late night kitten crazies

Clinton is 5.5 months old, so I'm pretty used to his kitten antics by now, but every once in while he still baffles me .

I go to bed every night about 10-11 pm. Whenever I go into the bedroom to turn down the covers, etc. Clinton follows in. As soon as he gets to the bedroom, his eyes dilate and he turns into a wild child. He'll hide under the bed like he's scared of something, race back and forth over the bed, and try and attack me (teeth and claws flying). It seems to be a bedroom specific problem because I give him long play sessions in the living room right before bedtime so he "should" be tired. He just started this about a week or two ago, so I'm not sure where it comes from.

Please help us restore some peace to bedtime
Many thanks!

Good luck! Every cat I've ever had becomes a nutball at bedtime! If you're already playing to wear kitty out before bedtime, not sure what else you could do! I just have to wait it out. Sophie usually calms down rather quickly and settles to sleep.

Hi Danalee,

Yes, I have a cat like that too...only probs is that he's not a kitten (young cat, about 2) and we have a 3.5 year old we've nurtured since she was a kitten. She's very good about going to bed when we do. He on the other hand is NOT!!! He likes to keep ALL THREE (boyfriend, me and the other one) up all night if he can .

My advice would be to get an interactive toy (either a toy mouse or Da Bird, which is basically feathers on a fishing pole that is the best cat toy in the WORLD), play with him at a set time each night (like 8:30 or 9 pm, about an hour and a half before you go to bed), give him a nice treat after each session (I make mine about 30 minutes, maybe an hour if he's real active), then he will simulate his after-hunting ritual, cleaning himself and laying down.

Believe me, he's still young, he will *get* that you guys are going to bed, maybe he should too. Cats are nocturnal by nature, it takes some work to get them quiet at night.

I've been active with my boy cat for about 1 week now, finally he's learned to just lay in bed with us, even if he's awake, cause we'll get mad at him Good luck

well, i tried an extra aerobic play time last night, an hour of cat dancer, fishing toy, ball track, you name it. i even kept him up until almost midnight. no luck, he was still a wild child in the bedroom. really freaks me out because he'll charge my head, bounce off the headboard and land back on my face (and claws in face HURTS!). i tried saying NO and then ignoring him. no luck. after about a half-hour i gave up and shut him out of the bedroom. he naps so well with me on the couch, i just wish he'd learn to settle down at night, because i want him to know that his place can be with me at night if he wants (which of course i want! )

uhg, kids!

Hi Danalee, my advice would be not to get discouraged...keep playing with him, since that not only gives him exercise (is he indoor? extra exercise is key for indoor kitties) but it will get him tired out around the same time each night.

Give it time because he *will* get on your schedule eventually. Last night, although I basically played an extra 30 mins with both kitties (during the week, I play with them in 2-30 minute sessions) yesterday and both were up, I would gather all night! Neither of them came into bed with me, when I woke up, Cassie was in our laundry basket (her de-facto bed when I put our laundered towels in there) and Napoleon was eager to eat (as usual).

I know it won't happen overnight, esp for Cassie's sake I would like Napoleon to at least sleep some of the time we are all in bed, Cassie hasn't had a good night's sleep in a few weeks (although yesterday, I see where she more than makes up for it, on my computer chair LOL).

Good luck, but def keep with the play time. Make it a point to do so every night...not too much though...try 15-30 minutes, see if it escalates to an hour.