Sleepy time help

dailynhtly

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Now I've heard that kittens are most active during the early morning hours and late at night, and I've also heard that adult caps sleep around 18 hours a day, but what is an appropriate nap time for kittens?

I'm having a bit of trouble with my kitten deciding it's play time about 3am. Strangely enough, this is also the time that my adult cat decided was appropriate for her romp through the house, though she would never harass me or wake me up. She's settled down a bit, but the kitten wakes up at all hours wanting to chew on my hair or play, etc. I pick up his toys at night, but then he just finds it more convinient to play with me. I try leaving a toy down, but he still prefers to hop up on the bed and harass the occupants. I attempt to calm him down and get him to go back to sleep, but usually to no avail. I kick him off the bed, tell him "No!", try and ignore him, etc etc but it doesn't help. It's so bad at times that he gets timeout in the bathroom which sometimes results in bed time, but usually he just meows his little head off.

So I've been experimenting during the day, letting him nap a bit and then waking him up and getting him to play in the hopes that he'll be tired around bed time. However, I don't want to sleep deprive him... is there a strategy for this? Help!
 

tortiebaby

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Well, as much fun as it is to let the cats sleep with me at night, I had to stop. Maily becaue of what you are saying, they like to play with me while I'm sleeping.

I just had to kick them out of the room at night. At first they meowed their head off, but after a while they learned to do their own stuff and knew that as soon as I was awake I would open the door in the morning and let them in(they all sit at the dor in the morning and wait for me, LOL!)

If you don't want to kick him out then you can try getting him a crate and letting him sleep in it next to your bed at night. I would put a warmeed up rice-filled sock in there for him to comfort him. I'm trying to toilet train(not litter train, TOILET train) my 2 kittens right now and so in order to keep the other cats from bothering with the process I keep the kittens in the bathroom most of the day and all of the night. Tere is a heater vent on the bathroom floor so I put a pillow over it so when the furnace turns on it warms the pillow for the kittens and they don't have to sleep on the floor. They didn't like it at first, but then I put a heated rice sock on the pillow and they fell right asleep with it.

I don't know if all this blabbin will help you, but I figured it couldn't hurt to try.
 

tnr1

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Originally Posted by DailyNhtly

Now I've heard that kittens are most active during the early morning hours and late at night, and I've also heard that adult caps sleep around 18 hours a day, but what is an appropriate nap time for kittens?

I'm having a bit of trouble with my kitten deciding it's play time about 3am. Strangely enough, this is also the time that my adult cat decided was appropriate for her romp through the house, though she would never harass me or wake me up. She's settled down a bit, but the kitten wakes up at all hours wanting to chew on my hair or play, etc. I pick up his toys at night, but then he just finds it more convinient to play with me. I try leaving a toy down, but he still prefers to hop up on the bed and harass the occupants. I attempt to calm him down and get him to go back to sleep, but usually to no avail. I kick him off the bed, tell him "No!", try and ignore him, etc etc but it doesn't help. It's so bad at times that he gets timeout in the bathroom which sometimes results in bed time, but usually he just meows his little head off.

So I've been experimenting during the day, letting him nap a bit and then waking him up and getting him to play in the hopes that he'll be tired around bed time. However, I don't want to sleep deprive him... is there a strategy for this? Help!
You may want to try to play with him about 30 minutes before you go to bed to tire him out and also feed him a late "snack"....but there is no guarentee that he won't want to play with you during the night. My cats didn't settle down until they reached 5 years of age. My cats have always been welcome in my room...but I can certainly appreciate that you want your rest.

Katie
 
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dailynhtly

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Well we've been experimenting with different nap times during the day and playing before bed --some good nights, some bathroom time-out nights.

I do have another question though (didn't know I was gonna join your forum and pick your brains, did ya?
)

How affectionate is too affectionate? Is there such a thing? The kitten, always in the morning, but usually late at night, will crawl up next to my face like he's going to sleep with me. He might lay down for a few, but then he'll stand or sit up and just stare at me. He'll usually try and shove his face under my chin, put a paw or two on my face, climb up my shoulder and start licking my neck, chin, cheek, eyes, ears, etc... even a love bite here and there, all the while purring like a maniac. I do a little, "<scratch scratch rub> Thanks, go to bed" but he won't quite. It usually ends in him getting kicked off the bed (repeatedly), going to time-out in the bathroom, or me jumping ten feet in the air (I'm extremely ticklish) and him being accidentally thrown across the room.

Is he just being affectionate? It sometimes seems like he wants me to mother him and although I love animals, you won't find me licking and grooming the cat anytime soon. I think he's just starved for attention but I was just wondering if I was alone here.

I know, I'm crazy.
Thanks!
 

tnr1

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How affectionate is too affectionate? Is there such a thing? The kitten, always in the morning, but usually late at night, will crawl up next to my face like he's going to sleep with me. He might lay down for a few, but then he'll stand or sit up and just stare at me. He'll usually try and shove his face under my chin, put a paw or two on my face, climb up my shoulder and start licking my neck, chin, cheek, eyes, ears, etc... even a love bit here and there, all the while purring like a maniac. I do a little, "<scratch scratch rub> Thanks, go to bed" but he won't quite. It usually ends in him getting kicked off the bed (repeatedly), going to time-out in the bathroom, or me jumping ten feet in the air (I'm extremely ticklish) and him being accidentally throw across the room.

Is he just being affectionate? It sometimes seems like he wants me to mother him and although I love animals, you won't find me licking and grooming the cat anytime soon. I think he's just starved for attention but I was just wondering if I was alone here.
Cats do that as a sign of affection..so in his eyes...he is showing you affection. Have you considered getting him another kitten companion??

