Losing sleep.

Yep! Its another night crazies thread.

I am discovering the pitfalls of having a deaf cat with CH. She is absolutely fearless. While this makes her an excellent and affectionate pet, it also means that she keeps me (and the downstairs neighbors) up all night with her adventures! She has no fear of loud noises, obviously. For instance, last night she decided to pull all of the pots and pans out of their cabinet onto the floor, making quite a mess and a lottt of noise. On a regular basis, she knocks everything off of the counter. She loves to push over the toaster in an effort to reach the top of the refrigerator (so far, no success). And God forbid I leave a paper grocery bag on the counter... it gives me chills thinking about it.

Her foster mom used to confine her to the bathroom at night, and said she was just fine with it. I've considered doing this but I have two reservations:

1. My bathroom is very small with a tile floor.

2. I actually got Henri as a companion for Samuel who gets lonely when I'm not home or sleeping. I would hate to separate them at night, or to lock them BOTH in a small space, especially when Sam is not accustomed to it and usually plays quietly at night.

What should I do? She usually wakes me up 3 or 4 times during the night with scary loud noises from the kitchen, and I'm sure the downstairs neighbors have been disturbed as well.

What about, instead of the cold hard (& wet!) bathroom, she had a place of her own like a big dog crate (that she couldn't get her head thru tho') with a bed, catnip mouse, water and small box, and she could visit with Samuel, but not get into trouble. We had a blind rabbit, and he had a 3x4' 3 storey heavy cardboard house with inner ramps. He also had an old cage with his water bottle (and it was his bathroom) connected to the house by a 3 x 6' path covered in plastic, then outdoor carpet with a small 2" fence around it all. He would come out into the living rm in the daytime, but was safe in his place at night, though the cats would bug him on occasion, it was no big deal.

oooh that's an idea I hadn't thought about.
I actually happen to HAVE a large dog crate (big enough for a tall pitbull mix, 70 lbs.) Henri is little too, so it might be a good size.
How do you think I could introduce her to this without traumatizing her? Its definitely smaller than the bathroom, but I'm sure I could make it comfortable enough.

Sorry to bump this because my initial problem has been solved, but I'd really like to get started on this "crate training" thing.

Last night she knocked my laptop computer off of the counter, which is amazing because it weighs more than she does. Luckily it only broke the keyboard.

Should I jsut stick her in there for a couple hours at night to start and see how she responds? Or is this something I should work on during the day at first?

How about clearing the counters as much as you can come your bedtime? Sounds like your kitty could really hurt herself with her adventures. I would just make your home as safe and free of things as possible before you bed for the night.

Another thought: Do you keep your bedroom closed at night? You might try that, and adding some white noise to your sleeping area. Those are basically the things we've done with our babes. They play all night long, and make a TON of noise, and even though we sleep in the livingroom with them (long story), we have either the air conditioner or a fan on, and it pretty well blocks out the noise so we get the sleep we need.

If they've never had your bedroom door closed before, they'll get used to it. Don't bother opening the door and telling them no, because they will then scratch with that goal in mind...to get some form of attention.

Hope that helps! Let us know how it goes!