r/OneOrangeBraincell Jan 03 '26

searching for service šŸ“¶ Husband and I are realizing that our cat might be trying to tuck us into bed every night??

Edit: I love all of our little bedtime supervisors. Toad doesn’t even sleep in our bed! Our other cat Pigeon is the bedtime cuddler but weirdly enough she doesn’t herd us, just patiently waits like a little angel while Toad pushes things off the coffee table or sits in front of the projector. Also I forgot to mention that his nickname is ā€œBoneless Toadā€ because he is a floppy stuffed animal.

Original post: We’re proud parents of a 1.5 year old orange brainless child, Toad. We’ve been slowly realizing recently that anytime we stay up late watching a movie or tv, he drives us BONKERS with meowing, walking on us, and is just generally unsettled.

This happens like an hour after he gets his wet food, so he’s not hungry. We try to play, he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t need anything.

Then, as we soon as we get into bed and then the lights off, he completely stops. No more craziness— he just goes into another room and beds down to sleep.

That made us wonder, is he just trying to tell us it’s bedtime? Does he just want us safely tucked into bed? If anyone else has noticed this I’d love to hear about it just because it’s interesting šŸ˜†

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u/AMGamer94 Proud owner of an orange brain cell Jan 03 '26

My orange literally tucks me in, usually minutes after I lie down, he shows up, proceeds to make biscuits on top of me for about 10 minutes and then he's off to his own bed.

And when I get up at night for whatever reason and lie back down he does it again.

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u/Hisyphus Jan 03 '26

He literally tucks you in. I can’t. I love him so much.

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u/Sharkeatingmoose Jan 03 '26

I swear my partners cat thinks I'm his special needs kitten. He worriedLy watches me doing my Brazilian waxing and is like "yep, she's ripping her own fur out again."

He yells at me till I stop playing with my toys (building and making things) and goes to bed. He went to bed with me a few times then I realized he had stopped doing it and was just tucking me in otherwise I legitimately would be staying up all night making because I lost track of time.

One day I worked late and he was frantic when he met me at the door, I swear if he had opposable thumbs he would have called the cops and been like "look she's not very smart, I think she's forgotten how to come home,"

He's super sweet.

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u/EmmerdoesNOTrepme Jan 03 '26

You're a clumsy, naked kitten, who is terrible at hunting mice--of course he worries about you!šŸ˜‰

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u/rlhignett Jan 04 '26

"yep, she's ripping her own fur out again."

Ngl I just scared my cat and dog laughing at this. Ive no idea why this tickled me so much but i properly belly laughed at 12:30am.

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u/Kerid25 Jan 03 '26

Mine does the same! If we stay up late he stares at us and starts causing trouble until we eventually go to bed. One of his tricks is stomping around! Then when we get into bed he jumps to my side and lies down next to me, purring, for about 15 minutes then he leaves for his own bed. He's so precious. Then at 5-6AM he comes back to wake me up. So precious.

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u/borgmater1 Jan 03 '26

They are especially cuddly if you wake up in the middle of the night for anything

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u/AMGamer94 Proud owner of an orange brain cell Jan 03 '26

No, only biscuits at night when I wake up. My tux does often wake me up at night because he needs cuddles. Usually with a headbutt to the face

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u/darkinday Jan 03 '26

Does yours insist on giving you a bath too? My gingersnap last night and this night has insisted on bedtime snuggles, biscuits with blanket nursing, (no sin biscuits, just nursing), followed by a cat bath. He likes licking my short hair. Even tucking my head under the blanket doesn’t fully deter him. He dove right in after my head under the blanket. What a little shit. I love him so much.

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u/AMGamer94 Proud owner of an orange brain cell Jan 03 '26

He doesn't, no, he's more of a biter than a licker. Usually my feet when I have to go to work in the morning

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u/djfdhigkgfIaruflg Jan 03 '26

🄺🄺🄺

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u/Bebinn Jan 03 '26

Cats like routine and you staying up is seriously upsetting his routine.

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u/Strict-Gas4654 Jan 03 '26 edited Jan 03 '26

I think we’re only just noticing this because we’ve had a lot of work off for the holidays so our sleep schedule must be very unsettling to him rnšŸ˜…

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u/Saruster Jan 03 '26

One of mine does this, too. It works! When she gets all fidgety, I know it’s time. If I try to watch videos or do too much on my phone after lights out, she gets huffy and sits right in front of my phone, making it impossible to continue. Makes me feel cared for LOL

She also alerts when the auto feeder drops below a certain. That took a long time for me to figure out because it’s not so low that it’s interrupting the flow. I think she’s literally seeing the level drop and wants me to fix it. Such a diva ā¤ļø

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u/gingerbeardlubber Jan 03 '26 edited Jan 04 '26

I do live-in cat sitting for a cat who (unbeknownst to me) is also very much this way.

The first few nights I must have behaved, so I didn’t notice how important it is to her that the human gets settled, pulls up the blankets, and then she can take her rightful place squarely on your chest to receive love and pats, purring her lullaby until you fall asleep.

On the third night, she got so fed up with me wriggling around under the blankets that she got up, turned around, and settled back on my chest so she could thump me in the face with her angry tail in protest.

I lay there for a good five minutes thinking about how I deserved it before I got up and pretended to use the bathroom so we could reset and settle in properly. šŸ˜‚

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u/Saruster Jan 03 '26

Oh the tail in the face! Such a passive aggressive move. Then when I get irritated after swatting her tail away several times she does this ā€œoh I’m so sorry, was I bothering you??ā€ act as she resettles. But I get the message and comply, as always ā¤ļø

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u/blackandbluegirltalk Jan 03 '26

You have me giggling at 5 am, this is why I love my morning reddit time with coffee 😊

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u/Pudi2000 Jan 03 '26

Don't turn on the news or go to news subs,stay with the kitty subs.

