No sleep kitty

Hello! I am new to this messsage board and i am new to owning a kitty cat. My husband and I got Jack about 1 month and a 1/2 ago. We love her dearly but lately we are very frustrated with her. Jack likes to play in the middle of the night. She likes to run around the room and run behind the tv and play with the cords. This drives us crazy. My husband told me last night that if we don't fix this we might need to get Jack a new home. That is the last thing i want to do so this is why i came here. Does anyone have any ideas on how i can get her to stop playing during the night and get her to sleep?

Thanks

Monica, Aaron & Jack the kitty

Serenity is 19 weeks and still wakes me up all hours to play. The most effective advice I can offer is to have a big interactive play time just before bed, and really tire her out! Then, give her a nice size serving of her favorite wet food. This will help keep her tummy fully during the night so she doesn't awaken hungry! Although it will be up to your baby how well and how often these methods work, it has really helped with Serenity!

Thank you so much i think i will try this tonight i really don't want to give her up. Do you think she would sleep more if i gave her cat milk?

Cat milk is a treat to be served in addition to, not in place of her nutritious food. A nice wet food meal would serve to better keep her full throughout the night.

thanks again i will try that tonight!

if that doesn't work, you may want to try shutting her in a separate room with her litter box and water during the night so she doesn't bother you even if she does play.

Originally Posted by leangepetite

if that doesn't work, you may want to try shutting her in a separate room with her litter box and water during the night so she doesn't bother you even if she does play.

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We have 2 cats though...so they have each other to keep them company....but they both spend the night in the laundry-bathroom. They have their own beds....litter and food/water in there...plus some "quiet toys".
They cried the first night (quite a bit) ,some the next night and almost nothing the third night.Now they think nothing of it. (If we go into the bathroom to use the toilet in the middle of the night, they don`t even bother to get up out of their bunks....in fact they try not to even open their eyes. (They really are CUTE sleeping in their bunk beds!)
Your kitty will be OK in another room if she has everything she needs. You might give her a radio and a night light too....and turn a fan on in your own room for cover noise so that you don`t feel too sorry for her and let her out. If you do then she will remember it and cry all the more tomorrow night!
It is NOT mean to lock her away from you at night.
Linda

Cats are nocturnal animals so night time is their natural play time. It is absolutely possible to retrain them, though, so that their hours become your hours.

You need to have an intensive, interactive play-time before bed (as Stephanie said above) and feed her so that she has a nice full little tummy - not too much but enough to satisfy her.

There are some wonderful, cheap cat toys on the market that will absolutely wear her out, along with mentally stimulating her enough so that she does not get bored. Some are the Cat Dancer, Thing-In-A-Bag, Da Bird, and many others. A laser-light pen will keep her occupied for ages and ages and ages (just don't shine it on her or near her face - just on the floor and walls).

You will need to make a few sacrifices the first few nights - if she starts to play in the middle of the night, unfortunately you will have to get up and put her somewhere else with a couple of toys. Time-out is very effective if you want to use it as discipline.

With the cords behind the tv, that is dangerous for her and she needs to stop doing it. There is a product you can get called StopShock - it's cheap and it's a great way of protecting your kitty and your cords from one another.

Here's the link, scroll down to StopShock

http://www.meowhoo.com/Basic_Pet_Su...tens/index.html

Most of all, you need to remember that this is normal kitten behaviour. She is not trying to annoy you, and can be trained out of it with time and patience. I know you both love her and do not want to give her up, but it does take some time. If this is all she is doing to annoy you, you are very lucky people!! Kittens are hard work, they are boisterous, playful and mischevious. But they are the most wonderful companions and friends and playmates in the world and if you give her time and patience and some proper instruction she will soon become the centre of your world!

Good luck, and welcome to TCS, by the way.