New abnormal night behavior in new apartment is making me crazy!!

strays welcome

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I moved into a new apartment approximately 2 1/2 weeks ago with Powder, my young-acting 10 year old cat. My husband and I have separated and so Powder and I moved out. I searched for and read many of the previous posts about how to make the move easiest for Powder and the transition went better than I expected. Powder is easily intimidated by other people and new surroundings. Since I got her at one year old from a shelter she always hides when people came over and hides when there are big/loud things happening at home (vacuuming, carpet cleaning, etc.). I got everything moved into the apartment and she was the last thing to be moved in. She hid under my bed and didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t come out for 3 days. She decided to start exploring after day 3 and within a week she was acting as though sheâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s lived there her entire life. I was quite pleased by how quickly she adapted.

Rewind to this past Friday night: she was under the bed most of the evening up until around 11:00 p.m. because I had company over. I stayed up for about a half hour after my company left and then went to bed. As soon as the lights were out Powder started “chirping†and this went on through the entire night. When I say “chirping†I am referring to the little short playful meows and choppy purring noises that cats make. My first mistake was when I laughed at her because sheâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s always been one to play to the crowd; she loves an audience. She loves to act silly and have me laugh at her. She wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t having night crazies (which she has had in the past and still does occasionally) where she runs around like an idiot; it was just the chirping. Oh, and jumping on my dressers knocking things over onto the ground – she was doing that, too.

The same exact thing happened on Saturday night and last night, as well, but I hadnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t had any company since Friday. On Saturday night I got up at 1:00 a.m. and went out to sleep on the couch. As soon as I moved to the couch she stopped and she didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t bother me at all. I stayed in my bed all night last night and she kept up ALL night. Sheâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s going to keep doing this – I know how she is. Sheâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll start doing something and keep it up for a few weeks until she gets tired of it. Sheâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s famous for her little routines.

My interpretation of this new behavior is that sheâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s doing this because she wants me to get up and play with her; she doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t want me to sleep. She wants all of my attention and sheâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s going to do whatever is necessary to get it. Itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s going to be hard to break her of this new bad habit because I work all day and she has nothing to do but sleep all day and get charged up for her nighttime antics.

Do you think my assessment is correct? Any ideas on how to change this, other than some hard evening play prior to bedtime?
 

robertm

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I would have said that your assessment is correct if not for the fact that she stopped "chirping" once you moved to the couch. If she did in fact simply want all of your attention, I would think that she would have followed you to the couch.

That being said, I have no alternate explanation.


In addition to the intense play session shortly before bedtime, how about a big meal right afterwards? That combination often delivers a knockout punch.
 
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strays welcome

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Originally Posted by RobertM

I would have said that your assessment is correct if not for the fact that she stopped "chirping" once you moved to the couch. If she did in fact simply want all of your attention, I would think that she would have followed you to the couch.

That being said, I have no alternate explanation.


In addition to the intense play session shortly before bedtime, how about a big meal right afterwards? That combination often delivers a knockout punch.
She currently has a dry food only diet and she is fed at approximate 12 hour intervals; she gets 1/3 cup around 7 a.m and 1/3 cup around 7 p.m. and she grazes on it all day/night between feedings. She refuses to eat wet food. Should I then delay the evening feeding until after playtime/right before bed? If I do that she will probably refuse to play because she'll just sit at her empty food dish until I feed her.


Perhaps she's just spoiled rotten. Since moving out she gets ALL of my attention when I am home; she no longer has to share me with another person - it's just me and her. She was spoiled before but I think she got worse.
 

amarna

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she sounds like a sweet little soul!!! know that a cat's day is based around a repetition of a specific cycle, numerous times & that is 'hunt, groom, sleep'. so if you play with her for about 15mins, feed her or at least top up her bowls with fresh biscuits just before you go to bed, she'll eat, then have a little clean & go to sleep. that might help her routine get back in sync with yours. cats are creatures of habit, so if you give in to her chirps once, she'll remember!!!

also, if powder is 10 maybe she's doing what my old marv did - when we turned out all the lights at night & went to bed, from his perspective the entire atmosphere of the house changed. it went dark, we weren't in our usual room & he probably couldn't see so well cuz he had bad eyes. especially if you're in a new house this must be quite disorientating. perhaps leave a light on or get a couple of plug in night-lights. perhaps she has bad eyes or maybe just needs a bit more time to settle in. good luck!
 
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strays welcome

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Originally Posted by Amarna

she sounds like a sweet little soul!!! know that a cat's day is based around a repetition of a specific cycle, numerous times & that is 'hunt, groom, sleep'. so if you play with her for about 15mins, feed her or at least top up her bowls with fresh biscuits just before you go to bed, she'll eat, then have a little clean & go to sleep. that might help her routine get back in sync with yours. cats are creatures of habit, so if you give in to her chirps once, she'll remember!!!

also, if powder is 10 maybe she's doing what my old marv did - when we turned out all the lights at night & went to bed, from his perspective the entire atmosphere of the house changed. it went dark, we weren't in our usual room & he probably couldn't see so well cuz he had bad eyes. especially if you're in a new house this must be quite disorientating. perhaps leave a light on or get a couple of plug in night-lights. perhaps she has bad eyes or maybe just needs a bit more time to settle in. good luck!
Amarna, you are a genius! I put a night light in the bedroom and she stopped chirping/meowing almost immediately. She did it a little the first night but never again since then. I had nightlights in every room of my apartment with the exception of my bedroom and so that explains why she stopped when I moved to the couch. The poor little thing couldn't see! Thank you so much for the advice - we are both so much happier.
 

kristykitty

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aww, so happy that things are fixed now!


I showed this thread to my mom, and we were both really touched
That's very sweet that your kitty likes the light to be on so that she knows where her owner is at all times.
What a sweet, loving little soul.


Also, this just goes to show that behavior isn't always what you first interpret it as. And that even if your first ideas don't work, keep trying to figure out the reasons why and try new things, and don't give up.
 

brokenheart

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Amarna, when I read your first post, I thought, That's brilliant! I never would have thought of that. Then I was so thrilled to see that's what it turned out to be.
 
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