Please help me get some sleep!!!

Please please help, I'm at the end of my tether!

My two male kittens are almost 7 months old. They are very happy, healthy, loving babies but with one big problem. For the first month or so we had them we closed them in our living room/kitchen area all the time, and then after just at night so we could sleep. About 2-3 months ago we tried letting them into the whole flat over night a few times (we're in a one bed first floor maisonette so it's not much bigger) but found that being such a light sleeper I couldn't cope with them running around over us all night.

But now every night one of them, Loki, gets to about 4am and starts repeatedly banging against the living room door, crying and scratching the carpet. I've seen him from this side and he's literally flinging his body repeatedly at the door, it makes an awful loud banging noise. Goku, my other cat, isn't so bad but will try to climb up the door. I can't leave them banging because it's so loud, and we have an elderly gentleman living below us and it'll be going right through his ceiling. If we let them in they're all over us waking us up constantly, leaping over the bed, lying on the pillows, trying to play with our feet, scratching the bed. Going in and giving them a cuddle doesn't help. I can't leave them doing it because it's so loud. They are left plenty of food overnight.

I haven't had a full nights sleep in weeks and I'm losing grip, I'm in my final year of university and Im getting behind in my studies because Im so exhausted from lack of sleep. I've been in tears a few mornings because I can't remember sleeping and I have so much to do. I love them but Im losing grip.

Loki is a proper mummy's boy, follows me around, if I close the bathroom door he'll wait outside, so I think he just wants to be near me, Goku has been kneading things a lot more recently so I think he might be feeling worried, but it isn't him banging. He will still climb all over us all night. I know they just love us and want to be near us but I'm losing it. Please someone help!

Harriet

Not too long ago we were in the same boat as you were. We had a kitten that was hellbent on waking us at around 6am every day, regardless of weekends or holidays. She would scratch at the door and cry constantly until we got up.

It took a few weeks, but we did manage to get her to let us sleep until we actually get up ourselves.

Cat's live by the simple routine of "activity > eat > groom > sleep > repeat". When they're active they will hunt, play, run, keep watch, etc. They're awake and using up a lot of energy (especially kittens and young adults), so once their energy is depleted, they will eat to regain the energy lost and after that they will have a nap to let their bodies recharge on the energy they just gained from the food.

So. If you're free feeding your cats: stop it. Take control of the food supply and you take control of their energy intake. Feed them 2-3 times a day (for example, we give each cat roughly 60gr of kibble a day (as advised on the packaging), split over 2 meals (40gr in the morning and 20gr just before bed)).

Once you have your fixed mealtimes set, all you need to do is allocate 15-20minutes of rigorous playtime just before feeding them. Show them every corner of the room using all sorts of toys (preferably once where you have control of the movement, this will improve bonding). To keep things fun, reward them with a little snack every once in a while (we try to hide little snacks while they're not looking and then lead them to the snack with a toy), but don't overdo the snacking.

When you notice that they're slowing down, it's time to reward their "hunting" by feeding them their meal. You'll notice that once they're done eating, they'll start grooming and then go straight to sleep.

If you do this just before bed, you'll greatly increase the chances of them nothing waking you in the middle of the night. It won't happen overnight, it may take weeks, but if you stick to it, they will change their behaviour.

PS: don't play with them the moment you wake up and enter the room.. They may start waking you for playtime because whenever you wake up and enter the room = playtime for them. We usually ignore ours cats for 10-15 minutes when we wake up and start giving them attention the moment they stop trying to get our attention.

Try placing special cat repellant material on the specific door.  Tin foil works and there are products on Amazon that you can buy to discourage activity at that specific door.

You are encouraging this behavior by responding positively with attention every time it happens.  Ignore the negative behavior (and use the cat repellant stuff) and they will stop.

Thanks for the responses. The problem is, I can't ignore them, the banging is really loud and I have an elderly neighbour who lives below us and the noise is going straight through to him, it's really unfair of me to just let them bang. If it wasn't for that I would try leaving them to learn but I can't. I'm not playing with them when they do it, I just open the door to stop the banging and they come in. This is the main problem, I can't not respond to the negative behaviour.

I've tried tin foil on the door, it worked for a week but then he decided he didn't care and carried on banging. He also doesn't care about water so I think he's just a super cat! They haven't really been free fed, but they're still kittens and I've been told to feed them as much as they want, it's being cut down but they don't really eat a whole meal ever. I've started taking it away if it's not eaten in a certain time but I worry they're not getting enough to eat then.

I do try to play with them before bedtime, feed etc, im trying to get them into a proper routine, but they're still up at 4 or 5am, They're now having to be shut in the kitchen at night which I don't like because there's not much space to play, but that door at least doesn't bang as much and we can get some sleep. But it doesn't seem like a long term solution.

Have you tried stacking a large box by the door where he bangs? Might be tricky to close the door with a box right up against it but you could try to block his access physically as well.

Would your neighbor tolerate a short-term disturbance? One "oldtimer" here at TCS recommended using a vacuum cleaner to break the door-scratching habit. She would turn it on, unplug it, put it in front of the door being scratched, run the cord under the door, and plug it in when the scratching started to deter the cat. Depending on how loud the vacuum is, it might even work behind the door.