# Cat keeping us awake all night



## sazzyuk (Dec 15, 2008)

We really need some help and advice about one of our cats.

A bit of background...we have two males (brothers), half siamese and 18mths old. Rusty is a dream, he's a great cat and so well behaved, we never have problems with him.

Smokey however is the opposite. He's constantly naughty and silly, but it's more cheeky than bad. He has the typical siamese personality. The only problem is the past few months it's rare that we get a full night's sleep. He either keeps us awake until about 3am or wakes us up all through the night.

It could either be running round the house and into the bedroom like an idiot, grabbing our feet, running around the bed, crying all night, the list goes on...!

Last night it was enough, we went to bed at 10.30pm and were awoken at 12.30am by him running around the bedroom. He did this until 3.30am.

We both have to be up at 7am every weekday and it's starting to make us constantly tired. He's also keeping Rusty up all night - he usually sleeps straight through.

Please can anyone help???

We can't close the bedroom door because he rips up the carpet. Because of the layout of our house, it's not possible to lock them in a room - in our old house we closed them in the very large kitchen for the night.


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## scosha37 (Feb 24, 2008)

Sorry i havent got the answers..but my 6 month old kitten is like this drove us mad and when your sleeping not very nice to get claws in your feet..

we had to put her in the kitchen at night she didnt like it at first but now she knows and i have no problems she greets me happy meow in the morning..

why cant you put them in the kitchen? have you tried ?


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## sazzyuk (Dec 15, 2008)

Unfortunately in our house, the kitchen is only small and with the two of them it wouldn't be fair. In our old house it was huge and was fine for them.

It's not possible to lock them downstairs because the stairs are in the living room. The only other room is a very large conservatory, but obviously that's not suitable.

It's driving us insane to the point where it's really upsetting us.


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## spid (Nov 4, 2008)

It sounds as if you are going to have to try something - sleep deprivation is awful. I'd put a heater in the conservatory or a couple of beds with heat pads (costs less probably in the long run than heating the conservatory - the reason I assume you can't put them in there is because it is cold).

If this isn't possible then i'd go for the kitchen, I know you say your kitchen is small but sometimes needs must as well. Otherwise you'll end up flipping and you'll start thinking about rehoming. My kitchen isn't huge (but also not minute - sort of on the smallish side) but sometimes if my two are being particularily noisy i will confine them to it and not give them the dining room as well and the restrictive space seems to calm them down. 

Give it a go - they will fuss for a few days probably but then get used to it - you need to sleep.


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Are there any games you could play with him before bed that would tire him out?. We had the same problem with with our kitten and I used a combination of tiring him out and giving him a good meal before bed which made him want to sleep it off. He still occasionally has his bad nights and wakes us up but less so since we got the puppy ( he wakes him up instead). Hope you have some success, Good luck.


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## Biawhiska (Mar 28, 2008)

can't help, having the same problem myself at the moment


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## sazzyuk (Dec 15, 2008)

Yes the conservatory is either freezing or boiling in the night, it is off the kitchen, so I guess we could leave that door open and they have them two rooms. I'm worried about security though, as it goes straight into the garden and would also mean the alarm couldn't be on or we'd have to re-jig it.

I think the main reason is his sleeping habits. He's a cat that sleeps during the day, unlike his brother. We do wake him up in the evening, but he usually ends up going back to sleep. Maybe we should try and tire him in the evenings for the next few days.

I agree regarding the rehoming, I love the boy to bits (they're like our children) and at 3am this morning (lol!) I said that he needs sorting out otherwise we'll get sick of him. I'd never get rid of him because we love him so much, but he does upset us.

Is it a good idea to start getting tough with him when he's naughty? I try and disciplin him when he's naughty and praise his brother in front of him because he never gets in trouble. We sometimes give his brother a treat when Smokey has done something naughty to show him that if he behaves he could get a treat. Then when he comes and says sorry and stops being naughty he gets a treat.

They're like bloody children!!! lol!


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## sazzyuk (Dec 15, 2008)

Biawhiska said:


> can't help, having the same problem myself at the moment


Is yours a siamese too? I believe it's to do with the personality of them.


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

Just shut him in the kitchen. It cannot possibly be smaller than the average outdoor pen. If he has nothing else to do he just might start going to sleep in the kitchen at night and then be more awake during the day.

I know you don't want to do it - I loved having my Burmese boy sleeping with me but then he got to the stage where he was always waking up in the early hours and I found myself having to get out of bed and put him downstairs. This week I have had the flu and simply could not face getting up in the early hours every night so he has been shut up downstairs with the others. Sometimes you just have to put yourself first!

Liz


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## sazzyuk (Dec 15, 2008)

thedogsmother said:


> Are there any games you could play with him before bed that would tire him out?. We had the same problem with with our kitten and I used a combination of tiring him out and giving him a good meal before bed which made him want to sleep it off. He still occasionally has his bad nights and wakes us up but less so since we got the puppy ( he wakes him up instead). Hope you have some success, Good luck.


Maybe we should get a puppy then.......


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## sazzyuk (Dec 15, 2008)

I have just come up with another option...

Our second bedroom is a spare room and they have their radiator beds in there and use the sofa bed. Maybe I could lock them in there with their litter, food and water during the night? It's a double bedroom, so not tiny.

I feel terrible on his brother though because he sleeps right through and doesn't do anything wrong!


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## Biawhiska (Mar 28, 2008)

sazzyuk said:


> Is yours a siamese too? I believe it's to do with the personality of them.


no, my siamese sleep downstairs, this is my female moggie who loves to keep us up all night :crazy: she can't be with the others as she hates them, she is a little diva!


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## Lumpy (Jun 5, 2008)

Putting them in the spare bedroom sounds like a plan

My youngest three (seven and a half months) have always been shut in my spare bedroom at night. They are now used to the routine and indeed this evening were in there waiting for me to give them their supper and shut the door.

They do cry to come out early in the morning but I still get more sleep than I would do if they were allowed the run of the house like my older five. 

Good luck!


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## sazzyuk (Dec 15, 2008)

We had a successful night last night. We gave him the benefit of the doubt and gave them the full house again. He woke us up at 6.45am for a few minutes like usual and waited until we woke up again at 7.15am.

What we did make sure happened was that he was woke up at 9pm and played with his brother for a while. When we got in bed at 10.30pm we made sure he stayed with us cuddling and getting sleepy until we turned the light off. He then went to bed.

Maybe that is the routine we have to follow every night for him. Why can't he be like his brother! hehe!


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Success, Hope it continues. I have two children and one is a good sleeper and one isn't. I love them both the same but shall I just say it's strained when, two hours after I tucked her up when she comes into the lounge with "I can't sleep". Oh well it would be a boring world if we were all the same, people and animals alike. Good luck for tonight x


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