No it is my cat, “The Princess”, Miss Mia who has been waking me up in the wee hours of the morning; preventing me from a good night’s rest and going to the gym for much needed exercise.  Usually before Summer officially begins and the sun rises earlier around 4:30 am I anticipate Mia waking me up.  And had come to terms with it.

In checking my Twitter “Favorites”, the ASPCA had a post answering all my questions regarding my lack of sleep: “Nighttime Activity in Cats”. There is a checklist they provide to eliminate or remedy that early wake up call.

1.  Make sure above anything else that there are no medical issues.

2.  In the evening schedule some play time with toys like mice or birds.  (I must say that right now I am contending with a real life mouse that Miss Mia has been trying to catch for the past couple of days…yikes.)

3. Feed your cat just before bed time.

4. Keep your cat busy during daylight hours.

5. Consider another cat if your cat is social with other cats.  (Unfortunately this does not apply to me.  Mia does not play well with others.)

6. Lastly if your cat attempts to wake or play with you while you are sleeping you might have to resort to locking him out of your bedroom.  Otherwise those sleepless nights will continue.  One example of discouraging him from meowing or scratching at the door is to place a hairdryer on door handle.

If all else fails consider contacting a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist.

Many thanks to the ASPCA for wonderful work you do and tips you provide for pet owners.  Thanks also to Twitter for readily providing this information through its micro blogging service.