[Ygrec23]

One of our cats, Pumpkin by name, wants to play, eat or go outside in the middle of the night all the time. Before the former Alpha cat died, Pumpkin didn't have these issues. Now that he's the Alpha cat he does.

Unfortunately, before finding out more about cat behavior and training, I did start letting him out in the middle of the night. We've decided now that that can't go on. But when we keep him in he yowls and whines with all his might, waking us up in the middle of the night over and over. We've decided now that that can't go on.

Is it spray bottle time? We love this little guy with all our hearts. We'd hate to ruin what was an excellent relationship. How do we get him to keep it down at night (we don't mind his playing and making noise other than whining and yowling)? And we've learned that feeding him at night just ensures he'll want it every night.

I've never heard from any other cat (and we've had four cats at a time for 35 years) the emotionally wrenching wailing that Pumpkin gives out at night. He sounds like a small human baby. It's so terribly sad and miserable that it's very, VERY hard to ignore.

What do do?

[unaluna]

Is he home alone now? He might have made a friend who is waiting for him outside, maybe that's who you have to spray? Maybe his little friend is in heat - how long has this been going on? Honestly, they DO make friends. One of my cats once brought home a date for New Year's Eve dinner, I kid you not! I never saw the date cat after that night. Spot was such a player!

[Ygrec23]

Originally Posted by hankster

Is he home alone now? He might have made a friend who is waiting for him outside, maybe that's who you have to spray? Maybe his little friend is in heat - how long has this been going on? Honestly, they DO make friends. One of my cats once brought home a date for New Year's Eve dinner, I kid you not! I never saw the date cat after that night. Spot was such a player!

No, we also have Chloe and Hillary. But they're all fixed, the Humane Society insists on it. Neither of us have seen Pumper with a pal. I think it's just the usual, nocturnal, hunting and exploring instinct. Pumper spent his first year as a feral cat.

One of our friends is what we call a "cat lady" who feeds the feral cats in the woods. We told her we'd like another cat and she brought us Pumper. This was around three or four years ago. Until recently we also had Sylvester, who was the boss cat. While he was alive, we had no problem with Pumper. Then the dogs got Sylvester and Pumper became #1 cat. So he's throwing his weight around, I guess. Take care!

[Yoda]

Can you crate him at night?

[lizardlady]

Ygrec, what about playing with him before you go to bed to wear him out?

If that doesn't work I'd try the spray bottle. It sounds like he got in the habit of being able to go out at night. He wants to continue having fun. Any behavior you try to eliminate is likely to escalate before it goes away. Yowling worked before. He yowled. You let him out. Now he yowls and doesn't get let out. From Pumpkin's perspective the humans in the house have suddenly gotten stupid. They don't do what they are supposed to when he yowls! You're going to have to be patient and stick to your guns. If you give in and let him out once you'll be back to square one retraining him.

[caffeine_nerdiness]

Spray bottle might work, but the trick is to make sure the cat doesn't realize one of the humans was responsible. In other words, you're going to out-stealth the cat because some of them do hold grudges. I have a cat who gets particularly loud in the middle of the night, but sometimes she just wants me to get up and play. Also, if the cat's vocalizations are rewarded during the day time - *cough* I talk back to my cat sometimes *cough* - you're providing reinforcement. Cats are smart enough to learn when talking is and isn't appropriate though, so there's fortunately no need to give the cat the silent treatment. What you might want to try is keeping window blinds or curtains open so the cat has something to watch while you sleep. Also, if there are any closed doors inside the house... leave them open and let him explore.