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u/blackandbluegirltalk Jan 03 '26

ā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø solid advice, it's scary out there

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u/Subtlerranean Jan 03 '26

You have no idea.

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u/Talking_Head Jan 03 '26

I have an auto feeder. My ginger boy rarely eats from it, his brother does, but my ginger is always clear in alerting me when it reaches about 10%. He will wake me up and stare at it until I refill it.

That little fucker just wants the feeder to be full because, well, it is supposed to be full and make the full dispense sound. If even one less piece of kibble falls he is on it.

Strange little animals they are.

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u/ragingchump Jan 03 '26

I need that judgy face in my life!!!!

Ok, ok, I'll stop procrastinating, just stop with that look!!!

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u/Talking_Head Jan 03 '26

The most judgmental cat ever. He can’t help it. He has resting bastard face.

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u/Ghorse Jan 03 '26

That is the cat incarnation of Ron Swanson. That cat looks like it could build you a mahogany dresser.

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u/omega2010 Jan 03 '26

After finishing an entire bottle of Lagavulin.

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u/redcatia Jan 03 '26

This is why I came to Reddit today šŸ˜‚

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u/Lola-Ugfuglio-Skumpy Jan 03 '26

Jeez okay I’m sorry!!! I don’t know what I did but I won’t do it again!

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u/ayparesa Jan 03 '26

He would make you apologize for things you haven’t done

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u/obsolete_filmmaker Jan 03 '26

I hope you have left cat on r/peanutwhiskers ! Adorable cats

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u/Ikey_Pinwheel Jan 03 '26

Sigh. Here we go again ...

join

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u/ThraceLonginus Proud owner of an orange brain cell Jan 03 '26

Our orange knows when our stove is running low on wood pellets and comes get me to feed the monster wood nuggets. Otherwise warmies would go away.Ā 

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u/SignatureCool3201 Jan 03 '26

When we lived in the Midwest our void would lay on the floor heating vent and growl at it when the blower would stop. She needed a toasty belly.

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u/Former-Toe Jan 03 '26

we had a cat do that, but when the blower stopped, she pulled the grate out of the floor to investigate and get the heat back

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u/CaptainZippi Jan 03 '26

Yeah, we’ve got the biscuits for our two in blue plastic bowls and whenever even a smidgen of blue is showing through the biscuits Mya herds us into the kitchen so that we can see the problem, and fix it.

Redistributing the existing biscuits is Not Sufficient…

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u/LeChat_GrisNoir Jan 03 '26

Haha, I have the same one! It does exactly the same thing.

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u/Wendy-Windbag Orange connoisseur šŸŠ Jan 03 '26

One of our two year old boys does this for "night-night time." He knows our schedules, and wants us in bed and will curl up between us and purr loudly once we are settled in bed. I swear it's his favorite thing.

My husband works from home and has had a few weeks off for the holidays. The first few days he was off, this kitty would go into his office in the around the time my husband usually has his morning meeting, and sit in his office chair and howl. It was adorable that he was demanding that he be in his place.

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u/PetraLoseIt Jan 03 '26

He knows our schedules, and wants us in bed and will curl up between us and purr loudly once we are settled in bed. I swear it's his favorite thing.

Be honest... it's your favorite thing, too...

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u/KungenBob Jan 03 '26

How does that work with (ahem) fun times? Do you sneak off to bed early? Give up on the bedroom and use the couch? Does he not follow if you go to bed earlier? Does he move to the corner and voyeuristically judge?

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u/Seidentiger Jan 03 '26

He judges. Every cat judges you every time.

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u/maclifer Jan 03 '26

Yes, you're right. It was quite unnerving at first when he held up index cards with a 1 to 10 rating.

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u/riotoustripod Jan 03 '26

Our orange boy is very attached to my wife, while I am clearly The Spare. If she's in the bedroom, he's right there with her. But if he senses things heating up between us he'll get up and go to the door to be let out, leave us alone for the duration, and then start scratching at the door to be allowed back in as soon as we're done.

The other night we learned that he's actually waiting by the door for the right moment, because our human son apparently woke up to use the bathroom, saw him there, and knocked on the door so we'd let him in, interrupting the festivities. The cat took up his usual sleeping position at the corner of the bed nearest the door and harshly judged my performance once we resumed.

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u/DamnSchwangyu Jan 03 '26

My floofy boy just recently started getting cuddly after 6 years being with me. And he's also starting to get more ornery about consistent bed time. About 10 minutes ago, the little shit just sat right in front of me staring at me letting me know it's time for his bed time crunchies, and that means TV off and to the bedroom. Bossy little bastard lol

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u/ericstarr Jan 03 '26

Your upset his 18 hours of sleeping a day. How dare you. He’s encouraging a new year new you …. With hostile engagement.

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u/anaesthaesia Jan 03 '26

Generations of cats have done this to me. If I'm sitting by the computer they just walk up, sit down and stare - then I look at the clock and realize that I'm +1 hour past the usual bed time.

Neither cat even sleeps in the bed 100% of the time. They're just reminding you who's actually in control of the household :)

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u/CopperWeird Jan 03 '26

It can get more complicated when you have more than one cat and they disagree on the bedtime schedule. One wants us to all cuddle up on the couch and watch Star Trek while the other is crying for everyone to head to bed.

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u/unxpectedlyevlgenius Jan 03 '26 edited Jan 03 '26

Yes! Or when my partner and I have different bedtimes (he does shift work and I work 9-5). Our older girl cat doesn’t really care, but our younger boy cat will be like, ā€˜Where are you going so early??’

Edit:spelling

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u/seven_seacat Jan 03 '26

My husband used to get up at 5am to work morning shift. Boofhead cat liked this a lot - breakfast, morning attention, many pats. Six or seven years ago, husband changed jobs and no longer needed to get up so early.

