Night crazies not fixed by play / feed before bed routine

taipei-pashet

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Hi everyone,

I grew up with cats throughout childhood, but this is my first kitten to raise all on my own, and even though I've only had her for about two weeks now, I really do hope she's with me for many years to come.

I've already a great deal of wonderful advice from this site and this forum, but one problem I'm still working on is the night crazies / my cat uses my bed or pillow as a trampoline at night / I'm close to losing it from lack of sleep due to my new kitten, etc. dilemma. I'm kind of busy with school, so I can't spend hours every day playing with her, but I do make sure to play some during the day, and for at least 20 minutes before I'm ready for bed. I took advice found on this site and do the play then feed routine just before bed, but after a week of this, she just seems even more hyped up after she's eaten, and especially when the final light goes out. It's like there's a switch in her mind when it gets completely dark, that this is the best time to hunt / play!

I've had some success with just grabbing her and holding her on my chest, stroking her, for about 10 minutes, even though she hates it and tries to bite me when I'm doing it. It seems to calm her down somewhat, and when I finally put her on the bed beside me or on the shelf / bed I've made for her next to my bed, she seems somewhat more likely to be calm, clean herself or sleep. But I don't especially like this "solution" as it doesn't always work and I'm worried it may be too stressful for her.

She has lots of toys to play with during the day, a cat tree, etc, but my apartment is kind of small (about 250 square feet) so I think a second kitten is probably not such a hot idea.

Any advice?
 

rotobay

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How old is your kitten? Cats are nocturnal by nature, but the crazy night time shenanigans are just part of the playful kitten phase ime. I have one adult cat right now and she sleeps at night (and pretty much all day too!). But my 14 week old kitten runs around like crazy all night long. We deal with this by closing the bedroom doors at night. I know you said your apartment is small, but is there another room where you could put her during the night?
 
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taipei-pashet

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Thanks. She's between 10 and 14 weeks I'm pretty sure, and I'm not surprised that it's just a kitten thing actually. Oh well, guess I'll just have to suffer through. One can always look on the experience as a form of birth control (just kidding, what I mean is preparation for staying up all night with my infant one day)


My apartment is a studio, so just the one room plus the bathroom, and I don't think she would like being locked in the bathroom all night
, so I'll just have to deal.

Any advice on the "corporal cuddling" (coined by klusmanp from youtube) method of "calming her down". Is this a bad idea?

btw, if you haven't seen klusmanp's video called "An Engineer's Guide to Cats" on youtube, you really should check it out... hil ar i ous!
 

captiva

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I wouldn't like to lock mine in a bathroom, either. I've gotten used to them waking me up 3-4 times during the night.
She's very young. I'm sure she'll calm down over the next few months. I always notice that once mine are spayed they tend to calm down a little . She sounds really cute, though!
Corporal Cuddling never works at my house (it just makes them want to rip my arm off), but good luck w/that !


Welcome to TCS!
 

buzbyjlc10

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Hmmm maybe try some catnip before bed... my cat is an adult (6 years) but when I give him catnip, he goes like crazy over it at first, but afterwards he's really mellow and kind of "crashes"

I had a studio apartment in college, so I know your situation lol but I actually miss it since moving back in with my parents after graduation last year

Good luck and congrats on the new kitty
 

wendyr

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Yeah, looks like you just might have to deal with it. She probably will calm down with age though - my friends cats were all insane little kittens and now at night time they are pretty good.

We had this problem when we first took the kittens in - we have three. They would run around like wild creatures, waking us up at all hours of the night. We live in a small cottage, but were able to close the bedroom door. Now, they just stay downstairs until we get up, whether the door is closed or not!
 

jamieblah

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Hey everyone! I'm new here, but I'm having some issues with my new kitten and "resident" cat so I thought I'd post for a little advice.

My issue is pretty much the same issue as Taipei-Pashet's, but with another cat involved.

