HELP! Kitten driving me crazy!

Sophie is about 5-6 months old. I've searched the forums and I've tried other people's suggestions, but nothings working.

This cat has an extreme addiction to meowing. All the time.

Its not so bad when I'm awake, but at 6am in the morning she sits outside my bedroom door just meowing like she's on fire.

I've tried the spray bottle, Ive tried talking angry to her. I've had it up to my ears! Whenever i get up now, she immediately runs and hides.

Also, sophie gets into _everything_. No toilet paper roll or paper towel roll is safe, anywhere. Leave a envelope with mail to go out the next morning on the counter top, the next morning its completely destroyed.

I really love this kitty, I adopted her from the shelter.. she was so skinny and so pittiful looking after being out in the cold and no food... I just had to bring her home. I'd really like a kitty who crawls in bed and sleeps the night away with me, but no... If I leave the bedroom door open, my bed (including me) is a nascar race track. She also will get right up close to my face and swat me (without claws), so this is why she's not allowd in the bedroom at night....

Sigh please help me for the sake of my sanity. I've considered taking her back to the shelter, but i just cant...

OH, please don't take her back to the shelter!!!!

Ok, first of all is she spayed?

Next, she's just a baby. She doesn't know that what she's doing is WRONG, she is kitty. She is doing what comes naturally.

If you want the sleep, keep her out of the bedroom at night. Yes she may meow, but after a while she will learn that that does not make you get up and let her in or play with her.

This is going to take time and patience. Hang in there.

Spayed, yes.. They spay all the adopted cats from the local shelter. Its a no-kill shelter, 100% spay/neuter keep 'em forever.

Keeping her out of the bedroom is whats causing her the nonstop meowing at 5-7am, which is waking me up.. Either way I go, i get very little sleep.

I've had her almost 2 months.

Originally Posted by KittenKiya

OH, please don't take her back to the shelter!!!!

Ok, first of all is she spayed?

Next, she's just a baby. She doesn't know that what she's doing is WRONG, she is kitty. She is doing what comes naturally.

If you want the sleep, keep her out of the bedroom at night. Yes she may meow, but after a while she will learn that that does not make you get up and let her in or play with her.

This is going to take time and patience. Hang in there.

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I've tried playing with her for 15-30 minutes before bed, and feeding her wet/canned cat food. this doesnt seem to affect anything, but make her not want to ever eat dry food..

Both of my cats did all of these things as kittens. Well before they were a year old much of the night time madness settled down and they now sleep quietly with me most of the time. If they want to play while I am asleep they go in the living room instead of playing on the bed.

Well, if is any consolation, Tammy-Timmy is just as vocal. I had to get a plastic mat to keep her from clawing up the carpet. She has a closed door fetish.

I think she needs the tranquilizers, not me.

Anyway, please be patient, your baby will come around.

She is just crying at 5-7? Maybe she is hungry at that hour? Lucky did the constant crying when we moved for about 2 weeks. It drove me nuts but he finally settled in. Give it some time. Have you tried leaving a tv on quietly outside your room?

Matt, don't you dare take this little girl back to the shelter!!! Bad, bad, bad!!!!!!! She's just a kitten, and a lot of what you're seeing is her terrible teenage phase! It does get better!

If it's any consolation, my Ripley was the same way at that age. Constant overnight howling and meowing, and if I did break down and let her into my room...she'd race across my head, attack my feet, bury her "mice" in my hair, and do the "kitten 500" all over me. She basically wanted me to be on her schedule, which was impossible.

Well, I tried everything you tried, and really, nothing helped. I finally bit the bullet, and each night before I went to bed, I'd feed her, give her some exhausting playtime, and then I'd lock her with her water bowl, litterbox, some toys, and kitty bed in my bathroom. Now, my bathroom at the time was right next to my bedroom, and the first week or so, I had to endure long nights of miserable HOWLING, whining, meowing, scratching, etc. I somehow stuck to it, and it began to get better. She had to be put in the bathroom until she was about 1.5 years old, and I quickly learned how to ignore her cries, and sleep through it. Sometime after that, I did begin to leave her out of the bathroom at night, and now, at 3, she'll finally sleep with me all night in the bedroom.

