Expert: Tina - 1/31/2007

Question
I have had my cat for 7 years and he is very loving and relaxed.  The big problem is that recently almost every night he stands outside my room meowing.  He has free access to my room and the rest of the house except for my one year old's room and the attic.  I even put a bowl of food in my room.  He calms down when I call him and he hops into bed with me only to jump out a few minutes later and start meowing again.  He wakes the baby and me and my husband and I am exhausted.  I am actually considering giving him away because I can't take it another night.  Please help.  I love my cat and so does the baby but I don't know what to do.

Answer
Hi Danielle,

I can sympathize my cat went through a stage like this! Cats are of course nocturnal animals, but there are ways to keep him from waking you up at night.

COuld it be that your cat is hearing some noises from the baby and is trying to alert you? Or perhaps he is simply that he is waking up and bored and lonely! Either way, I can recommend some solutions.

First, make sure your cat has a predictable schedule as much as possible. Feed him at the same time each day, and before bed time, play with him. Get him chasing after a favorite toy such as a laser pointer or a feather wand, something that really gets him running around and tired out. He should sleep more at night then!

Secondly, do not respond in any way to him when he meows at night. He wants to get your attention and he is succeeding. If you ignore him he will not get the response he wants. Wear earplugs for a few nights if you must!

Finally, I think you should also try a cat-calming supplement or Feliway. Feliway helps reduce anxiety in cats, it mimics relaxing pheromones that cats exude from their cheek glands. The plug-in diffuser creates a constant release of Feliway, the spray is best for local and immediate but short-term effect. It is not detectable by humans at all (the spray smells like rubbing alcohol when you first use it, but that quickly evaporates). It is sold in most pet stores and online.

You can also try a relaxing supplement such as "Content-Um" which contains tryptophan, the amino acid in turkey that makes people and pets feel relaxed and sleepy. Giving him this in his dinner will help him get the idea that night time s quiet time. Here is a website that sells some of these items:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/NavResults.cfm?N=2002+113757