I just got a new kitten, Calypso, about 2 weeks ago. She's now nearly 10 weeks old and she's super sweet when she's calm but when she's hyper she's a little spit-fire. Her and my first/older cat, Murray, run around constantly at night across my bed, throughout my room, etc. Usually Murray always sleeps by me, he was always a really calm/laid back cat, but ever since I've brought Calypso home he's a lot more active and doesn't sleep by me/lay by me nearly as much. He usually only lays by me now when Calypso is sleeping. As much as I miss my little snuggler, I don't mind that he's this way for now, I figure it's probably because my little one is hyper and so he wants to join in the fun. He hasn't been around another cat since he was a kitten (he's about 2 years now), so it's all new to him.

I've tried locking them out of my room at night, but Murray ends up meowing and pawing at my door. It's like, he still needs to be near me, but wants to be rowdy too. There are tons of cat toys laying around my house and both of them definitely get enough playtime during the day.

Not really sure what to do! I'll try the play/then feed routine that Taipei-Pashet mentioned in her/his (?) post and see if that helps. But, does anyone have any other ideas just in case it doesn't work? From what I read in this thread it sounds like maybe this is just a kitten thing and Calypso will grow out of it, hopefully mellowing Murray out again too. Am I right to assume that?

Any advice anyone can give me would be greatly, greatly appreciated!
 

michellem

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I am so glad I found this thread today as I am also having a simillar problem. My 6 month old kitten Gator is constantly attacking my 6 year old female Marley.... especially at night. I'm not sure if he's playing or really trying to hurt her. Whenever I pull him off her to put him in time out he then redirects his aggression and attacks me. I know I'm asking for it by pulling him off her but I just feel so bad for her as she's really sweet and I don't want her to get hurt if it's not play. After about 10 minutes in time out, Gator comes out purring up a storm and is a complete sweetheart.

Well, I can sleep through anything and I don't hear the commotion at night but my fiancee won't even spend the night anymore because they're always going at it. So last night I kept Marley in the room with us, shut the door, and let Gator roam the rest of the house. It seemed like a good idea at the time as he didn't meow or paw at the door. Boy was I wrong. When my fiancee left for work this morning at 6am, Gator came in and attacked me. Bit my feet, face, arms - whatever he could get his mouth on. After about 10 minutes of attack and then 5 minutes of intense suckling on my arm (it does hurt a little bit, but I would rather him suckle than bite), he curled up next to me and took a little cat nap in my arms. I can't figure him out! Was he pissed, happy to see me or is he just plain insane? He doesn't know how to give kisses, and I think this could be a way of showing affection, but I'm not sure. For any of you with crazy kittens, do they give you kisses or does this have to be a learned behavior? Any advice would be appreciated.
 

persi & alley

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Originally Posted by Taipei-Pashet

my cat uses my bed or pillow as a trampoline at night /
It's not just kittens that do that! My Alley, age unknown but a very mature cat otherwise, continues to do that. I like having my cats in bed with me but sometime's Alley's butting the pillows is quite annoying. Meanwhile, me other more reserved cat lies on the bed quietly watching.
 

coaster

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Originally Posted by Taipei-Pashet

I've had some success with just grabbing her and holding her on my chest, stroking her, for about 10 minutes, even though she hates it and tries to bite me when I'm doing it. It seems to calm her down somewhat, and when I finally put her on the bed beside me or on the shelf / bed I've made for her next to my bed, she seems somewhat more likely to be calm, clean herself or sleep. But I don't especially like this "solution" as it doesn't always work and I'm worried it may be too stressful for her. ?
You're right, it's not a solution, it's the problem. You're giving her what she wants....attention. The only way to fix this is to deny her the attention she wants. When she disturbs you on the bed, shove her off the bed and continue doing this until she gets the message that if she wants to be with you on the bed she's got to be QUIET.

This technique works, I've done it with my own cats. But give it time. Two weeks is too short of a time. And you have to be consistent. Giving in just once means starting over again.
 
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