7 reasons why a cat yells at night and doesn’t let you sleep and what to do about it

6856Pavel

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Fluffy, affectionate and funny - these are the most common compliments for cats, but despite all their sweet spontaneity, we must not forget that cats are born hunters and they prefer to rest during the day only because they are preparing for night wakefulness. “What should you do if your cat doesn’t let you sleep at night because the ancient hunting instinct awakens in him? – this is a question that novice cat breeders very often ask themselves.

Reasons for being awake at night. Cats are true lovers of sleep; they can sleep more than 16 hours a day, and, as a rule, most of this time falls during daylight hours, so owners of furry pets have to endure the inconvenience of the animal being awake at night.

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In addition to genetic instincts, the reasons why a cat does not let you sleep at night are:

• stress associated with moving, changing ownership, or adding new family members,
• the cat receives too little attention during the day, so Novyu tries to get the attention he lacks,
• a cat that is too cowardly hides during the day and at night tries to prove itself as a full-fledged owner of the house,
• the pet is hungry and asks for food,
• cats do not sleep at night, during sexual hunting, being in search of a partner for procreation,
• the animal is bothered by something and asks for help.

Reasons why a cat screams at night

It’s not difficult to cope with your pet’s nightly “concerts”. You just need to find out the reason for such strange behavior. Some animals are “talkative” by nature and can yell, commenting on any event, be it a flying fly or an overfilled tray. Others - convinced silent people - yell only in emergency cases, when it is truly vital. Let's try to understand the reasons for the behavior of both.

• Hormonal surges

If your cat was not sterilized on time, the heartbreaking screams that initially made you jump on your bed in a pre-heart attack state will soon become firmly part of your daily routine. The neighboring uncastrated cats, who regularly gather under the windows of your house and delight you with nightly serenades, answer her no less loudly. Only urgent sterilization can change the situation. If you are going to start breeding cats, all you have to do is find a suitable spouse for your pet, then for some time you will be able to sleep completely peacefully.

• Pet disease

Your elderly cat was spayed a long time ago, but suddenly resumed her nightly concerts? Be sure to show her to your veterinarian. Such cries may indicate some kind of disease or nervous disorder, which is sometimes found in old animals. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to cure a cat, however, with the help of properly selected medications, you can maintain the animal in adequate condition for a long time.

Sometimes animals scream loudly when experiencing severe pain - for example, in the stomach. If your cat is healthy, he completely calmly allows you to feel his stomach, without showing the slightest resistance.

Neutered older cats may cry due to urolithiasis, in which the process of emptying the bladder causes severe pain.

It often happens that a sterilized cat suddenly starts screaming, demanding a cat. Sometimes this happens - for example, if part of the ovary was not removed. In this case, you must definitely consult a veterinarian.

• Parasites

Has the always balanced, not too active cat become restless and scream loudly? It is possible that it is time to worm it. Just in case, take him to the vet.

• To attract attention

Does your pet scream at night for no reason? He may be trying his best to get your attention. "For what?" - you ask. Let's say the day before you took him into your bed and now he protests against his modest couch, resolutely preferring the vast expanses of the master's bed to such spartan conditions. Or maybe you treated him to something forbidden, and therefore especially tasty, and the little sly one wants to continue the banquet. Some owners take the path of least resistance, giving the cat a coveted piece of sausage at an inopportune hour or allowing the cat to spend the night snoring blissfully in a duvet cover. But it's better not to do this. Cats are notorious manipulators. Once the owner shows weakness, the next time it will no longer be a request, but a demand.

• Sense of anxiety

Sometimes cats start screaming, anticipating a natural disaster or some tragic event in the life of their owners. There are widely known cases where pets used shrill screams to warn their owners about a fire, a gas leak, or an approaching earthquake.

House cats often scream, signaling that a severe cold snap is approaching. If your cat either jumps onto your lap, meowing anxiously and looking into your face, or dives under the blanket, and does this repeatedly, do not waste time - take care of insulating your home. Intuition never fails our pets.

Many cat owners pay attention to the fact that their pets begin to scream heart-rendingly when uninvited guests approach, with whom their owners are at odds.

• Battle for territory

Cats, laying claim to their territory, place pungently smelling marks everywhere. But not only that. The cat, which nature has endowed with powerful lungs, screams in a guttural voice, warning the cats living nearby that they do not dare cross the border of the territory generously sprayed by him. Cats do this especially often when they change their place of residence.

