Help, this cat is tearing us apart!

I have also seen litterboxes that are inside of a wooden table looking thing. So that way you could have it in your living room but no one would know unless she just pooed our something. I would start with a covered litterbox fist and then look into something like that so she would get used to the litterbox being in an enclosed space like that.

Also, PetSmart has a litterbox that is completely enclosed so no litter gets tossed out when the cat digs. There is an enclosed ramp going into it along the side of the box with the entrance in the back. You might want to consider that too.

Regarding what I call the "litter winter wonderland snowfall" problem -- my guys kick it all over. I also live in a small apt, so have to be careful about keeping things here from not getting ruined by the cats.

One thing I do that I find is a real help is I keep the litterbox on a plastic boot try (you know, those things that you would put near the door to drop your boots on when you come inside). I have a Rubbermaid one, that has higher edges, so it is really like a tray.

That way any litter gets kicked onto that, it doesn't travel much because of the 1/2" or so edges, and I can just shake it into the trash or outside, and since it's plastic, it's easy to wash along with the litterbox.

One of my best investments.

Then again, check this out. I've been considering it for Rocky and Friends. LOL In fact, I think I'm going to post about this under behavior.

http://www.karawynn.net/mishacat/toilet.html

(If you don't read the whole article, at least scroll down to the bottom of it. The picture at the end is so cute).

She's eight weeks old

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Oooh baby- it's going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better!!

We adopted two brothers at eight weeks and must have said to each other at least 1000 times "I can't imagine having only one- he'd drive us nuts!" Their energy is as limitless as their need for play, and trying to keep a singleton kitten occupied takes more time than most working folks can devote.

Get another kitten.

Originally Posted by sirquacksalous

Its *really* annoying when at 4am a kitten decides that its time to jump up and down all over the place, calws or not. What would some other possible training methods be that could result in the cesation of the unwanted behavior if the water spray is out?

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trying to extinguish an instinctual behavior is not going to be possible. What you want to do is replace that behavior with somet hingthat is incompatible with playing and jumping on YOU>>>> hence the kitten needs something more interesting to jump and play on at 4 am....a kitten condo, toys, something thats interactive and very compelling. I have taken graduate classes in behavior change and know the basic tenets of reinforcement and punishment. Punishment is close to totally ineffective with a cat. what this kitty needs is a change in YOUR behavior ( because thats all you really can control).

hi. i had a similar problem w/ my cat. a couple of things helped....

since i was away all day, my vet told me to call my answering machine and blast a loud whistle to wake him up. because they sleep all day, they're usually rarin' to go at night. it did actually help. i also tried to play w/ him for at least 20 minutes a day. longer htat it may seem. as your kitten gets older, i bet that will help too...

good luck!

Hello, I'm very new to this forum and I'm here to learn! But I think I may be able to ofer some advice! If you want the kitten to sleep through the night - this is what worked for me and my extremly highly strung and anxious Tonkinese!

Every night when I wanted to go to bed I would say to him 'bed time - time for bed' and take him through to the laundry (which is a small room that can be closed off from the rest of the house) I would place him in his bed with a wheatie bag (warm) and a fluffy blanket and give him and pat and re-enforce 'bed time - time for bed'. His bed is enclosed - so its kind of like a little tent. Then once he lies down I give him a treat and say 'good boy'. In the laundry is a litter tray and food and water and some toys tied to the door handle etc. for a while a night light helped him to not meow during the night.

Any yowling I had to stop (because of flatmates) so I would repeat the whole process 3 times. If Cricket still howled I found that patting him lightly on the bottom with an old fish tank net untill he was in his house made him feel significantly ashamed enough to be quiet untill morning. But maybe you could think of something that smells irritating to your cat - or someting it dosn't particulary like the sensation of... you dont need to beat the cat - just gentle patting/tapping.

Perhaps if you dont have a room like a laundry.. you could place you kitten in the bottom of the hot water cupboard with the door slightly ajar - but not enough to escape? perhaps that sounds cruel... But I imagine it would be a secure place for a kitten, warm, quiet and fairly enclosed. Our hot water cupboard is quite large and I cant imagine any problems? As for a small litter tray - at the show I used a chinese takeaway dish to great effect!

It may help give you and your partner the space you need!

Hi, I have just gone through the same thing. I got my male cat when he was 6 weeks old and he was a terror! After I litter trained him, he had the run of the apartment with my other cat. Not only would he attack my feet during the night, he would lick and wipe his face all over mine. My only advice is that you have to wait it out. All of this stopped probably when he was 6 months old. I had to spray my face and ears with bitter apple before going to bed and keep my feet under a pillow while I was sleeping. I barely got any sleep! You have to think of her as a baby (which she is) and wait out the not sleeping through the night routine. Both of my cats don't sleep through the night now but they do leave me alone. They now leave me relatively alone until 6 am. I wish it was later, but I can deal with it! Good luck and don't worry, things will get better.

Hi, what's a hot water cupboard? We don't have anything like that over here... how does it work?

lol - Well its a cupboard in your house with the hot water cylinder in it. Its warm (and fairly large) think a large closet. Usually is has shelves for sheets and towels to keep them warm and dry - and in the bottom it has a large space (perhaps to store a vacume cleaner?) I thought of it because many cats choose to have their kittens in one because it is warm, dark and secure. I didn't realise it was spesific to this country! oops!

