# Making cats sleep through the night **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 10, 2004, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-cats-sleep-through-the-night/279073 "2004-12-10T04:35:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-cats-sleep-through-the-night/279073/21 "2004-12-11T03:56:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by **BobT** : > > I just started closing off my bedroom from my cat when I went to sleep. Losing the best part of having a cat - someone to keep you company at night? Sinner! > [@](#): > > Originally posted by **BobT** : > > She complained for a month and then she adapted. I’m afraid you’ve got it all wrong. She did not adapt, she simply began to plan your destruction as punishment for subverting her wishes. I am certain the only reason you continue to draw breath is that she is still in negotiations over the price of “Wheezy Joe” the hitman. When Weezy Joe shows up to do the job, just pay him double what the cat was paying. I know - my cat does this. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-cats-sleep-through-the-night/279073/22 "2004-12-11T08:38:19Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > You probably don’t want to hear this, but once you put food in their bowl in reaction to their meowing, it’s going to be extremely difficult to reverse that behavior, because you have reinforced it. Even if you stop doing it now, it will take a long time for them to lose the mental connection that “meowing 2 hours before sunrise equals food”. Blowero is basicly correct. But here ya go- 1. Play with them before bedtime. 2. Make sure their food bowl is always full- re-fill before you go to bed. 3. Don’t feed them again when they wake you up- even if the bowl is empty. Cats learn very well when “they teach themselves a trick”- which is exactly what they have done in the OP’s case. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-cats-sleep-through-the-night/279073/23 "2004-12-12T01:27:19Z")
I used to have this same problem. Cats would wake me up around 2 hours before I wanted to get up. The solution? I go to bed 2 hours earlier, and we all have our breakfast together. I’m much more adaptable than any cat I’ve ever had. And by the way, squirt gun behavior modification sometimes backfires. My new kitten absolutely loves to be squirted. Including, to my chagrin, jumping over the toilet while I’m peeing; gotta keep that door closed. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-cats-sleep-through-the-night/279073/24 "2004-12-12T01:41:08Z")
My cat likes to get up an hour after we’ve all gone to bed and try to wake us up to play. I have to chase him down and drop his butt onto my bedroom chair, where he’ll curl up and fall sleep again. But I have to catch him first. It’s a strange little routine we’ve got going. So lately I’ve been using the red laser dot of fun to tire him out in the evening. It works like a charm _most_ of the time. And I swear he knows when I have exams, because those are the nights he’s most annoying and hardest to catch. He wants me to fail, so I’ll end up unemployed, on welfare, with nothing better to do than sit here and scratch his tummy all day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-cats-sleep-through-the-night/279073.md?page=1)