# Kitten help desperately needed!!



## lauren84 (Oct 12, 2013)

Hello, 

My kitten is almost 6 months old. I bought him home at 11 weeks and decided that I wanted to keep him downstairs at night. 

My house is quite small but there's a door from the living room and kitchen that shuts off the stairs, so I thought this would work quite well - he'd have the run of the bottom floor and upstairs would be out of bounds at night. 

But after the first few days (when he was too scared to come out from behind the sofa) he started scratching at the door and crying to come up. I ignored it for a few nights but he is incredibly determined and would just not stop. He was wrecking the carpet and I was not sleeping so I tried letting him up. Of course, he just wanted to play, so he had to go back downstairs. 

He's now almost 6 months old and it's not gotten any better, and frankly I'm at my wits end. He has his claws trimmed regularly and I had him neutered at 5 months because the vet thought he might be crying to go outside and he was getting aggressive. It basically hasn't made any change at all to his night behaviour, he doesn't cry at the front door to go out much these days but he is still tearing up the carpet and crying to get upstairs. 

I've scoured loads of forums for advice, I've tried sticky tape on the stairs and tin foil - he doesn't care, he just shreds it. I've doused the stair and the door with lemon, it doesn't bother him. I've tried squirting him with a water gun - it stops him until he hears me go back upstairs then just starts up again. I've tried the expensive route - feliway - but it didn't seem to do anything. 

I literally don't know what else to do and I can't go on being woken up so early. He usually waits till about 6.30am but if me or my boyfriend gets up in the night to use the bathroom, that's it. He kept us awake from 4.30 to 6.30 the other morning, scratching and crying. He just doesn't give up and eventually one of us caves and lets him up cause its driving us crazy. 

Currently he's an indoor cat, I live really close to a main road and I'm scared he'll get hit. He's also a silver tabby and quite unusual looking so I do worry he might get stolen if I let him out, but it's the traffic that's the main concern. In the day he's only alone a max of four hours - I feed him and fuss over him before work, then my boyfriend pops over at lunch to do the same, then I rarely go out in the eve so he's got some company till bed time, as I feel guilty about him being alone in the day. 

He eats the best food (royal canin) and he has loads of toys. He can be so affectionate when he's in the mood but he does have a habit of suddenly turning round and nipping. He's a pretty naughty kitten and I don't know why cause even from him being really small I've told him no, but recently I've had to turn the water gun,but he doesn't seem to get it.

My vet has run out of ideas, other than letting him out. i dont have a cat flap so he would have to stay in at night anyway so id still have this problem. The woman at pets at home suggested getting him a play mate or putting him in a cage at night, but my house isn't big enough for either of those things really and I'd feel so guilty putting him in a cage at night. 

I really hope someone has some advice because I'm at my wits end and there's a huge chunk of carpet missing and I need some sleep :-( 

Thank you!!


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## jill3 (Feb 18, 2009)

Welcome to the forum Lauren.
I have a six month old kitten too so I know they can be a bit of a handful.
Have you got a garden?
If you have then you can cat proof it quite easily. There is a sticky at the top of the cat chat page with pictures and information on what some of the forum members have done in their gardens to keep their cats safe.
If you live near a busy road then I would not let him out. 
The chances of him getting killed on the road is very high. I had one killed in a cul de sac
Six months is far too young anyway for the outside world.

The carpet problem is common. I have had the same and now have wooden floors put down.
If you go onto Pet Supplies, Pet Food, Dog Food, Cat Food and Pet Accessories at Zooplus there are a lot of toys and cat trees/scratching posts that are good. Maybe that might help.

Also playing with him before you go to bed so as to wear him out a bit might also help.
Cats do wake up early. 
Mine tend to sleep more now the nights and mornings are darker.
I hope this helps and you will get a few more replies when the other forum members wake up


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## sashski (Aug 14, 2011)

I remember those crying, scratching times!

Does he have plenty of scratching poles/pads? 
My 2 grew out of it, so hopefully yours will too!
X


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## lauren84 (Oct 12, 2013)

Morning Jill! 

Thanks for your reply. 

He has a scratching post already and he's so good with it. He never scratches anything other than the carpet at the bottom of the stairs, and I think it's because he's trying to get up to me. 

