Cat Running At Night...

[robert89]

Hi everyone!
I adopted my first cat 2 months ago from a cat rescue. She's 1 year and 3 months old and is an indoor cat.
Everything's been going great except at night... Around 3 or 4 in the morning, she will start running back and forth in the appartment. Her behaviour obviously wakes me up, but I'm more scared she might be waking up the neighbours downstairs. I haven't received any kind of complaint so far, though.
In order to prevent this behaviour, I make sure I get her tired before going to bed. I play with her by making her running and I feed her wet food. But still, it doesn't seem to be very effective...
Now, when she does that at night, I tend to wake up, go to the living room and get her calmed down by my presence, which works more or less. Does this indicate she has a need of attention? (She does follow me everywhere when I'm home...) I'd rather have her not running as a long term solution...
So I was wondering the following... Could her behaviour indeed be attention-related? And what else could I do to keep her from running at night?
Many thanks to you all, and have a very good day.

 

[Kieka]

Cats are most active around sunrise and sunset. There really isn't a way to prevent her getting active in the morning. As far as her body is concerned it's time to start the day and any play before bed, while great, was her sunset active time.

You can either ignore the behavior and she will eventually move it to other areas or wake up, do a quick play session and fed then go back to bed. You can also try just feeding with a timed release food dish and that may make her sleepy enough to go back to sleep.

 

[susanm9006]

I think that about 95% of cats go for a run at some poin during the night or early morning and I doubt that getting up with her do anything other than encourage her. If you have carpet I doubt the neighbors can hear her. If you have hardwood invest in some thick rugs with rubber backing to deaden the noise.

 

[robert89]

Thanks for the replies!

I've been playing with her since I got home (5pm) and making sure she doesn't do a long nap... I'll give her a big meal before going to bed. Hopefully I'll get some good night sleep :-) I don't mind waking up at 6am, but 4.30 is just too early, and it's been a few nights.

Do you think it's possible to move my cat's 'day time clock' for just a few hours? I mean I know it can't be done in a few days, but on the long term?

About the neigbour, we have hardwood floor and only have 1 (rather thin) rug. It's true that maybe I should invest in more and thicker rugs. Didn't think about that. But so far no complaints from our downstairs neighbour...

Thanks for the replies, the explanation and tips.

 

[susanm9006]

I am a little doubtful that you will be able to change her wake up clock but you sure can try. You might also try some quiet toys that you only put out at night like a large trackball toy or some food puzzle ones where they need to move a lever or such to get a treat. Or if you could leave bird or fish videos playing on your tv.

 

[robert89]

Yes, ordered some food toys that are supposed to keep her busy.

I put on some cat tv this afternoon (I didn't know Youtube had those!) and when she saw a bird on tv, she jumped where the tv is standing and went to check behind it. When she noticed there was nothing, she lost all interest in the birds but I'll leave it on, who knows.

 

[maggie101]

My cat Maggie is 5. She runs all over the place 3 in the morning. She chases my cat Peaches. Peaches gives a loud screech at night. No complaints from the person above me. I clicker trained Maggie to come when called. That stopped the chasing. She still runs at 3-4 am.

 

[duncanmac]

You might be able to shift her morning routine, but it will take time IF the pattern now is that she runs around and you get up to feed her. "Simply" stop doing that, set an alarm for 6 a.m. and then get up, take care of a couple of non-cat feeding activities then feed her.

If she's just running around playing with her toys, you might be out of luck.

 

[maggie101]

At least I know she is happy And still ENERGETIC at that age!

 

[CalliopeUno]

I thought the cat crazies were just part of being a cat. Most cats I've known, including those I've house-sat for, have a short bout of sudden insane careening around the house, usually late night/very early morning. My new adopted cat followed suit. He'll be peacefully purring beside me then suddenly halt,stare into space, leap up almost straight vertically into the air and then charge wildly round and round my apartment, sometimes bounding off walls or furniture as he goes. I have both carpet and throw rugs so the only time a neighbor could hear is when he hits a wall or bangs into the wall heater,which does carry sound quite loudly. Because I'm an insomniac, I'm usually awake when he does this and ignore it. It only lasts about 5 minutes or less and then whatever ghost or spider or fly he's chasing has been conquered. When I'm sleeping I assume he still does it but I don't wake up. Hopefully eventually you'll just adapt and tune it out, because in my experience, it's unlikely to change. Meanwhile, commiserations are offered. Try shutting him in another room or closing your bedroom door unless he yowls or bangs at the door to be in your presence.

 

[CalliopeUno]

Oops sorry, got my genders mixed when referring to your kitty

 

[robert89]

Thank you all for your replies and tips :-)

Two nights have passed since. For the first night, I played with her the whole time, made sure she was active during the evening... And then came the night, which was peaceful. She did 'talk' around 5am (which I don't mind) but no crazy running...

Last night was good too, although she seemed tired during the evening and didn't want to play much. Around 3am she ran but just 3 times - and I did not get up

I think her running back and forth was simply getting rid of too much energy. And I will make sure to play with her as much as I can during evening :-)

Thanks once again for all your replies and the time you've taken to read and answer. Have a good day!