Help! My cat wont let me sleep

[Shourtneyq]

I have an overweight cat who thinks he is supposed to eat all day long. I have tried to feed him right before i go to bed, but he doesnt understand and still wakes me up every hour to be fed. He will paw at the door until it wakes me up, and i try to spray him with a bottle when he does this, but it doesnt work. If he does stop pawing at the door, he only does this so that he may knock the garbage can over, or chew on things that make a lot of noise. One solution i can think of would be to just feed him when he wakes me up, but i feel like i would just be contributing to the problem. He weighs 25 pounds and the vet has instructed me to feed him less, and this is where i dont know what to do. I am a full time student and need as much sleep as i can get. Please help me. I love my kitty, but i dont know what to do.

[Karen]

You need to take control of the situation. If you need to, shut him in another room - a spare bedroom, maybe the bathroom, making sure there's a litterbox, water and toys in with him to keep him occupied. Him waking you up every hour isn't good for either of you, nor is feeding him "on demand." Pick a time every day, maybe once in the morning, and once at night, to feed him, and that's it! Make it a routine - he'll adjust, and be healthier for both of you!

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

I must agree with Karen! Don' let your kitten get the boss over you!! Routine is very important; it will be hard at first, but the cat will get used to it!
Good luck!

[Breezy Top Cat]

I have a cat that wakes us up too, but not to be fed but for ATTENTION. We have to lock him in the computer room at night and he still cries for us.

Have you switched to a low calorie food for over weight cats? There is a lot more fiber in them to help them feel more full w/ less calories. Also, did your vet check your cats stool to make sure he doesn't have worms. Worms can make a cat hungry and cause them to look bloated or fat.

[Shourtneyq]

yeah, "cartman" is healthy except that is is overweight. I rescued him from an abusive home. His previous owner was feeding him greasy hamburgers. I did not let him sleep in my room last night and i am not going to let him for a few weeks. If he will change his eating habits he can come back to bed, but not until then. I just dont understand i have had him for 3 years now and he has never been this bad. Oh yeah, I feed him Pro Plan Weight Management. Is there anything that is better for him out there?

[Breezy Top Cat]

My cat has been put in the computer room every night for 7 mos since we got him as a kitten (he's 9 mos old now) and still cries off and on at night. We have tried to let him run free at night a couple times, but he wakes us up too much. We tried again around New Year's and he woke us up 6 times in 1 hour! Since he is Siamese, there is no ignoring his yowl! He goes from room to room yowling and we think he is looking for everyone and trying to get attention. Usually we are all together in the living room or something, so I think at night when we are spread out in our own bedrooms, he gets confused.

[snowyowlcat]

Do they not make chew things for cats like pigs' ears, "leather" bones, or other hard things that take hours to eat? Perhaps your vet can help you out with that. If he is occupied for a few hours with something like that, it might be the way to break the habit. When you give him what he wants, he is training YOU. But get him medically checked out for worms, I agree.
My friend's "fatcat" takes over the bowl and bullies the other cats from eating. She has to feed the others away from him, just so they can get food also.
Is he alone, or does he have a playmate? Can you give him one of those toys that you fill with loose food, and he has to play with it to get the food out? (but at night he should be resting more).

These are questions for a behaviour expert!

Good luck,