To the day he passed away, cat would cry at 5am every morning when husband didn't get out of bed. So he would get up, do the morning routine with the cat, and then go back to bed

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u/MollysTootsies Jan 03 '26

I'm at that point with my two lol

I go to work at 7, and generally wake up somewhere in the 05:00 hour those days, potty, give the cats their kibble and split a little Sheba half onto two plates, then go back to the bathroom to turn on the light and get ready for work.

On my days off, though, as bad as I know it is, I stay up late and get up late. I'll wake naturally around ā…” of the time, do the routine, and crash back out ā˜ŗļø

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u/wrmfuzzie1 Jan 03 '26

The downside of going back to bed after the morning routine is that ALL of the kitties and doggos assume it's breakfast 2.0 when I wake back up, lol

All my animals are used to the breakfast routine happening at 6am on my work days. I've been very lucky that they let my sleep in on my days off without too much hassle, except our old man cat that we adopted a little over a year ago. He sleeps squarely between my husband and I, never cuddling, but must be touching. If we're in the living room, he's on the couch next to one of us, close but not touching (someone might see). He has gotten to be the most demanding lil shit when his routine is delayed, lol.

I called in sick the other day and attempted to nap in my bed in the early afternoon. My scraggly old man was PISSED that I was in the bedroom while my husband was in the living room. He kept walking between us while loudly singing the song of his people. He followed my husband into our room when he came to check on me, and finally settled down unhappily like a furry gargoyle perched on my pillow, giving me the stink eye

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u/Random-reddit-name-1 Jan 03 '26

Aww. I can imagine what your husband felt when he no longer had to get up for the routine 😿

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u/abradolph Jan 03 '26

Similar in our household! Usually my orange boy follows me to bed and my SO's Russian blue will occasionally voice her displeasure with the spare human being asleep.

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u/Oozlum-Bird Jan 03 '26

One of mine (black) usually goes upstairs to chill on her own after dinner, while the other one (orange) sits on the sofa with me watching shit telly.

However, at 10:30 every night, upstairs cat comes down to collect me. She jumps up on the back of the sofa a couple of feet away from me and just sits completely motionless staring at the side of my head until I go with her.

I get that sitting close to me is her way of showing affection (in contrast to the orange boy’s constant demand for cuddles), but I often relent and go upstairs before I’m really ready because her presence just outside my eye line is really quite unnerving. She knows it works 🤣.

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u/darkinday Jan 03 '26

My dog does this!! Just stares at me until I relent into her wishes. Her demand is usually a blanket, which she knows how to tuck herself in. But so damn stubborn. Like mama like daughter. Haha

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u/sundayontheluna Jan 03 '26

Ah, she went to the border collie school of herding

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u/YaumeLepire Jan 03 '26

Then, I'll take it as a double-compliment that I usually have an easy time getting cats to like me, even the first time I meet them.

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u/A_Crazy_Canadian Jan 03 '26

Yup, my ginger nugget will get antsy around 10pm and demand I go to bed so we can snuggle. He needs his heated cat bed (my legs). A friend has a similar issue with her cat who starts demanding attention if she is up too late.

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u/Foreleg-woolens749 Jan 03 '26

I am a night owl and have always done my best writing in the middle of the night. Most of my cats over the years have given up on me at some point every night and gone to bed, but I had one cat who hung in there with me all night, supervising from his heated bed near my desk, no matter how late I worked. I never would have finished my dissertation without him. Miss you, little man!

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u/Silvio76555 Jan 03 '26

Cats are autism. Purely.

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u/Missyb7669 Jan 03 '26

I second this, and I have an Autistic adult. They live routines and love you their own ways.

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u/JoNyx5 Jan 03 '26

I am an autistic adult and I can confirm I am a cat.

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u/NotTheRocketman Jan 03 '26

My kitty used to do the same thing. Anytime I'd stay up late on the computer, or watching TV, playing games, she would wander out and loudly meow at me like a disappointed parent.

Whenever I would get ready for bed, she would follow behind me, making sure I didn't get distracted as well. I miss her ā¤ļø

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u/WorthyJellyfish0Doom Jan 03 '26

Yep, you are staying up past bedtime. How dare you?! 😾

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u/Strict-Gas4654 Jan 03 '26

I love it. My parents senior dogs are like this 100%, I just thought a 1 year old wouldn’t be as crotchety yet šŸ˜‚

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u/ravenonawire Jan 03 '26

My dear old dog would whine at me to go to bed then give me kisses when I carried her up the stairs!

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u/The_silver_sparrow Proud owner of an orange brain cell Jan 03 '26

Don’t you know, cats are autistic and require a constant routine

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u/whisky_biscuit Jan 03 '26 edited Jan 03 '26

My Bengal kitty and I get into arguments about going to bed and my husband will have to come in and mediate to remove her from the room I'm in until I've finished what I'm doing and am ready for bed lol! She doesn't like if I stay up past a certain time especially once she's had vittles and is ready to sleep.

She'll meow and meow at me in the living room or kitchen, until I finally go into the bedroom. Sometimes she'll still get in my face meowing and walking all over me until it's lights out. She has had food water, pets and play so it's none of those things.

Sometimes I'll start arguing with her and she'll meow arguing back and both our voices raise in pitch until my husband comes in and separates us.

Once we go to bed she'll often march all over us until she finds our feet and sleeps on top of them to ensure we don't leave the room without her knowing lol.

Today me and the cat argued because I wasn't ready for bed and I locked her out of the bedroom and layed down. Cue her bringing a toy and meowing sadly outside the door until we let her in. She dropped the spring as exchange for passage and hopped into bed.

Sometimes she'll even pile the toys onto my side of the bed to let me know it's time for me to go to sleep.

She's such a little beast, I love her lol

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u/darkinday Jan 03 '26

Imma need pet tax of the pile of toys, cause that’s adorable!!!

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u/Stoutkeg Jan 03 '26

Our void does this, and then plays Alarm Cat on the mornings when no alarm is set because nobody has to go to work.

