my cat won't sleep at night!!

hi there! i have a bit of problem with my cat, hestia. We've had her for a little over a year now and she still does the same thing: in the middle of the night, she'll come around to wake us up as if to say "ok, i'm up!! let's get up!" She'll usually come to me and do this because i don't move around much when i sleep, whereas my boyfriend does. Then, one of us gets up to put her in the bathroom (because if we don't, then she seriously runs wild). To stop her from pawing the door, we spray it with vinegar (because she doesn't like the smell) and we give her some loving so before going back to bed.

Here's the problem: first of all, this isn't natural. She shouldn't be up in the night. We have tried getting her all played out before bed and it still doesn't work. We don't have time to really play with her a lot (and we admit to that). Second, we are getting desperate for sleep now. She is pawing on the door every two hours or so during the night until we get up around 6:30. We are seriously sleep-deprived here because of our little baby!

Please help us!!

cats are naturally nocturnal...

yes, i know that...that's why we tried to get her tired out during the day. the problem there though is that i am a full-time student with a serious part-time job and my boyfriend works full-time as well. she sleeps all way while we are gone and then when we get home she wants our attention, which we sadly don't have enough to give. i know that this is partly our fault, but she'll only play with toys if we throw them for her. At the end of the day, we just don't have enough energy....

i feel so sad for my little baby, she needs more attention but i don't have time to give it to her...

first of all, this isn't natural. She shouldn't be up in the night.

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Yes, it is natural and you should expect her to be up at night.

You can't sleep, even with the door shut? How about another cat? Maybe they'll keep each occupied while you sleep.

well, i have more news on this issue.

Last night she started up again, about 2 am this time, by licking my fingers for me to get up. I took her to the bathroom, gave her some lovin', and sprayed vinegar on the door like usual. She pawed the door twice in the night until we finally had to get up. I was so tired today that I could barely get out of bed and am working at home. I hope that this will not be so bad tomorrow.

I know that the usual time for a cat to be up is during the night, so we are fighting natural instinct. We can't shut the door because we are in an open concept apartment...there really aren't any doors other than the bathroom.

I have never had a cat like this before, she really baffles me. My previous ones used to sleep with me at night, then again, they had the priviledge of going outdoors during the day. Since I am here with hestia today, I will keep her awake and attempt to play with her as much as possible, but she's just so worn out. I am too...

We are seriously getting desperate, my boyfriend wants to take her back to the SPCA and I am determined to solve this problem...

Hi, I'm not sure how it helps (unless you can hang a shade or something in the area) but could it be something like a neon sign going out at the same time every night (or coming on) that wakes her up? How about a train going by? Is there no other room besides the small bathroom that she could be put in for the night?

Your Hestia sounds like my Barkley. For quite some time I had the same problem as you with his incessant nighttime antics. Waking me up, hollering at the front door, etc. For a long time I thought about surrendering him back to the Humane Society but I love him so much that I made that my final option.

I went to the vet, spoke with him and he suggested that Barkley go on 10mg per day of Amitriptyline to "calm him down" and relax him for the night. It was a no go, the medicine made him worse it seemed and so we took him off of that. Penutia is the one who sleeps at night and sometimes he would disturb her. But it seemed there would be no solution with him and I was ready to pull my hair out. Now, he does a little better. Some improvement is better than no improvement. I think he has aged out from some of his wilder behavior. I do notice that some days he rests more than others and when he's ready to sleep at night he will come find me and curl up behind me against my hip. I wish you the best of luck with Hestia, it's tough sometimes being a Mommy cat but hang in there !

If you go to The Cat Lounge, I copied an article on how to keep cats from waking you up. According to the article cats are not nocturnal animals at all. The thread title is Does Your Cat Wake You Up in the Morning? I copied it from thepetplace.com. You may want to take a minute and read it, since it does offer some great tips on cat behavior, etc. Good luck!

Originally Posted by lnbandcats

If you go to The Cat Lounge, I copied an article on how to keep cats from waking you up. According to the article cats are not nocturnal animals at all. The thread title is Does Your Cat Wake You Up in the Morning? I copied it from thepetplace.com. You may want to take a minute and read it, since it does offer some great tips on cat behavior, etc. Good luck!

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^^ as soon as I read this thread, I thought of that article.
Definitely worth the read!!!
Good luck!!!