He seems to really hate closed doors, I think that's part of the problem. Even when I use the bathroom he sits at the door crying, even if its only shut for a minute. 

I sort of have a garden but the houses on the street are terraced so none of the gardens have walls that separate them, theyre all open. Ill have a look at that thread though, maybe there'll be something on there. 

Is your cat naughty too? I just don't know how to train him. Tried shouting at him, ignoring him, squirting him with water. Nothing works


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## lauren84 (Oct 12, 2013)

Hey Tempy, 

My vet suggested the water gun, I hate doing it but it was a last resort :-( 

When I said he was naughty I meant the turning round and biting out of nowhere. 

I know him scratching the door is just an attempt to get at me, but I've tried keeping it open and he just scratches at the bedroom door instead. If I leave that open, he just runs round the bed and wants to play.


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## lauren84 (Oct 12, 2013)

Oh and I've tried beds, and little nests of blankets and cushions and he's not interested in any of them. He just goes wherever he feels like it. He slept on a pile of books the other day, he never seems to go for a comfortable option!


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## rox666 (May 22, 2012)

lauren84 said:


> I know him scratching the door is just an attempt to get at me, but I've tried keeping it open and he just scratches at the bedroom door instead. If I leave that open, he just runs round the bed and wants to play.


Is'nt that just normal kitten behaviour? They just want to play and as he doesn't have another kitten/cat to play with then it's down to you!

If it were me I would just get used to getting up early (4.30/5.30 is pretty normal for me during the working week anyway) and spend some time playing with him. He'll grow out of it. That or get another kitten or young cat for him to play with. If he is going to be kept as an indoor cat then having a companion might make more sense anyway - another cat to play with and lots of cat toys/trees would help keep the boredom away.


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## AtticusRavel (Sep 8, 2013)

Hi!

_He just doesn't give up and eventually one of us caves and lets him up cause its driving us crazy. _
I don't think he's naughty! I think he is clever  If he's seen it's working then why will he stop?

For the scratching, I think some kittens prefer to scratch horizontally rather than vertically, have you tried having one of those sisal mats put on top of the place where he usually scratches the carpet? I have this one, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cat-Scratching-Mat-With-Toy/dp/B000OLYF6K
and is a well loved accessory of the house. I also have scratching posts for my almost 5 month old kitten, but he is just now starting to feel more at ease scratching vertically! Also, the more he scratches in one place, the more he will want to scratch there. Is a way of marking territory for cats as well as something pleasurable and necessary for them to do.

He cries because he's lonely or bored or both, could also be he is hungry.

I don't think there is a magic solution, we get woken up everyday at 7ish, 730 tops, he sleeps in the kitchen. We are considering giving him full range of the house at night to see weather he is more content and we could push our weekend lie in to 8.. However, he can be noisy when playing, so we have assumed that 7 it will be ...

I think you could try having more toys at his end, having some food over night in case he is hungry and try to play with him tiring him out at night so that he needs his sleep more.

But he is a kitten after all... What won't get you far is squirting water at times, and picking him up at others. This is a mixed message that is confusing to him, and will only reassure the bad. There are some interactive toys that are not that expensive,l I saw a mat that has lights lit up when clicking them, which could be fun as a night game. I have also seen other toys like feathers to follow that move automatically and can be fasten to a door, so maybe that would keep him more entertained... I might just be he wants your company, in which case if you give in, he gets what he wants through negative behaviour so that won't stop. Either completely ignore so he grows out of it, as it brings him nothing to behave that way. Or change your plans and let him to the bedroom.

I'm open for any suggestions too, as said before I miss getting up at 8.. 9 seems like Utopia..


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## carly87 (Feb 11, 2011)

I've found that giving them free run settles them down so quickly. Mine have free run as soon as they're fully litter trained, and by the time they leave me at 13/14 weeks, Every one of them is happy to settle on the bed and sleep the night through. They know that if they want to play, they have to get down off the bed. I taught them this by picking them up and popping them on the floor every time the started to run or wrestle or generally be a pain whilst on the bed with me when the lights were out. They know they can play when it's morning and I'm awake, but not at night. It's hard, hard work and you'll have 2 or 3 nights where you literally don't get any sleep, but persistance is the key here. Each and every time he tries to play, pick him up and put him on the floor and he will learn that the bed is for snuggles, and nothing fun happens if you start to play up there.

