Why do cats play early in the morning instead of some other (more reasonable) time?
- Cats are crepuscular creatures.
- Cats spend most of their day sleeping, which gives them plenty of energy in the early morning.
- They are creatures of habit.
- Our cats might have figured out that we’re away most of the day and that mornings and nights are their only chance to socialize with us.
Why Do Cats Play Early in the Morning?
Cats are crepuscular animals, meaning they are most active during the twilight hours of dawn and dusk.
Therefore, cats often play around early in the morning, as this is when they naturally become active.
Playing provides your cat with mental stimulation and physical exercise that helps keep them healthy and happy.
In addition, playing can help cats to sharpen their senses and stay agile. Finally, as cats are natural predators, playing also serves as a way to practice hunting and stalking behaviors.
In general, playing with your cat in the early morning provides them with an opportunity to explore their environment and satisfy their instinctive need to hunt.
This can help ensure that they remain healthy both mentally and physically.
It is also essential to remember that cats are independent creatures and will usually find something to do while you’re sleeping.
If your cat wakes you up early in the morning, it may be trying to communicate its need for playtime or attention.
Therefore, spend a few minutes playing with your cat before you start your day.
This will help strengthen the bond between you and your pet and provide them with some much-needed exercise and mental stimulation.
Finally, remember that cats can get bored quickly and need more playtime than other animals.
Therefore, if your cat wakes you early in the morning, it may need more playtime throughout the day.
If this is the case, try to set aside some time each day to give your cat extra attention and playtime. This will help keep them happy and healthy and provide enough mental stimulation to remain content.
Why Do Cats Play Early in the Morning?
She made her little schedule not long after I got my cat from the shelter. Every morning, at the same time, she’d try to wake me up or interact with my sleeping body in some way.
Now, I wasn’t sure why she was doing that. But, since I usually wake up because I’m hungry or have to go to the bathroom, it was a given that this was the case with my cat. So, I’d get up, put some food in her bowl, and go back to sleep.
Not five minutes later, she’d return to my bed, trying to rouse me. So, naturally, this left me wondering what her true intentions were and whether she was hungry.
Cats Are Creatures of Habit
Although cats are genetically predisposed to be active in the early morning, that’s not always the case. Human behavior shapes and determines cat behavior. So, we, as cat owners, can change some behavioral patterns (even those that are evolutionary traits).
The myth that people can’t train cats is precise that — a myth. Cats are creatures of habit; if we teach them something, they’ll adopt that behavioral pattern and won’t stray from it.
Now, this is somewhat of a proverbial double-edged sword. I can teach my cat not to wake me up early. However, by getting up to feed her and play with her, I’ve already taught her that she’ll get a positive reaction from me when she wakes me up.
Even if I don’t get up to feed my cat when she wakes me up, I still react to it. I grumble, pet her, or let her play “catch the mouse” with my fingers. All of these are positive reactions (in my cat’s book). Perhaps they aren’t what she aims for, but they are good enough.
As I mentioned, cats are creatures of habit. So, morning play sessions that directly result from her waking me up are already a part of my cat’s routine, and she won’t be too happy to give them up. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible, of course. But it won’t be easy.
Why Do Cats Play Early in the Morning, and What Can I Do About It?
The most important thing we should all do as cat owners is training our cats. If we don’t, our cats will teach us.
In other words, if we give in and get up to play with them in the early morning once or twice, they’ll expect us to do so every morning for the rest of their lives. And they won’t be shy about demanding it, either. They’ll do their best to wake us up and get us to entertain them.
Some people might think that there’s an easy solution to this. We can ignore or chase our cats out of our bedrooms, so they don’t bother us, right? But, unfortunately, the answer is both Yes and No.
We don’t want to give in to our cats’ demands, but we don’t want to ignore them. It might be convenient to lock them out of our bedroom and put them in the living room. However, they might decide to take their revenge and wreak havoc there.
Distraction Is the Mother of Cat Training
Ultimately, the best thing we can do is distract our cats. We should let them be if they love to play early in the morning. However, that doesn’t mean that we need to participate.
We should ensure that our cats have plenty of toys, puzzles, or even an interactive feeder within paw’s reach in the morning. If those things occupy the cat’s attention, the feline beauty won’t even consider coming into our bed and waking us up. Alternative entertainment outside of the bedroom is a must if we want to stop our furry alarm clocks.
A Few Parting Words
The question of Why do cats play early in the morning is? Has more than one answer. However, while we must figure out exactly why our cats wake us up early, stopping them is even more critical.
Entertaining and distracting our cats without getting out of bed is the holy grail of cat ownership, and although it sounds impossible, it isn’t. Cats are pretty simple creatures that want our love and affection. Playtime can involve humans, but it doesn’t necessarily have to (at least in the early morning).
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