As a cat parent, you may have seen a mix of habits and activities of the furry fellow. One such is relevant to sleeping and waking habits. Sometimes, cat parents tend to have their sleeping clock synchronized with their cats. Post dinner, they take them to bed and get lost in dreams while cuddling the little fellow. However, at times the feline clock may not be ticking the same with you at times, and many cat parents complain that their cat wakes up meowing.
Many cat owners would think that most probably the cat has woken up from a bad dream. The cat may get surprised by viewing itself in a different scenario. This could be her experience with real-time after having a dream. Some imagining of fight and hunting or experiences in the neighborhood could be playing back when the cat is asleep. It could be a frustrating experience of the prey evading her or maybe a furious hunt she fails at. This could be frightening at times, forcing the cat to wake up yelling and meowing.
Well, below are some reasons and solutions to the above-given query? If your little fellow has recently bothered you with meowing, read and act as discussed below:
Why does my cat wake up meowing: Few points to check
If your cat wakes up meowing, a few things can be checked to see if something can be done at your end. Or, if it is something severe and relates to the cat’s health, it can be checked with the vet.
Cats are usually active in the morning and night. Cat waking up meowing could be because of their natural agility at dawn. This is known as cat being crepuscular, making them functional at early day hours, meowing aloud while rest are still sleeping.
Instead, some cat owners might be waking the cat’s call. This can be disturbing at times, but nothing out of the ordinary. You can expect some cats to get adjusted to your routine while many cannot pin down crepuscular tendency.
The cat could be unstimulated or bored.
The cat might be meowing in the morning if it couldn’t have proper sleep at night. The agitated behavior will be shown in the sound produced by the cat. This also brings in a whim of boredom, where they are left un-stimulated for the day that has just begin. Some activities in the day or a good breakfast will help you out of the un-stimulated behavior of the cat.
Also, this could be an attention-seeking behavior. The cat is tired and still yearning to sleep. It might need some cuddles and additional rest time. They might have tried keeping themselves asleep but failed. Your active role in helping them relax and join back the dreamland where they left will be a good thing to do here.
Moreover, this could be your cat demanding something. It is good to have them heard and provided with the need, yet it should be checked for frequency. Make sure you are not doing it frequently. Otherwise, it will end up becoming a routine.
Kidney Disease or overactive thyroid
If your cat wakes up meowing and doing it regularly, one needs to have the vet checked for some issues. This intense vocalization could be a hint of some underlying health issues of the cat. Some of the problems it probably can present are related to the thyroid that could be overactive. Also, some points with the cat’s kidney could be seen. The vet, upon checking, makes a better verdict of it, though.
Signifies the aging process of your cat
The process of aging is evident in all living beings. It can affect anyone and can be manifested differently in different creatures. In the case of cats, the brain may suffer some disorientation or other physical changes. To name one of the changes, we have CDS or Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome that is seen to be affecting a cat’s brain as it begins to age. This can turn up multiple symptoms, one of the common being the cat waking up meowing.
Cat feels confined
The cat is usually an outdoor animal and stays happy in an open arena. However, when turned into a pet, the owner keeps it typically into the house. This is all done in the best interest of the cat and to keep it more homely. Yet if the cat is not allowed some outdoor activities and some playing around the neighborhood, the cat can feel constrained. This consequently can make them cry or howl, appealing for some outdoor or free time. One can look into safer options and allow the cat to spend some energy outdoors. This can be a supervised activity and can bring howling down.
The cat is hungry
The cat could be mowing out of hunger pangs. Sometimes, the cat owner may have a regular schedule of cat feed or may pin it with their time. But in other cases, one can have an independent schedule. This is where one might have missed or skipped the cat feed. In this very case, the cat reminds the owner, meowing until fed with breakfast.
The cat wants to get into the room.
Sometimes the cat wakes up from a bad dream or wants some cuddles. In this case, the cat wakes up meowing and directing its way to the parent. All it needs is entry into the room, as most of the time, doors are closed. In this scenario, the meowing is healthy, and letting in the cat will put it to an end.
The cat feels hot
Any temperature change can disturb the cat, although they manage it well with the fur. In the case of the female cat, this is evident. The female feline goes all yowling when discomforted with heat. Helping a cat with it can bring the problem down.
The cat is stressed or agitated.
As per scientific observations, a cat that is under stress turns out to be more vocal. The meowing, in turn, goes higher in comparison to the regular routine. Also, if the cat is faced with some stress and not looked into properly can ignite the same problem. Helping a cat with some playful and cuddly time can reduce the stress levels of the cat. And be right next to the cat, the agitation can be pinned down.
