Playing at night

Claws is at it again.

My problem is not that he's playing at night. He's nocturnal, it's a cat thing, accepted. It's that instead of playing on the staircase like he used to, he's now playing right next to my bed. He flips his toy mouse up off the floor, and it lands next to my pillow or on my bedside table. And then he jumps up to get it. So now I can't keep anything on the table...he even knocked my alarm clock off last night. My downstairs neighbor probably hates me with a passion. He actually woke me up Sunday by beaning me between the eyes with a toy mouse. I'm also worried about my face because when he jumps up, his claws land very close to it and he's in Tiger Mode.

So my question is this: what can I do besides tiring him out? He doesn't really get tired. In between his nighttime play sessions he snoozes next to my pillow and is adorable, but when every two hours I'm woken by thumping and crashing, it's not working. Is there something I can do to make the staircase appealing again? Anything I can do to make the area by my bed unappealing? I think he's playing in that location because I'm there, but quite frankly I want to strangle him at 2 a.m. And I'm also really worried that we're going to get a noise complaint. Plus my poor downstairs neighbor!

Edited to add: I have a studio apartment so I can't just lock him out. That would solve all my problems!

Notes:

• I tried rolled-up tape but he actually liked stepping on it and then wanted to chew it.

• I took away his mouse, but apparently he has a hidden stash of them because he went and found another one that was missing. He probably has 5 that I can't locate right now.

• We're harness training but had an incident where he slipped out of it outside so I'm taking a couple of weeks off for my mental health.

• I'm not spraying thus far because I don't want him to think playing is a bad thing. I want him to go somewhere else.



P.S. All that mess is stuff he's knocked over or off of tables.

Bonus photo. There are no toothbrushes in the holder because he chews on them.

While it's true that cats are nocturnal, it's actually possible to get them to sleep at night.  The trick is to keep them awake and active during the day and ignore them when you are in bed and they are trying all their tricks on you.   Does your cat spend most of the day sleeping?  If so:

Try getting him a cat tree with a window view. Some people even put bird feeders outside the window for terrific entertainment.  

Get him a lot of interactive cat toys and rotate them frequently so that your kitty remains interested in them.

Play cat movies for him when you're not at home.

You might even consider a second cat for a playmate.

Set up a pre-bed routine for him.  Play for about 15 -20 minutes with him.  Try something like Da Bird or a toy that really gets him going.  At the end, be sure to give him a treat so he can catch his prey.

After this, the trick is to ignore him.  Don't talk to him, don't show any awareness of him at all while he is carrying on during the night. It will take a few nights but he will learn not to wake you up.  The fact that he's taken to playing right beside you and tossing his mouse in your face is a clear sign that he wants you to interact with him - you have to make sure that doesn't happen.  it will drive you nuts for a few nights, but will be worth it.  If during this time your neighbor complains, explain that you're resolving the problem.

Just an aside - I had a cat who wouldn't let me keep anything on the nightstand either.   He passed away several years ago and I still often place things on the floor automatically!

Below are some articles that might help:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/beating-boredom-what-indoor-cat-owners-need-to-know

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/playing-with-your-cat-10-things-you-need-to-know

Honestly there is no substitute for a cat companion. When there are 2 cats, they will play with each other and not bother you while you sleep. With one cat it is much harder. If they get bored with toys they will want to play with you so keeping them interested in the toys and having the toys in a good place so they don't interfere with your sleep is important.

Since you don't have a lot of space and you can't keep your cat out of the bedroom while you sleep you might want to consider a cat tree. If you can buy one that goes all the way to the ceiling. When I bought mine it solved most of the issues I was having and I wished I had gotten one sooner. I didn't realize what a huge difference having an 8 ft cat tree would make. I tried shorter ones and really never thought that 3ft taller would be that much more appealing to them.

I know this is probably not ideal but putting things away instead of leaving them out while you are sleeping can help keep your cat from getting into things and making a mess. I learned that the best way to not get woken up in the middle of the night was to not have anything sitting on top of tables, dressers, etc for the cat to knock off.

i have nothing to add to these great suggestions by the experts, but just couldn't help posting: I can completely relate to the night activity problem, but... he looks and sounds like quite a character, an adorable character at that - that pic in the sink is priceless! Such a face is just asking to be smooched over and over. I hope all these suggestions will help you both!

Thank you all so much for your responses to my post. For some reason nothing popped up in my inbox and I just thought no one had responded.

This was not ideal, but I ended up taking away his toy mice at night if he'd play by the bedside table. It worked after a few nights, actually! One night I had to take away all four...then a couple of nights later after the first one he went and played somewhere else since he realized he was just going to lose them. He has other toys available so I don't feel bad about taking away his most irritating ones. He's starting it again though so we definitely need to spend more quality time together. He actually has a plank just for him across my stairwell for his viewing window. As soon as summer is over, he gets the front window (much better view) back from the window unit and I'm planning to see some improvement in his craziness.

He is such a troublemaker. I can't help but love him though.