Dr. Nicholas Dodman
Behavioral Disorders
Contrary to popular belief, cats are not nocturnal. The term "nocturnal" refers to the lifestyle of being awake at night instead of during the day, and that isn't what cats do. They sleep at night as we do, just not for quite as long. Cats are "crepuscular," which means they are most active at dawn and dusk. This is because their ancestors' prey was most active at these times, so it made sense for them to adjust to that schedule. No creature in his or her right mind ran about during the heat of the day or in the middle of night when it was pitch black. Though cats' night vision is very good, they can't see without light. Instead, they sleep.
And herein lies the problem of the chronic "alarm clock" cat. Two things combine to make this phenomenon possible:
At this stage, pretending to be asleep, yelling at the cat, rolling over, and other forms of stubborn resistance usually do not work. The cat continues her (no doubt) occasionally successful quests. And remember, occasional reward is a more powerful reinforcer than continuous reward (reference: the slot machines in Las Vegas). Some of the things you do may even amuse and entertain the bored cat and serve as reinforcers in their own right. You may, in effect, become a big squeaky toy for your cat.
Here are some suggestions to prevent early awakenings:
The most important things to remember about "early morning syndrome" is that it is a natural tendency for cats to rise and become active at dawn, and that owners can inadvertently feed into this tendency by responding with attention or food. If you are not careful, a cat that you feed at 6 a.m. will start jumping up on your bed at 5:45 a.m., trying to get a jump start on her day. If you respond to your cat's 5:45 a.m. demands, next you will find yourself being woken up at 5:30 a.m., then 5:15 a.m., and so on, until eventually you're being woken up in the wee hours.
Because most cats are keen to bend the rules, especially where food is concerned, and are naturally quick studies, it is important to make acceptable house rules and stick to them. If you cave in under pressure, you will get more of whatever behavior you have just rewarded. That is to say, you can inadvertently train a cat to wake you up. The old proverb about "making your own bed and lying in it" really applies here, except that you won't be doing much lying. If you do have a problem of this nature, you should avoid making any early morning activity rewarding to your cat. It may take weeks to accomplish what you set out to do, but it will finally dawn on the cat that sunrise doesn't signal anything worth waking you for - and then you'll be off the hook.
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