The important thing, is that you don't punish and frighten her for doing what is basically very normal kitten behavior. Give her a quick kiss goodnight, and all of her essentials, and put her in her "room" for the evening...then go to bed. Do NOT give in to miserable whining, crying, etc. If you do, she'll learn that that is what works to get her what she wants...so you will need to stay strong and completely ignore her. With time, she'll get the idea...and with age, she'll calm down quite a bit.

Good luck!

This is what a kitten does...sheesh, my 2 year old cat still does that kind of stuff. Beleive it or not, you will adapt to how they act.

You know, chances are, if you let her in the bedroom she would stop meowing outside your door. I recently let Trout in to sleep with me...and YES the first few nights they are excited and hyper to be in there with you and they act crazy BUT they get used to the idea and calm down a little as the days go on. I highly recommend letting her in at night, I can almost gaurantee that you won't regret it in a couple weeks time.

Good luck

P.S. Do you have toys for her so she won't destroy your stuff? Maybe she is just bored.

The first several months can be like living with a toddler. They're constantly into things they shouldn't be, breaking things, chewing things, and zipping around like their hind end is on fire. It's especially lovely that they usually don't know how to handle their claws yet. People can always tell you live with a kitten by the hallmark scratches all over you! I can attest to all of the above as I live with a five month old.

Don't bother trying to "exchange" her because any other kitten would be just as wild. It can be frustrating and even infuriating, but if you can make it past this adolescent time you'll have a loving, wonderful pet!

Originally Posted by Trouts mom

This is what a kitten does...sheesh, my 2 year old cat still does that kind of stuff. Beleive it or not, you will adapt to how they act.

You know, chances are, if you let her in the bedroom she would stop meowing outside your door. I recently let Trout in to sleep with me...and YES the first few nights they are excited and hyper to be in there with you and they act crazy BUT they get used to the idea and calm down a little as the days go on. I highly recommend letting her in at night, I can almost gaurantee that you won't regret it in a couple weeks time.

Good luck

P.S. Do you have toys for her so she won't destroy your stuff? Maybe she is just bored.

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She has lots of toys.. She will only play with them, if I interact with the toys also. Throwing balls... Jiggling a mouse on a string...

The only thing she really likes to play with alone, is a package of gauze wrapped up in plastic. She loves this.. I've not been able to find another one so its kinda chewed up at the moment.

Gauze wrapped in plastic is not a suitable chew toy. This type of "toy" can easily cause obstruction. You should get this kitty something like Da Bird and play with her vigorously right before bedtime. Invest in an automatic pet feeder and set it to dispense small amounts of kibble during the hours she is most noisy. This is a typical prey response in a young cat. She would be awake with mom cat during these hours and they would be hunting small prey and burying the kill.

Set your vacuum outside your bedroom door, have it plugged it but turned off. When she starts crying outside the door, turn it on for one second, then turn it off.

Make sure she has a comfortable bed to sleep in, and other toys as well as being sure the feeder is within her hearing distance. She should hear the kibble tumble down and run to feed.

Originally Posted by hissy

Gauze wrapped in plastic is not a suitable chew toy. This type of "toy" can easily cause obstruction. You should get this kitty something like Da Bird and play with her vigorously right before bedtime. Invest in an automatic pet feeder and set it to dispense small amounts of kibble during the hours she is most noisy. This is a typical prey response in a young cat. She would be awake with mom cat during these hours and they would be hunting small prey and burying the kill.

Set your vacuum outside your bedroom door, have it plugged it but turned off. When she starts crying outside the door, turn it on for one second, then turn it off.

Make sure she has a comfortable bed to sleep in, and other toys as well as being sure the feeder is within her hearing distance. She should hear the kibble tumble down and run to feed.

