# Those of you with young kittens...



## Sullycat (Jul 27, 2011)

Do you 'put then to bed'?

We have a 15 mth old male neutered BSH who is my first ever cat and my pride and joy 

Last night i picked up a DSH black female 12 wk old kitten. She had been with her litter mate but she was regimes on Sunday and CP lady said shed cried loads.

Sully (BSH) was out all last night (I try and get him in for the night but sometimes he just doesn't want to). We put new girl into the spare room with toys, food, water, bed and toilet. Played with her for a bit with a feather tickler. 

When I went to she cried for a while. My boyfriend was on nights and came home at 1.30am. So he went to meet the little lady. After that she cried nearly all night so I got little sleep.

She is such a confident and loving little girl. I let her downstairs with me most of the evening playing with toys. Not once did she rest or sleep!

But now I've put her back in the spare room with the light out and told boyfriend not to visit her tonight even if she cries.

So far so good.

Does this sound ok? I can't remember what we did with Sul even though it was only a year ago.

They met tonight. It's early I know, but he gets on so well with our Labrador. He had a few growls and hisses, and one small chase but just followed her around and sniffed her bottom. He's been sat by the spare room door sniffing most of the day. I think he'll get used to her.


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## gloworm*mushroom (Mar 4, 2011)

My boys are coming up to a year, but no I never 'put them to bed'


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## Lumboo (Mar 31, 2011)

Sorry can't help with your problem, but just wanted to say my two are litter mates so they have each other and therefore have never cried out to us at night, and we do not put them to bed.

I basically say good night to them and then shut my bedroom door. If they want to play in the rest of the flat that is fine, if they want to sleep that is fine too. I can sometimes hear them chasing each other in the hallway but I think they understand that it isn't a time when I am going to play with them so they get on with things themselves.

Maybe things will be better when the two cats gets to know each other, as then they will have feline company and won't need you so much.

I think this is one of the reason why the wise forum members advised me to get two kittens rather than one. Had I not listened I would have been up all night trying to calm a lonely kitten.

Hopefully things will settle down soon x


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## Merenwenrago (Sep 5, 2010)

I sleep with my kitten on the couch in the lounge, but it never cries anyway if I leave it by itself for a few hours when going to work.


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## Sadie SU (May 15, 2011)

Yes, I _do_ put our kitten to bed at night......

Popeye and our adult cat Sophie have just had a mad half hour, charging around the house together..... the clock's about to strike midnight, and they're pretty much ready for bed now. By the time I've sorted the litter tray out Popeye will be waiting by his cage, ready to get started on the pouch of food that I'll put in for him. I'll sneak a look round the door about ten minutes later, and all I'll see is a fast asleep kitten curled up on his blanket. I'll put the light out, and won't hear another peep out of him until I come back down in the morning to let him out. Meanwhile, Sophie will come upstairs to sleep on the bed..... and we all get a good night's sleep.

However, if Popeye showed the least sign of being unhappy with the situation, I'd have to find another solution. No way could I leave him to cry. At some point soon he'll graduate to being shut in the cat room, rather than in his cage, and then eventually he'll get roaming rights at night like Sophie does.

The original plan was to put Popeye and Sophie in the cat room together at night, but just before Popeye joined the family Sophie started to come up and sleep in our room, and it seemed a shame for her to lose that privilege just because a small interloper had arrived..... so we got the cage and played it by ear, and so far it's suited everyone very well. We'll just keep on taking it one night at a time.


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## aliecia (Jul 26, 2011)

My youngest is turning two in september, so we're definetely pass the kitten stage, but it felt like just yesterday that we bought home this seven week old kitten. We never put any of our kittens to bed. We just went to bed and made sure that they had fresh water and some hard food to nibble on, and they would go to bed when they felt like it. Our youngest used to actually sleep at the foot of our bed sometimes, which to be honest I loved, and would sometimes sleep started under the bed. We bought at least three cat beds, they just never liked them.


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## dagny0823 (Oct 20, 2009)

Ours our 10/11 weeks and 8/9 weeks now and yes, we put them to bed. We tried just letting them have the run of the house at night once they were settled and had grown a little bit (they're shelter kittens, and we got them at 7 and 5 weeks). However, Chaucer was waking me up about 8 times a night (pretty much every single hour) to nurse on my face! He's sweet as can be, but I need my rest, so now we fix a bowl of wet food, make sure the dry is topped up, the water is fresh, the cat beds are fluffy, and they have some toys. Then we pop them in their room which is the unfurnished 2nd bedroom and shut the door and turn out the lights. There's a minimum of crying, but they settle pretty quickly and they're happy and well rested themselves in the morning, ready for mischief!


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## jenfunfur (Jul 7, 2011)

ours cried constantly so me & oh took turns sleeping in spare room with him. Now that he's older & fully integrated with the older cat we get no more crying as they both sleep on the bed with us.
She sounds very lonely & just wants her 'mummy' to reassure her. Some cats are just more needy like human babies it should get better as she gets older


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## Sullycat (Jul 27, 2011)

She was loads better last night. Gave her a feed and snook out the door. then I heard nothing until about 6 this morning :smile5:

They tend to cotton on quickly don't they?


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## Guest (Jul 28, 2011)

Our kitten gets put to bed the same time as the dog! Routine is usually at our bedtime 11pm ish we let the dog out, feed Maisie her meaty meal and top up her biscuits, let Holly the dog in, she gets her biscuit and they get shut in the kitchen/ conserv that's them untill we get up when ever that may be 
Never hear a peep from either of them.


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## AnimatedApe (Oct 18, 2010)

Sullycat said:


> She was loads better last night. Gave her a feed and snook out the door. then I heard nothing until about 6 this morning :smile5:
> 
> They tend to cotton on quickly don't they?


There was research done earlier this year and the BBC did a write up of it, cats will try out different crys until they find one that you respond to. In most cases it is of a very similar pitch and frequency to that of a babies cry, which as humans we are all obviously tuned into.

Our eldest does her 'Help! my leg is dislocated!' cry whenever she wants me to come running, it works everytime because it gets to that little place in my brain where I cannot risk her being hurt.

Our youngest is still trying out his range of cries, but his 'I'm going to put this wriggling spider right next to your head' noise gets my girlfriend shifting pretty sharpish!

For the most part though you need to ignore their negotiation attempts in order to keep your sanity in the long run. Sounds like you're on the right track, but I'd let her have the run of the house if possible, other than the lounge and bedroom anyway.


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## koekemakranka (Aug 2, 2010)

Our cats share our bed. But when one of us goes to bed we say "Nunu, sleepses..." and he retires with us.


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## jill3 (Feb 18, 2009)

If she had a good night last night then I would think that she is settling in now.
Has you BSH seen his little sister yet?
I found it very easy to introduce our last kitten to our BSH.
Also the other good thing is that if they become good friends (which I hope they will) It might be easier to get him in at night.

Last year, our British cream, Harley went out in the night and got lost. He was found 6 weeks later in the next village. It was a living nightmare which i never want to go through again.
That's why i got him a little sister. They are both in before dark and they sleep together.

PS. Where's the pictures?


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## Sparkles87 (Aug 30, 2010)

Yes, William will be a year on the 15th of August and we put him to bed (always have done). When we go to bed he gets a few dreamies popped in his bowl then the light gets turned out and the living room door shut. He has always tried to suckle on my ears meaning it's not feasible for him to sleep with us. He cried at first when he was a teeny kitten, but he soon got used to it and now we don't hear from him until our alarm goes off in the morning. On the very odd occasion we do let him sleep with us - it doesn't happen often as it means I don't get much rest!


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