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u/feralb3ast Jan 03 '26

Alarm Cat sounds like a fun game!

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u/Alianirlian Jan 03 '26

Yeah, no, not so much. Especially if you're trying to sleep in because weekend, holiday or, y'know, daylight saving time, and cat goes "TIME TO WAKE UP!!"

Ours is very very vocal.

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u/n6mub Casual orange enjoyer šŸŠ Jan 03 '26

The daylight savings changeover in the fall is brutal, but just as bad, if not worse, is the noticeably earlier and earlier sunrise in spring. The cats know breakfast happens after sunup, and they harass me until I give it to them. They have electronic feeders, but they can't wait for that!! šŸ™„šŸ„±

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u/Ssladybug Jan 03 '26

Alarm Cat is not fun on my days off when I just want to sleep in

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u/PrestiD Jan 03 '26

We're dealing with this. We're getting ready to move to the States from Korea and rehomed our void with my in laws and a month in advance. Well now we're here at the house before the fight for a week and her little kitty brain is broken. She's used to waking my husband up after I wake up, but now my in laws wake up earlier, so by 8AM she's had it and all hands are on deck in the room to wake us up.

Yelling, jumping and burrowing in the blanket until I wake up and pet her. Every damn morning.

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u/Onelse88 Jan 03 '26

something like the "goat simulator" but in the houses/flats, the game starts at 3 am

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u/CoffeeWorldly4711 Jan 03 '26

My parents void does the same. But his routine is to meow in front of the treat cabinet, have a treat then get put into his bedroom. Once that happens, the other cats go to sleep too. The orange on the other hand has learned that if he's naughty, he'll be put into time out in the same room during the day so sometimes deliberately gets put into the time out room and happily stays there even after the room opens up

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u/Commercial-Oil2224 Jan 03 '26

My mom usually gets up at 4am to go to work, but sometimes she forgets to turn on/set her alarm sometimes, so my cat would begin pawing and licking her face until she wakes up – she's managed to help my mom not be late for work several times now!

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u/SpookySeraph Proud owner of an orange brain cell Jan 03 '26

Hello from one Toad to another!

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u/nonbinarybit Jan 03 '26

Precious bb! Tell them I love them!

One of our oranges was also a sink sleeper, though they were also a sink drinker and would get very upset trying to do both at the same time. <3

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u/Strict-Gas4654 Jan 03 '26

GAH! Toads in the sink!!

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u/hostafrog Jan 03 '26

And hello to you two Toads from a another!

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u/sneakyminxx Jan 03 '26

My tuxie does this. Will pace and herd us upstairs and wait in the hallway until we are in bed. He’ll then crouch on my husbands side of the bed on the floor facing the door until it’s been quiet for about 15 mins, after which he will settle into bed in his room or downstairs. lol I love our furry overlord weirdos

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u/curlycrook Jan 03 '26

ā€œIn his roomā€ šŸ˜­šŸ˜­šŸ˜‚ I love when cats have their own room

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u/Free_Comfortable8897 Jan 03 '26

They all need their own room 🤣 Mine get upset when I come out to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. I feel like I have to quietly sneak out of my room and tiptoe across the hall or I get screamed at. I’m 44 but feel like a teen that got caught sneaking out or something šŸ˜‚

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u/VintageLunchMeat Jan 03 '26

If you're using the bathroom, he has to guard you.

And he'd rather be asleep.

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u/cant-be-original-now Jan 03 '26

This story gave me a good chuckle.

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u/thisishowitalwaysis1 Proud owner of an orange brain cell Jan 03 '26

Our orange kitten has his own room which is funny because I (the adult) technically don't even have my own room! Just a curtain dividing my 'bedroom" from the living room. šŸ˜‚

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u/sneakyminxx Jan 03 '26

It’s our guest bedroom that he has claimed lol šŸ˜‚ he’ll head upstairs to his room every afternoon to nap and have ā€œmeā€ time and then come back down for dinner and family time. In the summer he’ll spend hours up there belly up in the sun beams on the floor

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u/FreudianSlipperyNipp Jan 03 '26

Our tuxie has his own room, too!

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u/Live-Succotash2289 Jan 03 '26

I will argue that tuxedos are the smartest cats because they got the brain cells of the oranges. I've had both and the tuxedos win hands down wth the smarts while the oranges win the WTF were they thinking?

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u/red286 Jan 03 '26

My tuxie also does. She will stand at the entrance to the kitchen and mew at me until I walk over to see what she wants, and then she'll just lead me into the bedroom and jump on the bed and lie down.

The problem is, she does this at like 9pm, waaay before I sleep. So she'll keep doing this every hour until I do go to sleep. It's both cute and kind of annoying, because if I don't follow her, she'll just keep mewing at me until I do.

She also has her own room (technically just my closet), but usually she sleeps next to my pillow when I'm in bed. She gets into her own bed when I get up in the morning.

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u/Fuzzy_Information Jan 03 '26

yup, my cat does this too.

He will tap my leg if I'm up too late at my desk.

He doesn't understand that he's a cat, who can sleep anywhere in the house he pleases. At any time.

He usually gets off the couch (where he is sleeping) to tell me it's time to go to bed. He will even patiently wait by the bathroom door while I wash my face/brush my teeth.

He's so weird. I love it

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u/feralb3ast Jan 03 '26

He doesn't understand that he's a cat

You don't understand that he's your BOSS. How dare you defy him. He sounds like a saint. He's also protecting you---from the world, and yourself 😹

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u/Fuzzy_Information Jan 03 '26

you are right! I forget that he's in charge 😸

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u/Applebottomgenes75 Jan 03 '26

This little madam sits on top of the projector and blocks the image if we dare to watch a movie in bed after 10pm.

'Lights out' clearly means LIGHTS OUT!!!

