Cat’s Reaction To Delayed Bedtime Leaves Internet Hysterical: ‘Now!’

A cat has left the internet in stitches with her loud wailing cry for attention after her parents made her stay up past her bedtime.

Brian Campbell, 39, a software engineer from San Jose, California, shared footage of his cat Billy’s dramatic meowing on Reddit. It quickly gained popularity, receiving 8,900 upvotes in the subreddit r/Catswhoyell.

“My wife and I were in the living room at around 9:30 p.m., which is a half hour after when we usually start getting ready for bed,” Campbell told Newsweek.

“Our cat Billy had been meowing at us for a while from the hallway to get us to go to bed, and then she walked over to her pile of mice toys, grabbed one in her mouth, and walked out of the living room with it while crying loudly. She walked down the hallway towards the bedroom and dropped her mouse about halfway to the bedroom.”

Billy, who is 11 years old, was adopted by the Campbells from a shelter when she was five. Her name translates to “bear” in Campbell’s wife’s native tongue, Urdu.

Despite her age and various health issues, Billy remains fiercely protective of their home. Campbell recounted how Billy has a nemesis—a gray cat that sometimes comes into their backyard at night.

“Personality-wise, she’s a big weirdo! She is more like a dog in a lot of ways, and the vet says she acts like dogs do when she gets her acupuncture done,” Campbell added. “From the very first night we had her, she has cried her rhythmic style of cry you can hear in the video.

“Soon after that, we started crying back to her and discovered she would come to us when we did that and paw at us like she was concerned. She has an almost motherly demeanor when she does this as if she’s coming to take care of her kittens. It became our way of getting her to come to bed, join us on the couch, or come anywhere else we want her to.”

Campbell mentioned that they assess Billy’s health partially by the frequency of her crying, as it’s a consistent behavior for her.

When Billy is feeling well, she tends to cry for attention a few times in the midmorning to be let into their protected courtyard and then again while they prepare for bed.

They frequently hear her crying when they check on her through their cameras.

Billy’s bedtime routine is quite precise. She often hangs out with the Campbells on the living room couch while they watch TV but leaves around 8:30 p.m. to go to one of her beds in the hallway. The couple usually starts getting ready for bed at 9 p.m.. Billy receives an inhaler and some pills.

Once her medications are done, Billy usually starts crying and collecting a few mice toys from the hallway before settling either in her bed or her owners’ bed. She typically sleeps through the night until around 4:30 a.m. when she starts asking for her breakfast, which she gets at 6:15 a.m..

“If we’re a little late starting our evening, she will start to meow loudly and sharply from her bed in the hallway,” Campbell said. “If we still don’t get up and start our evening, she will come back into the living room and do what you see in the video.”

According to PetMD, excessive meowing in cats can have various causes, including hunger, attention-seeking, stress, or medical issues like hyperthyroidism, kidney disease, or cognitive dysfunction​,

In Billy’s case, her meowing is a form of communication that helps her parents gauge her health.

Reddit users were in stitches from the cat’s dramatic cries. “Now! Now! Now! Now!,” said Cautious-Flatworm198. “Sounding like the ambulance,” another user said. “I love how you have one cat and at least four cat beds,” remarked commentsOnPizza.

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