How to stop my cat from meowing constantly for food early morning?

Question

My cat meows so much (constantly) the morning. For food but also for attention after he is fed. He's a great cat but it's too early. I'm so tired and I have to get move sleep- how can I get him to be quiet? My roommate also has a cat (they are best of friends) and his meowing isn't as bad when she's around- she is very quiet. He is 10 months and she (the other cat) is a bit over a year. They're both fixed and indoor. Pet's info: Cat | American Shorthair | Male | neutered | 9 months and 30 days old

C. Rathjens, DVM · Accepted Answer

How frustrating! Unfortunately this is a common complaint. Cats are notorious for training their people to do all sorts of crazy things when it comes to their food. Right now Albert is requesting food early in the morning and you (reasonably) give him food/attention to quiet him, so he learns that meowing at ungodly hours is a successful strategy and keeps on doing it. What you need to do is change that dynamic. A couple ideas: 1) Ignore Albert until a certain time in the morning that you find acceptable. This is very hard at first and you'll sleep less, but he should get the idea after several days to a week. You must truly ignore him -- no positive or negative responses to his attempts to interact. 2) Switch to an automatic feeder that dispenses a set amount of food at certain intervals and then ignore all Albert's request for you to feed him. He'll learn bugging you doesn't results in food. You'll still need to ignore him in the early morning until he learns you're not available 3) Make sure you're giving him lots of attention and environmental enrichment during the day. The Indoor Pet Initiative (by Ohio State University) has some great ideas for this. If none of this work, consider talking with your vet or a veterinarian behaviorist. Good luck!

How to stop my cat from meowing constantly for food early morning?

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