I also don't have any noisy toys in the bedroom. I have balls on the floor and things they can chase without making a racket, but all the super fun toys are in other rooms, so again they learn that there's lots more fun to be had elsewhere.

In this way, my kittens can be kittens and still go mad at 2 in the morning, my cats can be cats and come for cuddles when they're sleepy and tired and want some quiet human time, and I can have my lie in on the weekend because they have learned that they are only to bother me if it's an emergency or something urgent while I'm still in bed. Mind you, this works both ways as they also know that I will make sure their bowls don't go empty just because I want longer in bed.

As your kitten is on his own, I'm afraid he's going to have lots of energy to burn off, so you do need to expect that you will have to up your playtimes. Is your house definitely too small for another cat? This is the ideal solution, and your little one will be much happier in the long run as he will have a friend of his own species.


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## Cookieandme (Dec 29, 2011)

I should imagine when he was very young he was frightened on his own and needed company. I bought April at almost 10 months and the first night she cried and cried on her own and then shut in her own room. She wasn't used to being along, cookie has always had free range of the house and neither of them like closed doors. 

Is there a reason he isn't allowed upstairs at night ? I am sure if he has company he will settle down


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Excellent advice from Carly!

It really is a lot to expect one little kitten on its own to be happy all night long with its own company. I think your little fellow is doing very well to stay quiet until 4.30 a.m, bless him. When he hears you or your OH get up for the bathroom early in the a.m. he no doubt thinks it is breakfast time.

I have only ever adopted kittens in pairs, and my routine was always to settle them downstairs at night. I never had any trouble with them after bedtime because they had each other for company. At present though I have two 5 mth old kittens who sleep in the spare bedroom at night, and this has not presented any problems at all.

If I had been ever in the position of having only one kitten, especially if I had no other cats, I would certainly allow him/her in the bedroom with me at night so he had company.

If you feel unable to relent and allow him in the bedroom with you, then I suggest buying a battery operated auto-feeder, and putting some tasty wet food in it, timed to open around 4 a.m. He will eat and then snooze until you get up at 8 a.m. The you can give him his 2nd brekkie.

On the subject of food, feed him a high protein wet food diet, 4 meals a day, with his last meal being his supper, just before bedtime, and he should sleep well after that. Do not feed dry food as it is full of carbs and only satisfies him in the short term, giving him a burst of energy and then a few hrs later he is hungry again.

As already mentioned by previous posters - every night before his bedtime you need to play an energetic interactive game with him for an hour, e.g. with Da Bird, or chasing balls etc. At present I have at least one and a half hours interactive play with my two 5 mth old kittens before bedtime every night, as this is _one_ of the times they are at their most lively. After that they have their supper, then bed, and I do not hear a peep out of them until 8 a.m. even though they are in a room just across the landing from me.


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## lauren84 (Oct 12, 2013)

Thanks for your advice guys. 
Yeah my house is definitely too small Carly. I take him round to my friends' houses as they have kittens a similar age, but my little one just runs off and hides. 
Ill try your bed method. Do you think there's any chance of it working though given that he's almost 6 months old, can they still be trained? 
Does anyone know how to stop him randomly biting or trying to attack my hand/arm?


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## lauren84 (Oct 12, 2013)

Sorry didn't see the other two posts! It's not that I don't want him in my bedroom, id love nothing more than for him to snuggle up with us. But he does it till midnight, maybe 2am, then wakes us up running round the bed and walking over us and wanting attention. Ignoring him doesn't work, if we do that he gets aggressive and starts trying to attack our arms  
Does anyone have any specific recommendations for games in the uk? Think he's bored of the rattley balls/feather on a stick etc. 
On the subject of food, the vet told me to feed him dry as its better for his teeth. He was on wet food until last week, tbh it hasn't made any difference to his night activity.


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## muffin789 (Jan 28, 2013)

lauren84 said:


> Sorry didn't see the other two posts! It's not that I don't want him in my bedroom, id love nothing more than for him to snuggle up with us. But he does it till midnight, maybe 2am, then wakes us up running round the bed and walking over us and wanting attention. Ignoring him doesn't work, if we do that he gets aggressive and starts trying to attack our arms
> *Does anyone have any specific recommendations for games in the uk? Think he's bored of the rattley balls/feather on a stick etc. *
> On the subject of food, the vet told me to feed him dry as its better for his teeth. He was on wet food until last week, tbh it hasn't made any difference to his night activity.


