How can I get my kitten to settle down at night?

Question

I know it sounds like a stupid question, because kittens are supposed to be playful...however, my cat is driving me crazy! She's about 8 months old and keeps me up all night by attacking my feet. When she's not doing that, she's running full-speed around the apartment, or jumping and knocking everything off of every table. I've just about tried everything. I've tried using a spray bottle and telling her "no" when she does this, but the next night, she's back at it. I can't really shut the door to keep her out, since I have a one-bedroom loft-style apartment. I even tried tiring her out before bed by playing with her, but it never works, she just gets up in the middle of the night and acts up! Otherwise, she is a very lovable and non-aggressive cat. I realize that she is just playing, and that's normal...but I can't get ANY sleep! Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you!

Answer 1

I've been having this problem with both of my kittens.  What I have come up with was to have enough toys around the house to keep them busy while I am sleeping.  It works and you might have to deal with the noisy bells in the ball they are swatting all night, but at least your feet won't be scratched up when you wake up.  My cat loves paper bags (free toy) to play with especially when you put a ball inside it, try that.  Kitty will eventually adjust to your schedule and know when its sleep time.  My kittens are 4 months and the other is 7 weeks.  Older brother teaches little sister when it is time to sleep- and sure works.   But my suggesstion to you is to have extra toys laying around the house to keep kitty from torturing you at night.  Good Luck!

Answer 2

I had 2 cats like that... but instead of running full speed around the house, they meow at the top of their lungs starting around 2am. they will come up on my bed and paw at my face and meow meow meow. If I lock them out of the room, they paw and scratch at the door until it drives me nuts!

I can't tell you how annoying that is!

I know this wont be a solution for you but I have found that if I let my cats outside at night, or even put them in the garage... I can come down on my own terms, and let them in when I wake up. They love going outside, and I love my sleep.

It sounds like you live in an apartment and aren't able to do this. Maybe you need to get another cat to keep your cat company?

Answer 3

I used to have the same problem with my kitties, this helped: before you go to bed, you have to you play with her intensively, then give her a good meal and then she will fall asleep more easily, if you have some money to spare, I'd recommend buying Feliway, it's a plug-in which emits pheromones which makes the cat feel happy and relaxed, it makes my kitties calmer.

Answer 4

LOL!  That sounds just like my last kitten!  He would even wait until I turned off the lights and when I walked across the room (or got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night) he would tackle me!  Very funny for him, but made me grumpy from lack of sleep and just about getting a concusion from being tackled in the dark.  Here is what I did:  first, I had him fixed.  That did a little, but not much.  Then I tried keeping him in another room.  That succeeded in having him paw at my bedroom door all night (he wasn't meower) until I gave up and let him in.  I tried locking him in the bathroom- didn't work.  I tried warm milk, playing before bedtime (which he loved but it didn't work), different food,... you name it.  Eventually when he was about 2 or 3 year old, he grew out of it- If they had ADHD for cats, it sounds like yours has it.  Just love her for what she is.  Good luck!