Cat Meowing at Night

by Tricia
(Carmichael, CA)

My cat always sleeps with me at night, either continuously or for several hours then leaves and comes back.

But recently, he has begun some very strang behavior. This has happened four times over the last two weeks. My cat will begin meowing incessantly until I wake up and acknowledge him. Each time, he has brought his purple stuffed hippo (which is his favorite toy and which he carries around in his mouth) into my room and is either lying with it or pacing back and forth in front of it. Once I acknowledge him, he jumps on the bed so that I can pet him and then it's over.

This always happens around midnight, which is about two hours before I wake up and one hour after my fiance leaves for work (we both work in television news and work the morning show).

Is this just a behavioral "quirk" or something that I should discuss with my vet?

Thanks for your help.

Answer by Kate
Hi no this is normal behavior for a cat. Night time is when cats are naturally more active at night time and many owners find that their pets want attention at night, either to play or for some attention. I don't think they quite understand that we need our sleep at night.

generally i recommend a good runaround game about an hour before bedtime to tucker them out. The only other option is to prevent them access to the bedroom while you sleep but even i can't bring myself to do that with our little cat.
I have a page here under the cat behavior section about cat meowing behavior it may give you some more background info on this sort of behavior.

thank you for getting in touch and i hope i have been able to answer your question.

best wishes
Kate

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