Midnight Shenanigans

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About 7 weeks ago, I adopted a then 10-month old medium-haired orange tabby Chester, as a playmate for my now 2 year old cat, Moe. The introduction went great and for the most part, these two kitties are doing well together. Even though Chester is younger than Moe, he's a bigger kitty and doesn't quite "get" when Moe has had enough of their wrestling around, chasing and playing, resulting in Moe becoming very vocal - growling and sharp meowing. It hasn't ever really crossed over to those nasty cat fight sounds, but it's disturbing enough that I'll separate them for a brief time-out. When they re-join each other, there's no animosity or negativity and they pretty much either pick up where they left off or finally settle down for sleep, so I know that they're basically fine. Last night, though, it seemed that I was having to "step in" every hour all night long. If I separate them for too long, Chester meows constantly and based on his previous history, he doesn't like to be left alone - I think he was abandoned or abused prior to being in various foster homes before I adopted him. Consequently, 5 minutes is usually all he needs to settle down. Any pearls of wisdom?

Many thanks,

Stefaroo

Hi Stefaroo,
Congrats on your adoption, that's just wonderful.
How much play and interaction to do they get with you together and individually during the day?

While I'm at work, they have themselves, many toys and a DVD cat-sitter video to watch, which Moe especially loves. One of the reasons why I wanted to adopt another kitty was to keep Moe company since he was by myself during the day and was getting particularly needy when I would either leave for work or come home. In the evenings, I spend quite a bit of time cuddling with both of them and playing fetch, "fishing rod" toys. Lucky kitties that they are, they also have a floor to ceiling kitty treehouse which they enjoy. They're very active and use the carpeting as a launch pad!

Well, it sounds as if their interaction and play with you is good, that was my intial thought. I do still think that the stillness during the day has a lot to do with it, for example, I adopted my little Saba who is now about 10 months and Sasha is 12. Sasha has always had other kittens and cats around, but for the past 14 months he's been the Only One.....but he's now a senior and his habits are different. He's introverted and quiet, so another kitty in the past has been good for him. Saba is alone all day for up to 12 hrs sometimes when we both pull long hours and even though I devote so much time to them both when I come home at night, she just loves to play. Her biological rythym is more nocturnal than ever right now; she smells Spring, she has so much energy, that she's just a little wildebeast starting at 11 pm. It's like having a toddler rule the house! We have stairs so I try to play laser with her and run her up the stairs at least 9-10 times -- kitty cardio-- and if we can do that before 10 pm then it helps. She walked through the house chriping and dragging stuff around. Sasha does not want to be pounced on at those hours, he's just crashed out on his favorite night blanket (as opposed to his daytime blanket ) and she just goes nuts because he won't play with her.

I'm sure others will pick up your thread and offer insights here, and I haven't really helped you out, but I wanted to let you know we go through a very similar situation!

Before Chester, Moe went through his "terrible twos" at about 6 months of age until he was about a year, doing the nocturnal formula one circuit - jumping, flying, climbing. Thankfully, he settled down and would basically sleep the entire night with me. Now that there's this new nocturnal beast, the all-night sleepovers have come to a halt, so maybe Chester is experiencing his own "terrible twos" phase. I thank you for your shared experience and am glad that I'm not the only one! I wonder how much of my responding to their shenanigans fuels them, because I'm certain that they're up to these same kind of tricks during the day when I'm at work and I come home to two kitties who are still alive and well and haven't beaten each other up completely. I remember that one of the big ways to get Moe to stop his midnight ramblings was to stop responding. As soon as I did that, it became clear that he was up to these tricks as an attention-seeking device. When I step in now with these two and say "that's enough, stop it!", they look at me with these looks on their faces "Gee mom, what's the problem? we were just playin'!"

LOL! So true! Eric is so sure they're just playing that he sleeps through all the ruckus and thinks I'm "overly intune with the feline world".

Yeah, and then, when I decide to separate MYSELF from THEM by shutting my bedroom door and leaving them to their own devices, they sit outside of my bedroom, sticking their paws under the door, chirping and meowing "LET US IN, MOM!!!!!!!" I emerge from the one hour of uninterrupted sleep I managed to get this morning at 7:30 after locking myself in my bedroom and there there - little angels all "yeah - she's awake!!!" Crazy cats...

It really doesn't sound like you need to step in so much. Unless you have major blood shed and nasty aggression displays the cats will be able to sort this out themselves. Sounds like you just need to take a break from them!

Oh, no!!! I thought I was the only one! My cat seems like she is on caffeine 24/7! Especially at night, she starts opening doors and running through the apartment. A few days a week, I leave her in the aparment by herself. My roommate is here and plays with her, but I ask her not to play with Miya too much because I am concerned she needs to get her sleep. (I know cats are nocturnal animals and whether I like it or not, she's going to be hyper).

Try having a kitten wake you up 1-2 times a night because the top of our head is the best place for a short catnap!!

Only 1 or 2 times per night? Geeze, how about one cat tackling another cat on your head repeatedly because they both want to sleep where? You guessed it - ON MY HEAD!!!