If you haven't got one of these, I promise it will be one of the best things you do, and I really don't think he'll get bored of it, ever!!! The thing that makes this different from most of the other "things on the end of a string" toys is the way the feathers spin in the air due to the flight being on a swivel.

Give him a good session with something like that just before bedtime, so he's nice and tired and ready for a sleep. Good luck with him xx

Oh and ETA - your vet is talking rubbish re dry food  Get him off the junk and back on wet as quickly as you can!!! Dry food can lead to all sorts of problems and contain cereals and fillers that cats just can't digest - they're not designed to eat dry food; they're carnivores for heaven's sake!!!The only thing you will get keeping him on a dry diet will be higher vet's bills, I'm afraid.

Do a little research on here, as there is a ton of excellent advice about food and diet, and why dry is not the way to go.


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## carly87 (Feb 11, 2011)

6 months is not too old to train, but honestly, this little boy sounds like he's got far too much energy and nobody to play with to burn it off. he's not a dog, so won't just play in your friend's house with their strange kittens, he probably finds the whole thing very scary, bless him.


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## Satori (Apr 7, 2013)

lauren84 said:


> My vet suggested the water gun


Would that be the same vet that told you Royal Canin is good food and sold you the Feliway? 

Just wear him out for 30 minutes before bed time the give him a meal of decent meat based food (ie not Royal Canin) and let him have access to the bedroom. He'll be no trouble once he gets over the novelty factor and you will get woken up with kitten nuzzles.


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## lauren84 (Oct 12, 2013)

Satori said:


> Would that be the same vet that told you Royal Canin is good food and sold you the Feliway?


There's no need to be like that  I'm clearly a new cat owner and new to all this and I came on here to get some friendly advice. Not really sure who else you'd expect me to listen to other than a vet...

As for everyone else, thank you for your help.

I let him upstairs last night and he slept most of the night but he was pretty lively by 6am. I put him downstairs, fed him, left a radio on and some toys out, and he still scratched the crap out of the carpet. So it can't be loneliness as he spent all night with us and it's not that he was hungry because I fed him. I'll get some interactive toys and hopefully that will keep him entertained until it's a more reasonable time to get up.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

lauren84 said:


> > Does anyone have any specific recommendations for games in the uk? Think he's bored of the rattley balls/feather on a stick etc.
> > On the subject of food, the vet told me to feed him dry as its better for his teeth. He was on wet food until last week, tbh it hasn't made any difference to his night activity.
> 
> 
> ...


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## Satori (Apr 7, 2013)

lauren84 said:


> There's no need to be like that  I'm clearly a new cat owner and new to all this and I came on here to get some friendly advice. Not really sure who else you'd expect me to listen to other than a vet...
> 
> As for everyone else, thank you for your help.


My exasperation was not directed at you but at your vet since you have clearly been badly advised.


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

lauren84 said:


> I let him upstairs last night and he slept most of the night but he was pretty lively by 6am. I put him downstairs, fed him, left a radio on and some toys out, and he still scratched the crap out of the carpet. So it can't be loneliness as he spent all night with us and it's not that he was hungry because I fed him. I'll get some interactive toys and hopefully that will keep him entertained until it's a more reasonable time to get up.


That's pretty good to be honest. I may have done the same but left the door open for him to come back up. My boys have always slept on my bed and even though they are 1 and 2 years old now I still get woken up when the sun rises or earlier, but they can usually be tempted to lie in a little longer :001_rolleyes: 
He is only a baby and will grow out of this in time, pretty soon he will snooze all night on your bed, just persevere, you will get there 
Em


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## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

I have 3 kittens at the moment,and the best thing I have found to tire them out is a lazer light, Sainsburys £3-99, or PAH .same one but more expensive
They charge around for about 30 minutes and really tire themselves out
Also they come and sit in front of me,looking at me until I start the game with them
After they have played for a while they just go off and sleep or lie down


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## ArchieandMolly (Mar 29, 2013)

Our 11 month old cat now settles down with us at about midnight and although I know she's awake by 6am if I don't respond to her 'are you awake, think I'll just shove my nose in your eye to check' strategy then she'll have another snooze until we get up with the alarm. We first let her in with us when her brother died because it was obvious she was lonely (she was only 6 months then). It did take her a few weeks to learn that jumping on us in the middle of the night wasn't appreciated - even if she was saving us from the fearsome bed monsters that lurk beneath the covers - but she soon got the message. I'm sure if you're happy having your kitten in with you he'll soon learn that bedtime is quiet time.