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Oh I agree Hissy, that vacuum does wonders
Do you know Matt that she doesn't like the Vaccum?
One of my 8 alway's wanted in the bedroom but I have one that my room is hers so I finally set the vacuum out there and he no longer trys to scratch at the door

Originally Posted by hissy

Gauze wrapped in plastic is not a suitable chew toy. This type of "toy" can easily cause obstruction. You should get this kitty something like Da Bird and play with her vigorously right before bedtime. Invest in an automatic pet feeder and set it to dispense small amounts of kibble during the hours she is most noisy. This is a typical prey response in a young cat. She would be awake with mom cat during these hours and they would be hunting small prey and burying the kill.

Set your vacuum outside your bedroom door, have it plugged it but turned off. When she starts crying outside the door, turn it on for one second, then turn it off.

Make sure she has a comfortable bed to sleep in, and other toys as well as being sure the feeder is within her hearing distance. She should hear the kibble tumble down and run to feed.

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This is great advice. I wouldn't part with my automatic feeder, which is set to open at 5 a.m. every morning. If she prefers canned food, you can get feeders with cold packs that keep the food fresh for hours.
Matt, all kittens are like that, and they do eventually settle down.

Originally Posted by MooCow

The first several months can be like living with a toddler. They're constantly into things they shouldn't be, breaking things, chewing things, and zipping around like their hind end is on fire. It's especially lovely that they usually don't know how to handle their claws yet. People can always tell you live with a kitten by the hallmark scratches all over you! I can attest to all of the above as I live with a five month old.

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I can't add much to the advice you've been given except to say that Mosi was just the same. He's almost a year old now and it's only in the past 2 or 3 months that he's been at all settled at night. By settled I mean he will sleep or be quiet for about 6 hours at night (if I want any more than that I can forget it!). Having a kitten around is a recipe for lack of sleep, but they do calm down to some extent (exactly how much and when will depend on the individual kitten). Your best bet is to stick to a routine, tire her out as much as you can before bed - if she shows signs of going to sleep during the evening wake her up! - and ignore the meowing. Hopefully she'll get the message eventually, but it does take time.

Matt, Fill a (or two even better) small plastic coke/soda bottle with hot water and put it in her bed/sleeping place. Also...make sure she's fed in the morning (it might just be that she's hungry at that time of the morning...if you feed her (say) at 7 AM every day without fail...things will go much more smoothly. Whatever you do DON'T return her to the shelter. Her happiness and yours will require patience...but I know you can do it! We've had our kitten now for seven months...and things are just beginning to get settled for Dulcinea and for us (her full-time 'support-persons' A.K.A slaves...LOL). It takes time...and having a kitten/pet is a HUGE responsibility...but I guess you've found this out now? ) In the end it's all worth it. Just give it yur best shot Matt...you can do it bro!

fr. gregg

Matt trust us, weve all been where you are and survived it. My Sophie was the one who used to meow and sometimes she still does if theres a closed door because she wants to be on the other side to have a nose around.

Spend some time on an evening "before " you go to bed and play with her to tire her out. A lot of people like me give their cats and kittens some wet food before bedtime because once they have a full tummy that helps them sleep as well.

Don't give up though, were all here to see you through it. I know to you this will probably sound stupid right now, but enjoy every minute of her being a baby because they grow up so fast

I think your kitten is lonely and needs another kitten pal to play with. (Especially if you're away during the day and its home by itself) I have 4 4-month old foster kittens right now and they use up a lot of that kitten energy chasing and wrestling with each other. You would still hear them running around, but I bet the meowing would stop. And I also agree that you will miss this stage when little kitty is too old and can't do it anymore. It used to bring a smile to my face even in the middle of the night hearing my cats run up and down the stairs.

Originally Posted by wookie130

she'd race across my head, attack my feet, bury her "mice" in my hair, and do the "kitten 500" all over me. She basically wanted me to be on her schedule, which was impossible.

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I had 4 kittens at one time that were just like this. I just couldnt put them out of the room, I just couldnt do it. I remember being sound asleep and then 4 kittens deciding to attack my feet. It wasnt a lovely way to wake up 20 times a night. Eventually, I adjusted to it and was able to sleep through it.

They did grow out of it. They all now sleep through the night, too. I tell them "lets go nite nite" and they run to get int the bed and go to sleep. You will survive, I promise.