Katie
 

tortiebaby

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How old is he??? One of my kittensstarted doing that to my husband when she was about 7 weeks old, but she hasn't done it lately, she's now about 11 weeks old. It was really funny becaues my hubby doesn't like cats very much, especially not the kittens. He never had shown any affectionf for any of them since they were born. Yet, one day Skitzo, my now 11 week old kitten suddenly crawled up on his face and started purring and licking his cheek. Mubby kinda liked the attention and so let her continue to clean his ears and groom the stubble on his chin. LOL! Ever since that day he has likes her and she is now HIS kitten! LOL!
 
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dailynhtly

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He's about 3 and a half months and this is probably the 4th time he's done it. If he happens to actually be sleepy at night time or in my bed while waiting for me to wake up, that's when it happens. It's kinda creepy though when you're half asleep and you don't know if it's the cat or your boyfriend
 

sylorna

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Oh dear! I forgot how annoying kittens can be at night! You see...Chester (2 years old and adopted at the age of 4 months) was a real pain in the behind at night, and now he's only so first thing in the morning for breakfast. The kittens that we're raising don't bug me yet because they have each other and can't jump up on my bed yet. I'm keeping one though. Better start stocking up on sleep now!

More seriously, I just tollerated Chester when I couldn't let him out of my room (pre-introductions) and I think I locked him in the bathroom once when he really drove me nuts. After that he got kicked out sometimes the first time, sometimes the third time and the door closed behind him. The whining from the hall is a pain, but eventually he goes away and lies down/bugs someone else, which he wont if he's allowed to be in the room. Mind you, his last resort ploy is to dig under the blankets and bite your legs and feet. It'd be cute if I wasn't sleeping at the time!
what a nut!
 
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dailynhtly

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Yes, the under the sheets trick, he figured that one out the other night, except he just likes to wiggle his way down and then spin around and attempt to pounce on his tail... makes for great sleeping.

I spent the night away from home last night so the cats were left to their own devices (my roommate is not an animal person) and there didn't seem to be that much white hair on the floor when I got back, no bloos stains, so I think things went well.

However, I do believe the kitten is on drugs at the moment... I know they get in their playful moments, even my older cat does, but he is absolutely spastic and has been for the last hour. Tearing through the house, pouncing on my (poor) other cat, climbing up the couch, even jumping at the light (those tall poles with multiple lights on them) and grabbing hold and sliding down the pole all Indian Jones style. He's figured out how to get up on the table, is ripping apart all of his toys and is --well, have you seen those little Jack Russels that will jump up and flip over backwards? That's him ...and I swear I just saw him do a perfect round off. What has gotten into my little boy??

On a more serious note (and back to my original post), been looking online with no luck, but does anyone know an approximate sleep/awake time for kittens?

Thanks
 

sylorna

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Yeah, I've seen Chester do some serious summersaults before. My friend has a theory that cats have a little gland in their brain that's full of hallunicigents and every once in awhile it lets a little squirt out (more so with kittens)...and that's when they go off the wall. I think the theory works, even if it's not biologically proveable

I started feeding chester before bed and when I woke up...the goal being that he'd alter his sleep to mine. It worked and didn't work, since now he is so agressive about getting us up in the morning. Basically the idea is to understand that they're nocturnal to start out with, and kittens will play whenever they dang well please. SO finding ways that may prolong your sleep time (playing before bed, having a special sleep room, whatever works) is what needs to happen. With any luck, the kitten will eventually learn when you're awake and when you sleep and will start to adjust itself to you. Until then, you might want to consider de-tox...or setting up an interview with George lucas for the new Indiana Jones movie. I know it's not much help, and I apologise for that....it's all I know.
 

tortiebaby

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Well, like Sylorna said, you'll just have to wait him out(or kick him out.)

My now 1 1/2 year old male cat used to be crazy when he was little to the point where we decided to kick him out of the room at night. Like I said in my last post, he sried alot at first, but he eventually settled down. Last niht we let him in the room and he got on the bed, did his little(or should I say BIG) pawing thing that he does to the blanket(or your behind, whichever he finds more comfy at the moment), curled in a ball, and went to sleep. As long as he comes in the room alone he is fine. However, if he and our female cat are in the same room at the same time, it can become mass chaos if they have enough energy. When the start playing tag it's like we aren't even there. And believe me, it's not fun having a 10-12 lb male cat leaping over your body while being chased by an 8-10 lb female cat. LOL! When they play, the PLAY!
 

sweatereyes

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Oh man, kittens at night can be mosterous. My Dante at first wasn't allowed in our bedroom (because he was much too young to be on our bed) but once he was about 7 weeks old we let him... I just hid completely under the covers and after about 1/2 hour he would settle down on my stomach and sleep for a while. But we've decided to usually keep him outside the room because he'll chew on you and stuff in the middle of the night plus I'm super paranoid of suffocating him by accident. I figure once he's older he'll be less hyper at night.

Nothing i've done has helped though, I've tried getting him all hyper before bed, giving him snacks, i even bought this wierd aroma thing for cats that is supposed to calm them down. But no matter what i do as soon as he is up on the bed with us he gets hyper again and pounces on our faces. So if you figure out anything, i'll try it too.. but i can't really help i guess (other than the fact that i gave up).
 

pippen

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Our kitten used to want company around 4am. Since we hand raised him I know the significance of the time--it was when he would wake up starving after sleeping through most of the night. When he was tiny he'd go right back to sleep but that wake up time was still programed in. That stage didn't last long and sleep issues aside, he was pretty darned cute making the rounds between me and the kids looking for a friend to play with.


These days he rarely wakes me before 5:30 am and if it's any earlier it's because he's presenting me with a gift of a freshly killed sock he's dragged up from the laundry room.
 
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