I have a pair of 6-month-old kittens. About a month ago, they decided that their day should begin before 4am. (Note that they have dry food available all the time, and get some wet at the beginning and end of the day.) Prior to that, serenading was heard more like 5:30am. So, I've been 'ferberizing'(*) them -- I go to sleep with earplugs in place, and I don't open the door and let them into the bedroom until I'm ready. After about two weeks of this, the first serious serenade usually comes along at 5:20am. So, what's a reasonable ambition here? Should I just decide that 5:30am is the start of the cat day, at least for now? Or would further struggle result in relative quiet until 6:00am?
Based on the answers so far, I think a bit of elaboration is in order.
This is not my first trip to the cat rodeo; I am well aware that a closed door is a moral insult to the average domestic cat. However, we've never owned a cat who was prepared to be a polite 'midnight visitor' -- whether it's playing hockey with items on dressers or licking exposed ears. In the past, household geometry permitted a division of territory into cat vs. person that put the evil door far enough away from our bedroom that any complaining was not a big issue.
Thus, the initial yes-or-no character of this question: "Is it reasonable to think that they will learn that companionship and canned cat food will only arrive at time X, and so it's not worth the effort to make a fuss earlier?"
As of when I'm writing this addendum, we have a pair of answers: "Yes" and "Maybe (depending on their motivations, and here are some other strategies, and maybe canned cat food first thing is not such a brilliant plan.)"
A finding of 'No' leads either towards a reconsideration of household geometry options, or an exploration of how to leave the bedroom door open at night without serving as a 2am trampoline (a subject for another question).
(*) Note that we are not literally following ferber by trying to gradually increase the amount of time; in the case at hand, I'm pretty sure that this would only serve to teach them that endurance is a winning strategy.