• Yearning

Little kittens, left too early without their mother and not having time to get used to their new home, often cry at night, asking for attention and affection. Please be a little patient! Try to calm the baby down, stroke him gently, talk to him. If it's convenient for you, place your kitten's bed next to your bed to make him feel safe. Cover your kitten with a wool blanket to keep him warm and calm, and be sure to pet him from time to time to let him know you're nearby. Very soon your little pet will get used to it and stop crying at night.

Why does a cat interfere with sleep?

Felines are nocturnal animals, because at night it is easier to catch prey. However, people are used to living differently and usually work during the day.

Accustoming a cat to a human daily routine is possible, and furry cats often get used to it on their own. If the fluffy doesn’t want to put up with your lifestyle, something has gone wrong.

Most often, cats do not want to sleep at night due to insufficient activity during the day. Some pets do not see their owner for days, and want to socialize when the owner comes home to sleep. The opposite situation is also possible: the cat does not like the noise of children during the day, so it is more comfortable for her to walk around the house at night.

A pet may interfere with sleep due to the restriction of its territory at night. For example, during the day a cat can walk throughout the apartment, and at night the toilet is closed. This situation causes anxiety for the fluffy.

A cat can interfere with sleep intentionally - for example, if it is offended. In this case, you will have to figure out what upset the pet.

How to deal with a cat screaming at night - instructions

When a cat, who until recently behaved completely calmly, begins to scream at night, the first thing to do is show him to an experienced veterinarian. Only a specialist can help you understand the reasons for your pet’s restless behavior.

If your unneutered cat screams at night, what to do in this case is dictated by simple logic: let the poor guy go free. True, there are products on sale that help cope with sexual desire. However, they can only be used as an exception, since they can cause serious damage to your pet’s health. In the future, it is advisable to neuter the cat in order to once and for all protect yourself from sleepless nights, and protect your pet from injury and even death.

And if a castrated cat screams at night, what should you do then? Perhaps not much time has passed since the operation and the hormonal changes in the body have not yet completed. Only patience can help here. Soon the nightly shouting should stop.

But it also happens that in the middle of the night a sterilized cat, who has forgotten even to think about breeding, suddenly starts screaming. Most likely, she just got bored. If you have other pets, they will quickly call the night owl to order. All you have to do is arm yourself with a ball or string and play a little with your pet. Of course, you won’t do this every night; you also need to rest. The best way out is to play properly before bed, then your furry fidget will sleep very soundly.

Why are they doing that?

No, not in order to piss off a person and laugh evilly in your dark cat soul.
Cats are nocturnal predators who sleep during the day, saving energy. At night they are alert and ready for adventure. Naturally, during eight hours of wakefulness, the cat will get hungry and will go to the food source - a person. There is a small nuance. If a cat is accustomed to receiving food at will (it will be given as it asks), then it will not care what a person does when it feels hungry. An animal accustomed to receiving food on a schedule will most likely wait until the owner wakes up.

If your cat has never woken you up in the morning before and suddenly insists on attention at four in the morning, listen to your pet. Perhaps something happened in the house or the animal is unwell.

How not to behave

Of course, the patience of any person is by no means unlimited. Your cat has been treated kindly, fed, watered, neutered - and still continues to scream? Do not rush to grab a broom or, even worse, raise your voice at your pet. Violent measures will not help here. The cat may become frightened or offended, and in this case he may begin to take revenge. It is almost impossible to predict exactly how. Animals are subtle psychologists. They know your most vulnerable spots very well. Rest assured, this will not end peacefully. New wallpaper torn to shreds, puddles in the bed and unattractive piles in shoes are just a small part of what an angry cat is capable of.

Therefore, we kindly request you! – don’t make your life more difficult by punishing him. Try to understand the reason for his behavior and do everything possible to eliminate it.

Veterinarian advice

You can calm a cat that regularly yells at night with the help of medications or folk remedies, but veterinarians advise not to abuse either one. It may well be that the reason for your pet’s yelling lies in adaptation to the new home, fear of strangers (if you have guests), aggression towards other four-legged residents. The best remedy against yelling in this case is affection and attention.

