lol
our Catsby does that with her water dish, except she drops her toys in it for some reason.
.
I frequently find a drenched catnip mouse or jingle bell in there.

Lara, when we moved recently, one of my cats, Twisp, crawled into a hole she made in the fabric under the sofa, and refused to move for 2 days. I was very worried about her and had food and water in there which she did not touch.
She finally came out, ready to explore the new digs and no further problems.

However, Catsby developed a yowl that is totally new and very loud and long and she does that out of the blue now, tho thankfully not at night anymore. I keep the cats in at night, tho they can go out all day if they choose to. I hissed and snarled at her one night when she did it and she has stopped that now. I think her hearing those unfamiliar sounds from me let her know I was serious about her disturbing our sleep! She doesn't act afraid of me at all, and is very affectionate and playful...... but when I hear any sound from her at night, all I have to do is a slow hisssss and it stops pronto.
.


I obviously do have a litter box for the kitties when they have to be in at nights, so not letting her out has never resulted in any accidents.

Not sure tho how your daughter's kitty may react to you sounding like an angry tiger lol
.
but it sure worked with Catsby!

I agree on the item with your daughter's smell on it as a comfort blankie at her favorite snooze spot. Do you have anything like catnip treats to reward her if she stops the noise or scratching?

hope she settles down.

I struggle to fall asleep again if woken at night, and the few times that our (neutered) tom cat, Twilight, has not come in by my bedtime, I cannot rest till he does, even if that is hours later. lol, my youngest son is 21 now, and lives here, and I am the same till I hear him come in after he has been out at night too
.