear are the deciduous incisors—the small front teeth—this occurs at 2-3 weeks of a kitten’s life. After them come the fangs - long wedges on the sides of the incisors; they erupt at 3-4 weeks.
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Sticky surfaces
How to stop a cat from scratching the sofa? Just let it stick once or twice! Attach double-sided tape to the upholstery. As soon as the animal approaches to scratch its favorite place, it will immediately stick its paw or fur on its side. Cats hate being clingy, so you won't need a lot of lessons.
Place the tape in all places where the cat sticks its claws - the window sill, corners, doors, and so on. Soon the animal will avoid dangerous places three meters away!
Nocturnal lifestyle
Before moving on to the reasons for unwanted behavior in cats, it should be remembered that all felines are active primarily at night or in the early morning hours. This rhythm of life gave wild cats an advantage over prey and other predators, which were less active after sunset.
Cats' visual organs are also geared towards a nocturnal lifestyle; they function even worse in illuminated conditions than in twilight. In a word, even cat physiology is on the side of their activity from dusk to dawn.
For wild cousins of domestic cats, night hunting is a way of survival
However, the millennia lived side by side with humans were not in vain for cats. Pets, in the process of long evolution, have learned to adjust their rhythms of life to human rhythms. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to find cats sleeping side by side with humans. But you need to keep in mind that cat sleep has little in common with human sleep.
Instead of sleeping once a day, cats take short naps of a few minutes each.
Cats sleep very lightly and often wake up, since full, deep sleep is an unaffordable luxury for them. Wild cats couldn’t afford it and slept in “portions.” This sleep order was passed on to their distant domestic descendants.
Play with your pet
Not all cats have a calm character. Many of them like to lead an active lifestyle. An energetic pet definitely needs to move during the day so that by the end of it it gets tired and sleeps peacefully at night. Play with your cat before bed. It is best to play with hyperactive animals several times a day - morning and evening. If you don't have enough time to pay attention to your cat every day, get a second one. The two of them will have much more fun. They will be able to run after each other and will not be bored when they are alone at home.
Give your cat enough attention
Lack of attention may also be the cause of loud screaming in the morning. Be sure to caress your pet and scratch the places he exposes to you. Do not refuse the communication that he so needs. If a cat jumps onto your lap, don't shoo it away. Show her a little care and warmth, even if you have a lot of other things to do. In the morning, a cat may scream because it feels lonely. It is enough to take her to your bed, scratch her belly, back or neck. As a rule, this is enough for the animal to calm down and begin to purr loudly. When your pet gets tired of lying next to you, he will silently leave and will not wake you up again. Because the cat will receive what it so needed - attention and affection.
Give your cat freedom to roam around the house
Cats, as a rule, do not tolerate enclosed spaces. They need to exercise full control over their territory. You should not leave your pet in a locked room at night. Otherwise, you risk waking up from him trying to open the door to your room. If possible, you should allow your pet to share the same bed with you. But if you consider this unacceptable, the cat should be taught order from the moment it arrives in the house. In this case, it is best to take a kitten, as they are easier to teach. The pet should be made to understand that he can only sleep in a place specially designated for him. To do this, you will have to purchase a cat basket, bed or house. Remember that the learning process can take a long time. During this period you need to be patient, you may have to sacrifice a few hours of morning sleep. But under no circumstances should you show aggression towards your pet. This threatens the appearance of nervous diseases, which will then have to be treated.
Urolithiasis (UCD)
This is a common pathology among cats. Cats suffer from it relatively rarely. Males are predisposed due to the structural features of the urethra. Firstly, it is too narrow, and secondly, it is tortuous. With urolithiasis, stones and sand form in the bladder. The former cause irritation and take up extra space. The latter clog the urethra, complicating the outflow of fluid.
Important! The result of ICD is a ruptured bladder, the painful death of a cat .
Causes of urolithiasis: poor diet, lack of vitamins, obesity, metabolic disorders. As a result, the acidity of the urine changes, due to which elements (salts or, conversely, proteins) begin to quickly precipitate. As a result, sand and stones are formed, which cause urolithiasis.
Symptoms of urolithiasis:
- the cat tries to go to the toilet a little at a time, but he can’t defecate;
- an important symptom is the pot is dry;
- urine is concentrated, amber-yellow, with a pungent odor;
- constant licking of the groin area;
- there is blood in the urine;
- the pet is lethargic and refuses food;
- body temperature rises;
- palpation of the abdomen reveals a distended bladder;
- X-ray shows stones in the bladder area.