Every night when I wanted to go to bed I would say to him 'bed time - time for bed'

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I laugh at this only because I am imagining the look on the faces of my kitties if I were to try telling them to lie down and go to sleep.
Yeah, right Ma.

All we try to do is keep them awake in the 6PM to 10 PM slot.

We've always allowed our cats and kittens to come to the bedroom with us. It usually meant a big pile of cats on the bed but it kept the peace. They were happy with the arrangement and we had a peaceful night's sleep. Usualy woke up tho with a bed full of cats!!!

Wow... Looks like you have received lots of good advice already!

Here's my two bits...

When we got our kitten, we were living together in bachelor suite (just one big room, and a bathroom), that was really too small for two people, much less two people and a crazy new kitten!

We had tons of wires (my boyfriend is big into electronics), a gas stove, glass tables, a new(ish) couch, a toilet for swimming in, and much,much more! Our apartment was not cat-proofed in the least, but we learned what she got into and quickly removed it. The wires were the most tempting, but we'd let her explore under our watchful eye. A soft but stern "Don't even think about it" would deter any attempts at chewing.

And yes, she'd get the 2am crazies and blitz around the apartment, bouncing off the curtain that separated our bed from the rest of our house. I was sure I'd have to kill her but she eventually calmed down and stopped.

It really is key to play with them when you get the chance, or set up some things that they can amuse themselves with. Tak loves her little stuffed mousies, and carries them around everywhere.

She's three now and has just started calming down enough at night to sleep on the bed with us. So you have a long time coming before that happens!

And, no, don't get another kitten. It sounds like you are just getting used to the one you have and you certainly don't need two!

Hey there! We're in a similar situation, but our cat is a little older.

We finally got him on a sleep cycle that works for us. He sleeps while we're at school, and then he wakes up when we get home. We feed him, and then spend the evening taking turns playing with him. HARD playing. He will chase a string back and forth, so we make him dash from one end of the apartment to the other about 10 times. Every hour, we play again. Either racing through the apartment, or we play with the bird and make him 4 feet leap into the air to catch it. We also "wrestle" with him, but a lot of cats may not like that. The key is that everything is high enery; none of this "stalk and pounce" stuff.

If we do this, he does sleep all the way through the night. Last night we didn't play with him, so he woke up at 5 am, so we know it works. However, our cat is one year, so he's strong enough to do this kind of play, and he's not as active anyway. If you try this, maybe she will let you sleep until 6 am.

Also, when she does something bad that isn't related to her wanting to be with you, try hissing. That is, hiss when she bites cords, do NOT hiss when she wants your attention. Cats seem to understand hissing better, and she won't think of it as you not wanting her. It's you not wanting her to bite the computer cords.

He'll probably grow out of it. Bijou had my legs and hands looking a mess when he was a baby, but he has the most amazingly wonderful disposition and temperament now that it's hard to believe it's the same cat. He also lets me sleep in (except this morning he found half a can of cat food and carried it in his teeth into our bedroom from the kitchen counter and was trying to get the lid off. I guess he figured I'd hear him and wake up to help him out which of course I did. )

I totally agree with what some of the other posters have said... get another kitten! It probably sounds totall crazy, but I bet it really would make your life easier. We have two kittens (10 weeks old) right now and I'm sooo glad we have two. We shut them out of our room at night and they entertain each other and don't bother us at all. I'm pretty sure we would be in your shoes right now if we only had one. They play together pretty hard sometimes which wears them out and helps them sleep longer.

There are tons of options as far as litter boxes go... there are small ones, cute covered ones, etc. I wouldn't think you'd have a problem finding one that would go okay in the living room or one small enough for the bathroom.

Good luck and enjoy your new kitty!

That sounds like the typical things a kitten at that age will do! Get the baby some hanging toys that dangle down from a door knob. Also, you may want to get something that has a ticking noise, like a clock or and old watch, it will sound like her mommy's heart beat and she may sleep a little longer. Also, feed her right before you go to bed.

if you don't have a lot of space for the litter box, maybe something like this would help? (corner litter box)
http://www.esmartcat.com/shopping/litterbox.php

I also have to keep my 8 week old kitten in one room. I am home for the summer and living with my parents. Their house is really big and if I let her roam around I would have 3 problems: 1. I would never be able to find her. 2. she'd get stuck somewhere or hurt. 3. She'd never be able to find her litter box or food. Now when she gets bigger of course she will be able to roam about as she pleases. Also Aug. 1st I will be moving to a small apartment which will be safer for her. Anyway my cat doesn't seem to have as the behavior problems that your baby does but I just wanted to tell you that when I am home I play with her a lot. Infact I think she gets tired of me,lol I also take her everywhere I go (unless she cant go). But it sounds to me like you are never home because of your job and when you are home you only have time to sleep. How much time does your girlfriend spend at home? Are you able to play with your cat at all? Maybe you guys don't need a cat, you sound really busy. (or maybe you should get another cat. for her to interact with.) I'd hate to have to tell you to get rid of her. what kind of cat is she?