Cat Alarm

Now I realise that cats are naturally nocturnal animals, but being pounced on at 4am is something I'll never get used to! Oliver has settled into a respectable routine over the years. He likes to curl up at the end of the bed and snooze until the morn. He doesn't believe in sleep ins though, they're are no Saturdays in his book! When its 8am it's 'get up and feed me' time and thats it.

Poppy at 9 months has yet to fall into a routine that doesn't involve jumping on my head or scratching at my toes under the duvet at some un-Godly hour. She's also much more vocal than Oliver. When she gets thrown out of the bedroom (which she nearly always does!) she gives it about an hour to make sure I've fallen back in to my beauty sleep and then she starts Meowing and Meowing and Meowing!! Hopefully in another couple of months she'll grow out of this and then we can all sllep through the night again :)

I found this article that gives some tips on how to help get cats out of the middle of the night/early morning thing. I might try the hoover thing! Poppy hates the hoover..hehehe

Early AM Wakeups

Cats are notorious for waking their owners up at oh-dark-thirty. If you wish to stop this, there are several steps to take.
The cat may simply be hungry and demanding its food. By feeding it when it wakes you up at an ungodly hour, you are simply reinforcing its behavior. If this is why it's waking you up, you can handle this either by filling the bowl just before you go to sleep so it will not be empty in the morning, or by ignoring the cat's wakeups and feeding it at the exact same time convenient to you every morning. The cat will adjust fairly quickly to the second.
If it is trying to play, there are again several tactics you can try. If you make a practice of tiring it out with play just before bedtime, you can reduce its calls for play at dawn. What works in some cases is to hiss gently at the cat. You can also try shutting it out of the bedroom. If it pounds on the door, put it in a bathroom until you wake up.
In persistent cases, try the vacuum cleaner, eater of noisy kitties. Go to bed, leaving him out in the hall. Position the vacuum cleaner next to the door, inside it. Plug the vacuum in, and arrange things so you can switch the vacuum on from your bed (eg, wire a switch into an extension cord). Wait for the scratching and wailing at the door. Turn the vacuum cleaner on. If cat comes back, turn it on again. The cat will eventually decide to stop bothering you in the morning.