A Boston mom has found a creative—and furry—solution to the daily struggle of getting her daughter out of bed: the family cat.
In a TikTok video shared in March under the username @maki.suki2, a tabby cat named Suki is seen jumping onto a bed, persistently waking up her young owner for school. The caption explains, “Taught my cat to wake my child up for school because she doesn’t get an argument. She won’t stop until she actually gets out of bed.”
Katie McDonald, 27, told Newsweek that her daughter used to throw tantrums every morning, begging for “five more minutes.” But since Suki took on the task, mornings have become much smoother.
“Honestly, I don’t even know how she started it,” McDonald said. “I think she could tell I was frustrated with waking my daughter up. She never needed treats or anything—she just started doing it on her own.”
Now, every morning at 7:30 a.m., Suki enters her sister’s room, climbs onto the bed, and nudges her until she gets up. Once her job is done, the cat leaves her sister alone to get ready, without asking for attention.
“It was the greatest thing that could’ve happened. We haven’t had a single argument about school wake-ups since,” McDonald said.
While training a cat is less common than training a dog, experts say it’s entirely possible. According to animal behaviorist Zazie Todd in her book Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy, successful training depends on patience and positive reinforcement using the cat’s favorite treats. Punishing a cat can increase stress and harm your bond with them, Todd advises.
Suki’s reliable routine has gained widespread attention. The TikTok video has received more than 1.2 million views and over 256,800 likes.
Viewers were quick to share their own cat-related wake-up experiences. One user joked, “Sooo which one of you taught my cat to attack my toes at 5 a.m. exactly every morning?” Another wrote, “That’s the happiest lil alarm clock I’ve ever seen.” A third added humorously, “I got a paw in the eye this morning as one leaped off the headboard to chase her sister around the room.”
Suki may be small, but she’s proving to be a powerful force when it comes to getting ready on time.
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