At what age do kittens begin to slow down? Or do they?

Sooooo...

Tiki has hit around 7-8 months and in the last few weeks she has dramatically slowed down.

Instead of sleeping for 3-4 hours in the afternoon, now she sleeps most of the day. She's still up and about, playing for a few hours in the evening, but she used to be up for the majority of the day playing and causing some sort of mischief.

What's the story? Is she just getting older?

I'm not really alarmed, but it was a pretty dramatic turnaround.

Kind of sadly and sweetly - she now sleeps in the bathroom. We used to put her in there at night as a kitten to avoid confrontations with the older cat (who was 16 lbs. at the time and beating her up) and she never seemed to mind. But I guess she got used to it and now she's entirely claimed it as her sleeping space (when she's not in the cat tower or on top of the armoire).

It sounds like your baby is growing up. I picked up a tiny kitten out of the road that is now about 4-5 months old, and is now napping much more during the day. He is still crazy at night, though. All of my cats have slowed down as they grew older and lost that wild, kittenish energy, and there was nothing they hadn't already knocked over, scratched, jumped on or gotten in to. Might as well take a nap.

JC finally slowed down at about two, but he's hyperactive, and I think that had more to do with our finding out what cat food ingredients didn't agree with him, and changing his diet. He still can't be described as "sedate", although he'll be five in March. He only sleeps about 8 - 10 hours a day, 12 on a really miserable day.

Kittens will slow down during growth spurts. It takes a lot of energy for their bodies to grow and they sleep alot during those periods.

But, every kitten is different. Muddy is 9 months old now, and has never really been active (too much of a snuggler lover boy to want to play). His sister Koko is not showing any signs of slowing down and she is total whack-o half the time. Dakota (8-1/2 months) is whacko like Koko and Sage (Dakota's brother) is already slowing down.

Of my adult cats, I can say that they generally slowed down between fourteen months and two years, but have had some that never slowed down.

Slow down?

That is a myth in my house.

Russell is two years of age. Esper will be one year of age soon. They are both highly active and although they are napping now, they don't fool me. They have power naps.

They broke my Galileo thermometer on Thursday. And if any of ever wondered what the substance is inside those are, well it's oily and smells like bug spray. I know I should be able to put a name to the chemical considering I study Chemistry but I can't. My house smelt of a drug lab. I'm surprised we didn't get searched.

They also decided to knock over my lucky bamboo plants again that day.

That night they decided to thunder up and down the stairs like they had just found a secret stash of potent catnip.

Did I mention that we are going to add a 6 week old kitten to the house in a couple of weeks?

But in the normal case in the life of a feline, they do slow down with age and mellow out. Just not in my house.

Rosie's still full of beans, and she's nearly two!.

She has what i call " Her Mad Half Hour!", where she suddenly gets a surge of energy, runs from the kitchen, into the living room, along the back of the couch (as if she's on the "Wall of death!!), then back into the kitchen!. This can happen several times until she's tired herself out, but it's funny watching her!.


Susan

she suddenly gets a surge of energy, runs from the kitchen, into the living room, along the back of the couch (as if she's on the "Wall of death!!), then back into the kitchen!.

Click to expand...

Tiki does the exact same thing with the couch - it's funny how cats can be so much alike...

We also have a large scratching post that I made, and she'll run up it, practically flip herself over completely, then run back down it in a flash. If the other cat is standing nearby she'll hurdle him, 2 feet off of the ground.

The whole thing happens so fast, I haven't been able to take a picture. When I pull the camera out, she sits down and looks at me like, "what? You thought you were going to get that on film? I don't think so."

they slow down? I wish someone would inform The Trips of that! LOL At 6 months they are still going....and going......and going.......and going!

Don't worry, they do slow down eventually. Simon is 3 and Max is 2 and they are both just as lazy as can be. Mine seem to sleep all day because I'm not home and then want a ton of attention after I get home from work.

Of course, they do have energy bursts! Last night it was at 3 a.m. They decided a catnip fueled game of chase was in order. This means through the house, on the bed, over me, off the bed, through the house, repeat!

Axl is almost 11 and although he has slowed down as he's gotten older he still has his moments. If you have any type of biro on you when you walk into the room he'll mug you for it and spend the next hour or so throwing it around the room.