Solution
First of all, you need to visit a veterinarian so that the doctor chooses and prescribes a treatment method. To remove urine through surgery, a catheter is inserted for several days, and a collar is also put on to prevent the cat from licking the perineum.
To resolve urinary stones, a diet is prescribed. Special food is purchased at pet stores. There are veterinary products that should be used separately for oxalate or struvite stones. It rarely happens that stones are removed by surgery.
Anti-inflammatory drugs, painkillers, and diuretics are also prescribed. The veterinarian prescribes pharmaceutical preparations of medicinal herbs. It is necessary to understand that the pathology returns if the cause is not eliminated. Therefore, a diet is prescribed, and the cat must also be walked so that it moves.
Will sterilization help?
As we wrote in the first paragraph, cats mark their territory by leaving their scent and marks. As many people know, if you sterilize an animal, it loses interest in the opposite sex. But sterilization will not help overcome the instinct to mark oneself with claws!
Yes, it is necessary to sterilize pets; this will protect them from many diseases and prolong their lives. You, in turn, will not need to listen to cat concerts or think about what to do with the offspring. How to stop a cat from scratching furniture and wallpaper? There are other productive methods.
Is it possible and how to train a cat not to disturb sleep?
There is no simple and clear way to solve the problem of early rises. The training procedure is complex and lengthy. But if you are pretty tired of cat songs in the morning, then you should try.
Action plan for teaching an animal to silence:
- First, you should mentally prepare yourself and your family for the long journey. After all, the procedure can take at least a month.
- Prepare a spray bottle of water next to the bed.
- When in the morning a cat tries to attract attention to itself and starts jumping on the bed and meowing, you need to lightly spray its curious face with water. Temporary effect is guaranteed.
- It is advisable to close the doors to all rooms except yours. Or provide all apartment residents with sprayers.
- Under no circumstances should you show signs of attention to the animal. Even if it pretends to be suffering terribly and howls heart-rendingly somewhere next to the bowl. Scratching behind the ear, stroking, talking should be done at any other time, but not during the morning “hysterics”. It is only acceptable to splash water when trying to “scream” over the ear.
- Develop and establish a clear meal schedule, taking into account weekends. Food should only be provided at specific times.
- Strictly monitor the implementation of all points of this plan. And do this until the cat stops waking you up in the early morning.
- If at least once one of the family members gives up, the training will have to start from the very beginning. Please note that doing this again will be much more difficult.
Over time, the cat will remember that she will definitely be given enough attention and fed her favorite food, but not under the pressure of her heart-rending cries, but when the time comes.
High activity at night
Cats are nocturnal animals. Therefore, when the sun sets, they begin to run around the apartment, play wildly, drop objects, meow, howl, and demand feeding. It is a completely natural behavior that is present to a greater or lesser extent in all cats.
Solution
There are 2 possible strategies:
- Drive the cat out into the street, onto the landing, into the room at night, outside the door. Let him seek adventure if he wants. Some owners do this. Their pets constantly walk at night and during the day, hunt pigeons, fight with cats, and run from dogs.
- Accustom your pet to a daily lifestyle. To do this you need to play with him. Use laser pointers, jingling balls, radio-controlled cars, mice, and teasers. This is purchased at a veterinary pet store. Owners also walk their pet on a leash during the day. Of course, in the evening the toys and bells are removed and the scratching post is left behind.
Cat owl - grief in the family
You may have seen a funny cartoon about Simon the cat, which shows all the brightest features of our harmful, but so beloved cats. One of the most popular cartoons depicts the morning scene of owner Simon waking up. Moreover, it all begins with a gentle poke of the cat’s nose, and ends with a blow to the head with a bat.
Of course, the picture is a little exaggerated, but if you analyze the forums of cat owners and their numerous complaints, it becomes a little uncomfortable. Pets go to great lengths to get their owners out of bed... they run their claws on the glass, bite the face, arms and legs, pee on the pillow, and this is not the end of the list. All these strange manipulations are performed with only one purpose - to get the owner out of bed early in the morning or even at night.
Don't use aggressive parenting methods
Don't yell at the animal or hit it. Severe stress will negatively affect his health. Mental illness can also lead to physical illness. Gradually accustom your cat to her sleeping place if you do not want her to sleep with you. The incentive method is quite suitable for this. For every correct action, give the animal a treat. For pranks, you can be deprived of a treat, but not the main food. It is best to start training if your pet has problems with discipline.