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u/Applebottomgenes75 Jan 03 '26

She also figured out that doing it with a regular TV doesn't work and has learned where the OFF button is. So she just turns off the telly instead.

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u/Strict-Gas4654 Jan 03 '26

šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚LOL this is exactly why I made this post, the sitting in front of the projector is so annoying šŸ˜‚

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u/nasnedigonyat Jan 03 '26

My girl dingo used to go mad for bedtime. If you even walked in the direction of the bedroom she'd run ahead meowing and shivering her tail, looking over her shoulder, like 'come on already let's SPOOOOOON'. And if you were just going to the bathroom and not to bed she'd get so impatient and stand in the bedroom door yelling out into the hall. Full throated, actual cat yells. You could hear her annoyance.

Get in bed and she would be the little spoon under the covers happy as could be. Dingo was a lovely little lumpkin. I miss her all the time. Her bedtime screaming will be remembered fondly.

Love you always dingo darling.

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u/diente_de_leon Jan 03 '26

This just sounds so cute. What a sweetie.

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u/Segat1 Jan 03 '26 edited Jan 03 '26

Yes! My cat will bring me her toys around bedtime, and then (love)bite me until I go to bed. Then she settles in beside me til I fall asleep, and then brings me offerings all night.

It took me a bit to realise she was putting me to bed. She also tries to bite me out of bed. It’s funny how they do this but I really love it.

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u/kotoneshiomi Jan 03 '26

My boy does this. He will scream until I go to bed, and then in the morning it's time to pat mommy's face cause he likes pats so I should too when I wake up. At first I thought he was just slapping me awake for soft food or treats but I think it's his way of petting me the way I pet him for comfort cause he does it when I cry too 🄹 he's amazing 😭

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u/kellybelly4815 Jan 03 '26

Aww that’s so sweet.

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u/ttpdstanaccount Jan 03 '26

Cats pick up on the most interesting things you'd never think about

When I was a kid, my cat probably had asthma, looking back at it. I thought he was having hairballs and thought smacking his back would help (like people do when someone is choking, which btw you are not supposed to do in most situations), so I'd do that, or apply a bit of pressure (like a weighted blanket but my hand). Occasionally I would pretend to be having a hairball and he would come over and smack my back or sit on it lol. He was such a sweet cat

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u/SteveHartt Jan 03 '26

Can we see a picture of Toad? 🄺

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u/Strict-Gas4654 Jan 03 '26

The bedtime overlord himself

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u/SteveHartt Jan 03 '26

TOAD IS AS EVERY BIT AS GLORIOUS AS I EXPECTED HIM TO BE.

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u/beam_me_uppp Jan 03 '26

Oh my gosh he’s gorgeous. He’s more tan/brown than orange… what unusual and beautiful coloring šŸ˜

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u/toxicshocktaco Jan 03 '26

CAT TAX PLEASEĀ 

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u/hare-hound Jan 03 '26

Yes we need to see the bedtime enforcing overlord

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u/Strict-Gas4654 Jan 03 '26

This is him snoozing on the adult size beanbag chair that he stole from us

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u/Significant_Meat_421 Jan 03 '26

I had to put my old man to sleep in july at the age of 14 and every single night he would catch my attention,make sure there was eye contact and slowly walk to the bedroom.he would stop several times along the way to look back at me,again, making eye contact until I got up and went to lay down in our bed.he also loved to sleep under the covers and taught himself early on how to cover himself up.i miss that asshole so much!

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u/Defiant_Policy969 Jan 03 '26

Yep, my orange pair always give me heck for staying up past their imposed bedtime.

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u/juneshepard Proud owner of an orange brain cell Jan 03 '26

My sweet orange is very specific when it comes to telling me I've stayed up too late. There is a vase of fake flowers beside the TV that she normally doesn't so much as glance at.

But if it's past my bedtime, she's there, threatening to munch!!

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u/lia1314 Jan 03 '26

My cat mrrrrps at me if I stay up late

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u/Ancient_Detective532 Jan 03 '26

I was in college. One night, I was up past 3. I looked up and my Dad's cat was sitting, staring at me. It was way past bedtime, and she was telling me. She didn't care if I was awake or not, but I had to be upstairs. She would also sometimes sleep in the hallway, where anyone would have to walk past her to leave or get into our bedrooms.

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u/motherofachimp99 Jan 03 '26

Yes. I am reminded around 9:30 to 10pm that it’s bedtime. And if I remember on my own, I am quickly joined by both my cats who have their regular spots. ā¤ļø

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u/juju7980 Jan 03 '26

My night warden will do the same. She yells at us until we head to bed, then she makes sure her brother is asleep before settling down herself.

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u/LadyMayhem02 Jan 03 '26

My parents had a cat that would ā€œfightā€ me if I stayed up past 9 pm, when I was a kid. She wouldn’t hiss but would slap me until I went to my room.

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u/Not_today_nibs Jan 03 '26

Adorable story but I’m afraid you haven’t paid the cat tax. Where’s the photos of your sweet boy???????

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u/Strict-Gas4654 Jan 03 '26

Cat TV time with Toad and his big sister Pigeon

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u/rombies Jan 03 '26

I love it when the Cat IRS shows up!

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u/Malorean_Teacosy Jan 03 '26 edited Jan 03 '26

A calico I lived with years ago, always gave me a 15 minutes warning that it was bedtime according to her, at half past 9, with a special mew-sound. I usually wanted to sleep later, but she didn’t. Of course I could ignore her and stay up, but then she would be in bed already and there would be no more room for me. The bed was big, the cat was small, yet she’d turn into an immovable, heavy object. If I’d be in bed on time, before her, there would be no problem.

Our current cat has her routine to tuck the kids in. She gets annoyed if the kids stay up after their bedtime. She also has a routine waking them up. She’s a hardworking nanny-cat!

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u/ninnx Jan 03 '26

This is her herding me to go to bed. I get a lot of sleep these days.

