Talkative Cat

Question
In the past two months my 3 year old domestic medium hair cat has begun consist yelling.  Some history: Fezzick, the yeller, was saved from the humane society and we have had him since he was about 8 weeks old. He is fixed and in good health, other than being a tad overweight. He has had a kitty "brother" for about 2 years now, because we were worried he was lonely during the day. They get along rather well. We moved into our house back in January.  He loves the stairs and the open spaces.  He also loves the fenced in backyard.  He is only allowed out while supervised and the weather permits (we live in Western NY).  He does yell (it really doesn't sound like a meow!) when he wants to play or go outside and that we can interpret as he sits at the door.  What has started recently is that he will start yelling and seeking attention about 2-3 in the morning.  He wakes me out of a sound sleep.  He yells, jumps on my chest, scratches at the door (if closed) or dresser.  He is relentless.  We play with him often throughout the day and his litter is cleaned daily.  What is going on?  I have tried looking up answers as this is starting to have a negative impact on my sleep.

Answer
Hi Rebecca,

Hmm...This is a tough one.  Does your cat have any Siamese in him?  sounds like it from the "yelling" you describe. :)

It sounds like he's trying to get attention.  I would try ignoring him when he does this (I know it will be difficult).  If he gets a reaction out of you, in his mind, his actions have been successful and he will believe that when he wants to get your attention, this is what he needs to do.  If you ignore him, he will determine that his approach isn't working and hopefully stop doing it.  

If this doesn't work, you could try placing him and his buddy in a different room at night so that he can't get to you to disturb you.  You could also try playing with him vigorously at night right before bed time so hopefully he will tire out and sleep through the night...(Cats are generally more active at night so this may be tough).

I hope this gives you a couple of ideas.  Good luck and I hope you are able to get a better sleep soon!

Katherine