Hi everyone,
I grew up with cats throughout childhood, but this is my first kitten to raise all on my own, and even though I've only had her for about two weeks now, I really do hope she's with me for many years to come.
I've already a great deal of wonderful advice from this site and this forum, but one problem I'm still working on is the night crazies / my cat uses my bed or pillow as a trampoline at night / I'm close to losing it from lack of sleep due to my new kitten, etc. dilemma. I'm kind of busy with school, so I can't spend hours every day playing with her, but I do make sure to play some during the day, and for at least 20 minutes before I'm ready for bed. I took advice found on this site and do the play then feed routine just before bed, but after a week of this, she just seems even more hyped up after she's eaten, and especially when the final light goes out. It's like there's a switch in her mind when it gets completely dark, that this is the best time to hunt / play!
I've had some success with just grabbing her and holding her on my chest, stroking her, for about 10 minutes, even though she hates it and tries to bite me when I'm doing it. It seems to calm her down somewhat, and when I finally put her on the bed beside me or on the shelf / bed I've made for her next to my bed, she seems somewhat more likely to be calm, clean herself or sleep. But I don't especially like this "solution" as it doesn't always work and I'm worried it may be too stressful for her.
She has lots of toys to play with during the day, a cat tree, etc, but my apartment is kind of small (about 250 square feet) so I think a second kitten is probably not such a hot idea.
Any advice?
I grew up with cats throughout childhood, but this is my first kitten to raise all on my own, and even though I've only had her for about two weeks now, I really do hope she's with me for many years to come.
I've already a great deal of wonderful advice from this site and this forum, but one problem I'm still working on is the night crazies / my cat uses my bed or pillow as a trampoline at night / I'm close to losing it from lack of sleep due to my new kitten, etc. dilemma. I'm kind of busy with school, so I can't spend hours every day playing with her, but I do make sure to play some during the day, and for at least 20 minutes before I'm ready for bed. I took advice found on this site and do the play then feed routine just before bed, but after a week of this, she just seems even more hyped up after she's eaten, and especially when the final light goes out. It's like there's a switch in her mind when it gets completely dark, that this is the best time to hunt / play!
I've had some success with just grabbing her and holding her on my chest, stroking her, for about 10 minutes, even though she hates it and tries to bite me when I'm doing it. It seems to calm her down somewhat, and when I finally put her on the bed beside me or on the shelf / bed I've made for her next to my bed, she seems somewhat more likely to be calm, clean herself or sleep. But I don't especially like this "solution" as it doesn't always work and I'm worried it may be too stressful for her.
She has lots of toys to play with during the day, a cat tree, etc, but my apartment is kind of small (about 250 square feet) so I think a second kitten is probably not such a hot idea.
Any advice?