If you nevertheless decide to resort to a sedative, veterinarians advise:

• do not abuse such drugs, as they are quickly addictive, and in the worst case, lead to serious health problems;
• closely monitor your pet’s well-being - the slightest signs of illness in the form of excessive drowsiness, nausea or vomiting may indicate an atypical reaction of the body to any component;
• Don’t buy a drug just because it helps your neighbor’s dog—the same dose will have different effects on animals of different species, sizes, and genders.

Before purchasing any sedative for your cat, be sure to consult with your veterinarian.

How to wean a kitten from sleeping alone?

Place the kitten's sleeping place next to the bed and fall asleep, gently stroking it and calming it down. Gradually move the bed closer to the door and take it outside the bedroom. Wait until your pet gets used to the new place to sleep, and strictly do not let him on the bed.

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Folk remedies for fighting orom

The nightly concerts of pets get on the nerves so much that their owners, despairing of finding a radical remedy, are finding their own ways to calm the “singers”:

• Spray bottle with water . It has been noticed that if you specifically spray water on a cat’s tail, its owner will have no time for songs. For some time he will be busy licking his main decoration and will calm down for a while. If after this he starts yelling again, threaten him with a spray gun. Most likely, the cat will hide in a secluded shelter and soon fall asleep.
• A game. If your pet is not in nature and is forced to spend all his time within four walls, he has no way to relieve excess energy. Outdoor games can help with this - only, of course, not at night, but shortly before you go to bed. Having had a good run and relieved the accumulated tension, your pet will sleep without its hind legs. If you have neither the energy nor the time to play, hang two or three toys near you on strong laces - the cat, rejoicing that you are watching him, will happily catch them, and having had enough fun, he will fall sound asleep.
• Nutrition adjustments . Save the largest portion of cat food for evening feeding. Having properly refreshed himself, the cat will sleep soundly until the morning, completely forgetting about vocal lessons.

Tips from Jackson Galaxy

To figure it out, let's follow the advice of the famous cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy, whom you may have seen in the My cat from hell program on the Animal Planet channel.

Tip #1: Don't act rashly

To begin with, what NOT to do under any circumstances:

1. Scold, chase, splash water. Even if your nerves are at their limit, this is prohibited. You should never beat an animal under any circumstances - I hope you understand this.
2. Feed in the middle of the night.
3. Lock the animal in another room. Cats are territorial animals and do not tolerate confined spaces. Systematically locking an animal in a small space such as a bathroom and leaving the animal alone will deprive it of self-confidence, frighten it, and may provoke behavioral problems: the animal may become aggressive or begin to mark its territory. So no cat jail!

Tip #2: Adjust your diet

Jackson advises feeding your cat 3 times a day, spacing meals no more than 6-8 hours apart. This is easy to do for those who are constantly at home, but for those who are at work all day, certain difficulties arise. If you leave your cat dry food for the day, then do not fill the bowl with half the daily amount or less, so that when you arrive the animal is slightly hungry and is waiting for food.

In order for your cat to go to bed with you, the last meal should be an hour and a half before bedtime. For example, if you go to bed at 11 pm, your cat should eat at 9:30. But there is another very important point, more details in the next tip.

Tip #3: Hunt, catch, kill, eat

Track, catch, kill and eat - this is the sequence in which hunting occurs. That is why it is very important to force the cat to spend a lot of energy before eating - through active games.

Never play with the animal with your hands, so that it does not begin to perceive your flesh as a toy. Modern pet stores have a huge assortment of toys - fishing rods and swings, various balls and mice, or you can not spend money and make toys yourself.

Indeed, there is a kind of “sublimation” - the replacement of hunting with game. My cat, after active body movements, tightly grabs the toy, carries it to the place where the bowl is, puts it next to it and starts dinner. It's pretty funny.

Well, after eating, the cat starts grooming - it washes itself thoroughly and finally goes to rest.

Medicines to calm you down

In order to calm an angry cat, there are many medications:

• calming tablets;
• drops;
• solutions for injections.

The most popular of them:

• Fitex - soothing drops with motherwort, valerian and hops, help relieve stress and normalize heart function;
• Stop-stress – quite strong tablets and drops that reduce the activity of the animal’s brain, but are not addictive;
• Cat Bayun is a powerful sedative in the form of a solution and tablets, intended to relieve aggression (especially in cases where the cat is marking the apartment and is overly nervous), as well as to relieve estrus in cats.

All other drugs pose a danger to the health of cats, so it is better not to use them.