The cat might be hurt.
One day out of the blue, if the cat wakes up meowing, this might concern the cat owner. But it is primarily essential to see if this is unusual. When you need to attend to the cat, it could be a hint or some message by little fellow. Sometimes, when the cat is allowed to sleep separately, it can injure itself. It could be both some physical injury and some underlined complaint that the cat tries to present by meowing early in the morning.
Attending cat on meow will be a good job and can make you learn of any issue without any delays. This, in turn, makes you help the cat on your own. Or you can refer to the vet if something serious causes trouble to the cat.
The cat wants to say hello
A cat is a lovely fellow that loves to stay around the parent and yearn to cuddle around. When the cat and the cat parent have a separate sleep out, the cat usually wakes up meowing. This is nothing serious and just a way to say hello. The cat wants to greet you and have fun before heading to breakfast with you. This will mark some fun time between you and the cat before heading to your wake.
Cat wakes from a bad dream.
The cat is an outdoor animal, feeding itself by hunting other smaller animals. The cat, when provided indoors, is usually away from such routines. But some odd day, it can be dreaming of having some insect or mouse hunted. In this situation, she might wake up and end up yowling. What so, ever, this is pretty normal. The cat needs to be reminded she’s safe and is up from a dream. The day should be carried further and headed to breakfast. This will get her back to the day and help out with the meowing thing.
The solution to cat waking up meowing:
You are not serving the breakfast
The cat wakes up in the morning expecting the parent to feed. This meowing could be a mix of messages. The cat could be saying hello or could be wanting a meal to start off the day. It could be possible that you have left breakfast at some decided spot for the cat, but it could be meowing right after consuming it. The cat could be asking for more.
It is better to have the cat attended soon after it wakes up. Most of the time, cat owners have their waking and eating time synchronized with the cat. This helps them spend quality time and look around right before getting into their busy schedule. One can do the same and reduce to zero the sounds as though your cat is producing in the morning. One can also train cat to feed independently so your absence doesn’t make them meow and howl right in the morning.
Develop a relation of rewards and ignore with the cat
One of the reasons for the cat waking up meowing is simply because it works best for her. Every time she is awarded a response, she continues doing it. This replying immediately to the cat to soothe her down actually reinforces her behavior.
One should be well aware of the ignoring feature. One should avoid yelling and let the cat understand it will not be responded every time. However, it is not possible to let it go ignored every time. The cat could be at the point where the behavior can go worse. You might not want the baby or kids sleeping next door; wake up to the unnecessary sound. But keeps practicing the ignore thing, so the cat’s behavior is not fortified.
One needs to be patient and learn to manage between responses and ignore. On the other hand, one can go for the reward thing. Try soothing the cat with either food or telling it to calm. In this case, if the cat follows instructions, treat her with cuddles or some treat. One can also give a meal to the cat only after she learns to stay silent. The maintenance of silence should be a point of reward. The reinforcement of this positive behavior will help you in this very case.
Look into the environment of the little fellow.
The cat waking up meowing could express several reasons. Try making your cat independent and getting involved in some physical activities. This will direct her to altogether to a different set of activities, if she is meowing soon after waking up. Create a separate area for feeding the cat. Let her get to it herself if she was meowing out of hunger.
One can also surprise and treat a cat by pouring some food at different places. Or the first place she gets to after waking up. Similarly, involving her in some play or scratching activity will also help shut down meowing after she woke from a scary dream.
Sometimes, the cat could be triggered due to a sudden outshine of the sun, alarm, or knock on the door. Try assigning a different area to the cat where she could sleep in peace. If she is not disturbed in the middle, she will probably maintain calm and never wake up yowling.
Conclusion:
The cat is usually seen meowing to get the attention of the parent. Even at times, if it turns out to be a regular thing with some repeated patterns, one should check. It can begin with checking the needs of the cat and some routine activities. One can help the cat by addressing any problems faced by her. Catering complaints or having some of the hitches removed can correct excessive meowing in the morning.
One can try by updating the environment of the cat. Ignoring the unnecessary yowling and rewarding her on following silent instruction. One can also help the cat with the feeding routine to serve the huger calls. And help her with a different sleeping area to not to wake to any false alarms. Yet if it continues, out of the ordinary, try recording cat behavior and reporting a vet. It could be some physical or health issue that a vet can better diagnose and help out with.