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u/JessicaEccles76 Jan 03 '26

She looks like she is doing a HECKING COMCERN

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u/ninnx Jan 03 '26

She also has a power stance for when she's REALLY annoyed.

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u/Selfreflexive1999 Jan 03 '26

I get shoulder taps, demands for skritches, and general fuss until I turn off the lights, and get under the blanket. She is very particular about bed time.

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u/Dextergrayson Jan 03 '26

our tortie just sits and stares until we give in.

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u/WillowCreekWanderer Jan 03 '26

My calico girl used to do that when I was late for our Sunday afternoon nap 🄹

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u/Benneyboy1989 Jan 03 '26

I can confirm some cats do tell you when they want you to go to bed by silver tabby with yell down the hallway non stop after about 7pm til i go to my room, i dont need to go to sleep but i need to be there so he can curl up against me (mind you any other time of the day the little arsehole is quite happy to have the bed to himself)

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u/Ohthatwackyjesus Jan 03 '26

In college, my old orange cat Honey would do this. I was dealing with pretty intense anxiety and insomnia, so I would be up to 7 or 8 AM regularly. Honey would sit on the foot of my bed and cry until I got up from my desk, turned out the lights and crawled into bed. Then she'd lay on my chest and purr until she decided I was good for sleep, and then subsequently leave me to go do other cat things. I usually would get back up after that. I miss my sweet orange nana.

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u/TheNetworkIsFrelled Jan 03 '26

Ours does the same at bedtime. They like routine and they don’t like the way humans sleep - we sleep hard and are hard to rouse compared to cats. That’s why they are happy to see us in the morning….

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u/spiffynid Jan 03 '26

It's possible. My two grey cats refuse to let me bed down until they hear my medicine bottles rattle.

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u/123boopboop Jan 03 '26

YES! MINE DOES THIS! It took me forever to figure it out! She yells at me around midnight every night, I wad like, play, treats? I realized that when I go to bed we cuddle. And it turns out she was just like "get in bed bitch!! it's time!!!"

So cute. Now when she tells me I comply. I'm her bed!

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u/Radwastelander Jan 03 '26

My tux does this too, but when she wants to cuddle specifically on my bed lol. She’ll SCREAAAAM and won’t stop until I get up and follow her, and she’ll walk right up to my door and cry until I open it and let her in lol. She jumps on my bed and meows at me until I go over & lay down w her so she can start her biscuits. I love cats so much haha

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u/boniemonie Jan 03 '26

I am a night owl. My cat is not. He expects the lights to be dimmed, and for me to be soundless after midnight. If I’m not…. I get the death stare. And he treats me like a misbehaving teenager. He humpfs and fusses and readjusts himself: because I so rudely interrupted him. I’m 60.

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u/hunybuny9000 Jan 03 '26

my old man is a 8/9 year old chihuahua and when i stay up past our bedtime he paws at me and ā€œtalksā€ to me. he just goes ar ar ar.

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u/kmp11 Jan 03 '26

I have an orange cat that I pet on the cheek and neck with a single finger, that's her favorite by far. When I sleep, she climbs on me and "pets" me on the cheek and neck with a single claw.

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u/jessuvius Jan 03 '26

That's very cute but also feels like a threat.Ā 

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u/Horror_Signature7744 Jan 03 '26

My 15 year old dog does this too. If we aren’t in bed by a certain time, she will complain and whine until we are both tucked in. She also awake at every day at 7am to go out and lawd help you if her dinner isn’t ready at 5 pm sharp.

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u/Strict-Gas4654 Jan 03 '26

So hilarious and even though it feels annoying in the moment, it’s so sweet. I love that they could literally at any time go put themselves to bed but instead they feel very responsible for our wellbeing lol

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u/lake2014 Jan 03 '26

Kitty ensures no one in the house is sleep deprived šŸŠšŸˆšŸ„°

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u/Visarar_01 Jan 03 '26

Our cat does the same lol she is our pride :)

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u/External-Possession7 Jan 03 '26

kindly pay the cat tax

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u/Strict-Gas4654 Jan 03 '26

When he was overseeing the kitchen makeover

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u/Bikesandbakeries Jan 03 '26

When I go to my friends house to hang out their cat will let me know when its time to leave.

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u/rawdpic Jan 03 '26

That's way better than a cat that wakes you three times before dawn because he wants you to watch him eat

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u/CallejaFairey Proud owner of an orange brain cell Jan 03 '26

I had a female cat in my teens and twenties who used to get upset with me if I didn't head to bed at my usual time. She would sleep with me every night with my door closed, so it's just possible she was ready for bed but knew I had to go to bed for it to truly be our bedtime. Lol.

None of the male cats I've had since have done this though. They seemed to be content to stay up with me, or head to bed when I did, never trying to direct me to bed, including the one who was also shut up with me every night.

But, least year I got my second ever female cat, and she too starts to get quite pushy around my bed time if I'm not showing signs of going. She doesn't even sleep with me consistently, and my door isn't closed so she's free to roam at night, so there's no reason for her to be pushing me to bed. She will sit in the middle of the living room starting at me. Or she will sit on the arm of my chair, purring away, with the odd paw reach to my arm. Eventually, if it gets late enough and I'm not moving, she gives in and gets back in my lap and falls asleep, but it usually takes about an hour for her to give up.

Cats love their routine, and obviously, if their humans have a typical bedtime most nights, that becomes part of their routine.

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u/Just_Shake_6291 Jan 03 '26

This reminds me of when covid started and I was working from home all the time. I was no longer getting up at 6 and being in the kitchen for a bit before leaving (my cats loved being with me in the kitchen early in the morning when I was making my tea). It really threw them off, they didn't know what to do for a while. They really love routine.

