My cat waking me up at 4am every night.

[Carmen The Cat Mom]

Not sure what has changed but within the last half a year my one cat wakes me up at 4am everynight.

He pushes his face into my face like he usually does when he's showing affection. Sometimes he's happy with just get some rubs and he will cozy up and go to bed. Which isn't terrible....except it's 4am and I have troubles getting back to bed.

Sometimes I also get up and feed him and then he usually goes back to bed.

I would like to get him out of this habit.

Any suggestions? Thanks everyone!

[Karen]

Any way you could lock him out of your bedroom at night? How sound a sleeper are you?

[Carmen The Cat Mom]

We do lock him out from time to time, he softly scratches at the door for quite a long time. It's loud enough to keep me awake. I try to use ear plugs but I am getting frustrated.

Maybe I will try again to lock him out and use the ear plugs so that he will get out of the habit?

[Karen]

We do lock him out from time to time, he softly scratches at the door for quite a long time. It's loud enough to keep me awake. I try to use ear plugs but I am getting frustrated.

Maybe I will try again to lock him out and use the ear plugs so that he will get out of the habit?

That sounds like your best option, and maybe you could train yourself to sleep through the scatting at the door as well. Even if it wakes you, just try to pretend it didn;t and go back to sleep. It may be difficult, but you have to be more stubborn than he is - no small task for a human!

[Randi]

It's frustrating not being able to sleep, but he obviously wants some loving. I think the best would be to let him stay in bed with you, give him some cuddles, then put your hand around him and try to go back to sleep. Give him enough food before bedtime and DON'T get up to fed him during the night! Then he will expect it every night.

Good luck!

[cats4ever]

Randi is right. Do not feed him when he wakes you up. Feed him like you normally would, and then give him treats before you go to bed.
Maybe you could try some play time before bed time to tire him out.
How old is he? If he's an older kitty, there could be potentially a medical reason, like an overactive thyroid.
Something else to consider is giving him something to calm him down. You could try composure treats or Feliway.