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## Satori (Apr 7, 2013)

ArchieandMolly said:


> 'are you awake, think I'll just shove my nose in your eye to check' strategy.


:lol::lol::lol: I wonder where they learn this stuff. First line of attack for mine is biting my eyebrows but in reserve they have the deeafening purr down your ear strategy and the bum in your face strategy. The last one is usually saved for when they have had a pee and have a bit of wet cat litter stuck on. If all else fails they call out the big guns; wet sneeze in the face.


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## Jesthar (May 16, 2011)

Satori said:


> Would that be the same vet that told you Royal Canin is good food and sold you the Feliway?





lauren84 said:


> There's no need to be like that  I'm clearly a new cat owner and new to all this and I came on here to get some friendly advice. Not really sure who else you'd expect me to listen to other than a vet...


Hi Lauren,

What Satori meant was that most vets have next to no nutritional training, and what they do have usually comes from a Big Cat Food Brand and consists of a sales rep telling them what food of theirs is best to recommend for specific situations. Foods which are usually formulated to 'fix' specific problems which are quite often actually caused by their other foods. It's common knowledge around here, hence the casual references not specific explanations - let me see if I can help 

Royal Canin, for example, far from being 'the best' cat food, is actually not even a _good_ cat food - it's actually about the same level as Whiskas or Felix or supermarket own brand, just with a huge markup for a huge profit (and the vet gets a cut of that profit when they sell it to you, too). I actually won several bags of RC dry food at a show the other week, and donated it all to a rescue - it never even got in to my house.

The main problem with it is the same as other mainstream brands - both their dry and wet foods mainly consists of grains, which cats never naturally eat, can't digest, they may be allergic to, and keeps them hungry and wanting more food - basically you are paying a premium for a food the majority of which they just poo out undigested, and in a very smelly manner. There are usually also lots of sugars, which can make them hyper, cause obesity and also may be a factor in causing feline diabetes. Add in the ridiculous price tag, and you can see why it is not recommended here 

Also, dry food as a whole is not good for cats (just very convenient for humans), as cats are designed to get 90%+ of their water from the prey they catch, and don't have a thirst drive as a result. Dry food is only 10% water, and cats would have to drink a LOT of water to make up the difference, which even the biggest drinkers struggle to do. Unless we are travelling or I am away overnight, dry food is never even on the menu in my house any more.

I have a 20 week old tortie kitten who appears to run on Zoomy Juice, but she has learnt after only a few weeks that beds are for sleeping, not playing. Yes, I've had several 2/3/4 am awakenings in the past wanting to play, but not any more. The combination of plenty of play before bed and a good meal of grain free wet food after helps immensely there, as with cats a full belly naturally equals nap time, and grain free wet food keeps them full a lot longer than the mainstream brands.

If you want to try your cat with grain free food, Butchers Classic is available at Tesco and Morrisons - and is cheaper than Whiskas and Felix, despite being much better quality. Poos are a lot less smely on grain free, too, even kitten poo!

For more brands, most of us here use Zooplus (Bozita tins, Animonda Carney, Grau are some I use) and The Happy Kitty Company (MACS, OmNomNom). Order enough and delivery is free, too. I also feed Nutriment raw food, too.

Anyway, hope that helps a bit, and welcome to the forums 

Oh, and Satori, I narrowly avoided a sneeze in the face this morning, Lori's usual weapon of choice is a nose up my nose, followed by a lick...

~Jes


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## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

Mine use a pat [or a few] on the face, with paws , sometimes I can ignore it, but sometimes a claw is involved, not on purpose I am sure, but cant ignore that,


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## lauren84 (Oct 12, 2013)

Hi Jesthar
Thanks so much for your very thorough reply  I'll have a look at those brands now!


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