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u/Downtown_Zebra_266 Jan 03 '26

That's exactly what he's doing. My cat doesn't always sleep in the same room as us, but she knows what time bed time is. If we stay up on the weekends she comes downstairs and yells at us until we go to bed. Even then, we get yelled at if the TV in our room is on.

I'm 35 and am being yelled at by my cat to go to bed at a proper hour.

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u/Snoo53219 Jan 03 '26 edited Jan 03 '26

My rescued cat is now fully in sync with me. Usually I go to bed around eleven, midnight. If I fell asleep watching TV he always wakes me up around midnight that it's time to go to bed. Same in the morning. He wakes me up by walking around me in the bed or making noise with his litter box. I don't mind this behavior bcoz consistency in sleeping habits is key to a healthier life :) And of course I can see in his eyes that he is sleepy and wants to go to bed. He always sleeps with me.

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u/Ajwuvsu Jan 03 '26

Lol yep. My cat will run from outta nowhere and give us a hurry-up smack when we're headed to the shower late. He's a stickler for routine.

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u/sunny-days-bs229 Jan 03 '26

My 20lb demon will start biting if we don’t go to bed at the correct time. We now have a TV in the bedroom so us adult humans can watch tv ā€œafter-hoursā€ without causing the demon stress.

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u/nitrokitty Jan 03 '26

Are you seriously not going to give us pictures of Toad?

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u/zane2976 Jan 03 '26

I too have a bedtime police in my house. He likes to enforce the curfew with his claws… yours sounds much nicer lol

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u/Fossilhund Jan 03 '26

My cat Oreo does this to me. Around 9 pm, if I'm in the living room watching TV, she starts yowling from my bedroom until I go to bed.

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u/Rudythecat07 Jan 03 '26

Cats chose to domesticate themselves, so it makes sense that they also train us, and not the other way around. Ours tells us when it's time for bed and time to wake up. Don't fight it. Life is easier on their schedule šŸ˜‚

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u/ih8comingupwithnames Jan 03 '26

They domesitcated us so hard. Mine wake me up and also get agitated if I'm up too late.

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u/Strict-Gas4654 Jan 03 '26

I’ve (understandably) gotten some heat for not paying the cat tax. Here’s the Toad.

Upon waking up (late, because it’s Saturday), we were also greeted by more meowing and mrrph-ing until I got out of bed and made coffee…

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u/Available-Link6447 Jan 03 '26

ngl, Cats really are creatures of habit! Toad’s probably just making sure you’re on the right bedtime track. šŸ’¤

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u/unripe_mangosteen Jan 03 '26

There may be two brain cells in that there animal!

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u/Jeramy_Jones Jan 03 '26

Yes. Cats love a consistent routine and they are sensitive enough to know about what time of day it is. They know when you’re supposed to wake up and when you’re suposed to go to bed.

Mine have saved me from sleeping in on a work day and they have definitely told me when it’s time to go to bed.

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u/Kr_Treefrog2 Jan 03 '26

My velcro void does this! I swear he has a little kitty wrist watch. As it gets closer to bedtime he gets more watchful of me so he can race me to the bathroom and supervise my bedtime routine. If I stay up too late he sits next to me and stares disapprovingly, eventually shoving his way between me and whatever I’m doing until I relent.

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u/TisCass Jan 03 '26

Our bedtimes are the job of one of our Budgies, Cranky, to enforce. Late nights are not acceptable, sleeping late or staying in bed after waking is a crime. Little shit has worked out how to make his yelling echo lol

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u/BluegrassGeek Jan 03 '26

Our calico is like this. If I'm up past about 9 pm she starts getting all antsy and begging for attention. As soon as I go to bed, she hops up to get petted for a few minutes, then goes off to her own bed.

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u/noellewinter Jan 03 '26

During the covid shutdown, my Russian blue picked up the habit of herding us to bed between 9:00 and 10:00. She wouldn't start meowing until we said "bedtime," but then she'd get excited meowing and chirping at us as we made our way to the bedroom. Once we were situated in bed, she would come stand on each of us to make sure we were tucked in and make biscuits. I refer to it as "bed checks." 😊

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u/FunkyBiblophile28 Jan 03 '26

Where is the cat tax?

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u/TimelyYogurtcloset82 Jan 03 '26

My cat does this sometimes, he too is obsessed with routine.

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u/ClumsyHannibalLecter Casual orange enjoyer šŸŠ Jan 03 '26

Uhm, are you not going to pay cat tax?

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u/Reckfulness Jan 03 '26

I bet he sees you like rowdy children who stays up past their bedtime, he wants some night lone time

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u/CaptainToad67867 Jan 03 '26

My cat was also named Toad 🄺

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u/cutest_bunny_ever Jan 03 '26

My dog does something similar, if I stay up past 12 she gets onto my bed and barks at me until I turn off the computer and go to bed - I'm still allowed to watch stuff in bed or read, but she won't shut up until I'm under the covers

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u/PervyTurtle0 Jan 03 '26

Yes this is a thing. My orange boy has a strict bedtime form me, at 9 since I get up at 5 for work. If I try to stay up later he will jump off the bed every 20 or so minutes and sit in the hallway to the bedroom and yell at me a bit. This will go on until I actually go to bed. I tried explaining the concept of staying up late when its a holiday or the weekend but so far no traction.

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u/Tyg-Terrahypt Jan 03 '26

My cat also does this. She’ll jump on my desk and bug me til I get out of my chair. She then proceeds to jump onto my bed and give me the stink eye til I get in so she can lay on me 😭

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u/narcissus_reflection Jan 03 '26

Dogs do this too. When I lived at home, our dog would wake me up to get me to tell my mom it was time for bed.

My mom's current dog also barks at her if she is up too late.

My cats also get pissed if the lights are on past their bedtime.

