First time cat owner...

Joined: Aug 19, 2008 Posts: 1

Just got a new kitten...my dog is finally starting to accept him as a member of the family. He is extremely energetic and extremely cuddly, too cute for words. I just have one problem. Every morning at 6 on the dot, my kitten (Perseus-aka Percy) wakes me up. Mainly its by batting, pouncing and biting my feet...but sometimes he just messes with the blinds, which is extremely noisy as well. Is it normal for a cat to wake up so regularly? Or will this pass with his kittenhood?

I usually dont have to get up until 7, so this is a major annoyance. Most of the time I just wake up long enough to shut him in the bathroom (where his litterbox is). Is this proper training procedure? I have never had anything except for dogs, so I'm not exactly sure...

Any replies will be greatly appreciated! Thanks...

Joined: Sep 15, 2008 Posts: 3

Hey there...we have a kitten and a puppy too. Although I've always had cats so I'm a new puppy person.

But, in my experiences I can tell you that it is very normal for kittens to do this. Typically I've found that it means my kitten is hungry, and if there is food in his dish, he's just being picky and wants "new food" in his dish.

BUT there are other times when it's not the food. He'll run from his dish and follow me into the bathroom and rub on my legs and meow and purr. Once I pick him up he stops meowing and just keeps purring.

It's so fun to be loved by the kitty, but yes being woken up earlier then you need is a pain. What we've been doing is locking the cat outside of our bedroom with his litterbox. We do not let the kitty in until we are ready to give him attention.

Cats by nature, again in my experiences, do not sleep for long periods of time, they sleep a few hours on, want to play/get attention, and then sleep again an hour or so later.

As you and the kitten grow accustomed to each other, you'll get into a routine.