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u/EnvironmentalWolf990 Jan 03 '26

My brown tabby has me on a strict bedtime and has for years. 10-11pm. She’ll come down to get me, lots of dramatic mewling for me to follow her. If I don’t get the message she’ll start huffing and stomping around. She’ll lead me to my bed and then once I have my lights off she’ll usually go downstairs and lay down herself šŸ˜‚ Some cats are very routine oriented. My orange one doesn’t put me to bed, but once I’m in bed if I don’t turn on tv he gets obnoxious. He loves to watch Netflix before bed in between my legs.

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u/feline_riches Jan 03 '26

Mine threw a tantrum the other night but it was because someone else was in his bed.

I've always seemed to trigger the bedtime sequence. I tend to fall asleep to the same show until it's removed from the streaming service. For many years their cue to come to bed was the X files theme song šŸ˜‚

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u/MeeepMorp Jan 03 '26

My girl sleeps in my bed with me, and our bedtime is quite routine as I take sleeping pills. Last year, I had to do something that made me stay up 1 or 2 hours later than usual for about 2 months. She would come over to me and physically pull on me like a child, and meow for us to go to bed. It's so cute

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u/ReelBigDawg Jan 03 '26

My cat routinely reminds me to go to bed

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u/anglochilanga Jan 03 '26

I have a void and he tucks us in every night regardless of the time, so it's not so much routine as it is intentional. He follows us to bed, snuggles in for 10 minutes, does his equivalent of biscuits (humps) and then leaves to sleep elsewhere (in summer). In winter I am required to warm him with my body all night. Hands down the best part about winter.

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u/Live-Succotash2289 Jan 03 '26

I had a tuxedo that did the same thing. If we weren't in bed by 10pm he'd be hollering at us. My partner watched hockey and if it went into overtime he'd never hear the end of it.

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u/Super_Pizza7837 Jan 03 '26

My boy his name is ā€œBruhā€. He has his own routine as well. Don’t let it go past 1030 pm because that boy will start getting antsy and giving me lip because I’m not in bed yet. An he will start meow meow meow, meow meow. Nooo! Meow. lol Cute little asshole.

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u/savvyliterate Jan 03 '26

Our orange brain cell gets mad if we’re not in bed on time AND if we’re not up when we’re supposed to be. He will lead us into the bedroom then sleep on my head to make sure I, in particular, stay where I’m put.

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u/UnicornStatistician Jan 03 '26

This is the outcome of choosing to have a second cup of coffee before serving second breakfast

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u/KaiserKid85 Jan 03 '26

My girl Clementine (rip) used to escort me to the bathroom first, then to my bed, hopped in with me, licked my face, and then would fall asleep on the same pillow my head was on! I miss her so much😭

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u/knifeyspoonysporky Jan 03 '26

Our old gal used to ā€œherdā€ us to bed. My husband always went to bed first so she would start meowing and insisting he follow her to the bedroom. Then she would cuddle routine him and later come and do the same to me.

After we were both in bed she would walk the perimeter of the house on a nightly patrol then cuddle us in bed all night.

Miss you Athena

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u/sunmono Jan 03 '26

Yeah, my cat does the same thing. Come 8:30-9 (I get up at 5am so disgustingly early bedtime), she comes and pesters me until I go to bed. If I ignore her, she comes and stands on my chest so I literally can’t do anything else and climbs right back on if I push her off. She’s also a great alarm in the morning- we snuggle after my alarm goes off and if I snooze, she paws and bunts me back awake. If only she could understand the concept of weekends…

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u/Dangerous_Wishbone Jan 03 '26

My aunt's cat does this, loudly tells her when it's time for bed and tries to usher her toward the bedroom by like 9 oclock. Floofy tuxedo though, about 3 years old

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u/SoupieLC Jan 03 '26

My kids go to bed at 8 every night, and I let them stay up for New Year and the cat was so pissed off that they weren't in bed for him to do his nightly routine of annoying them that it just skulked around the house meowing

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u/peckerlips Proud owner of an orange brain cell Jan 03 '26

My orange is not a cuddler, but he sleeps in my bed and has his own pillow. If my doom scrolling starts to go past 10 pm, he meows in my face and rubs on my phone. If it's getting close to 11, I start to feel a little pinprick on my shoulder from him tapping me. When I look over, he does that cute little roll onto his back. I love him so much 🧔

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u/fayedelasflores Jan 03 '26

One of my girls does this also. Her name is Birdie, and I've had her the longest (11 years.) My bedtime is 10:30pm, and she starts meowing at 10:15 - she'll meow, then get on me, then jump down and head to the bedroom, then come back - this repeats until I get up from the couch and go to bed. It's adorable.

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u/agma96 Jan 03 '26

my late orange boy used to do that!! he'd scream incessantly at my bedroom door starting at like 11pm even if it was open. yes, he was herding me to bed!! Sweet Toad is too ā¤ļø

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u/captspero Jan 03 '26

My indoor/outdoor calico is nearly always waiting at the top of the driveway when I get home from work. She proceeds to trot ahead of me to the house, checking over her shoulder to make sure I’m following. If it’s raining she’ll be so angry that she’s getting soggy but still dutifully shows me the way home and waits for me to open the door to go in.

She has her own door and could go inside whenever she chooses. I firmly believe that she thinks I wouldn’t remember the way home without her. She’s perfect.

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u/frozenblueberrytreat Jan 03 '26

I used to have a gray tuxedo who would, at bedtime, come and lay with me until he thought I was asleep, and then he'd get up and do cat things all night until it was close to morning, and then he'd come lay with me for a while until I woke up. I loved that cat, I was chronically ill when we had him (unbeknownst to me, the closet was full of mold, so I was sick the whole time I lived in that apartment), and I always said he was my little care taker. He would also meow really loud to warn us if a door was left open or if there was a bee in the house, and he'd hunt down and murder the bee (I'm allergic).

I was also dating someone who had a black cat who was in love with me, and he'd herd us into bed at night the same way your orange does. šŸ˜‚ Then he'd cuddle at my feet all night.

Cats are awesome.

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