# Restless cat during the night help!!



## Adesmond (Feb 7, 2012)

My kitten Lulu is 4months old and has started crying loudly in the early hrs of the morning myself and my husband both work fulltime and this is making life very stressful as we are both so tired. Has anyone got any suggestions of how to solve this problem??? Please help we need some sleep!!


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## The Minkey (Feb 6, 2012)

If no one's in the house all day, she could be plain bored and lonely and in need of letting off some steam. It might be worth having a good play session with her, if you don't already, before bedtime to try wearing her out a bit. On the other hand, could she be hungry?


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Hi and welcome to the forum.At 4 months she will find being on her own during the day very boring.Do you spend quality time playing with her in the evenings,especially before bed time.A good physical workout for 30 minutes before bed may help to settle her,Feeding her just as you go to bed may help as she will feel nice and full and hopefully sleepy for a few hours.Unfortunatley kittens do not respect humans idea of "time" it goes with the territory.I have been lucky my Ragdoll has slept through the night ,every night from the day he came home.Have you considered getting a playmate for her,apart from the obvious slightly raised financial outlay two kittens are actually easier than one,and considering you are out for the best part of the day they would keep each other company.Good luck,I hope you find a solution that suits everyone.


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## Mary Stephenson (Jan 17, 2012)

Your cat probably is lonely and bored. But I do know that being woke up in the middle of the night by cats that just want to be with you can be frustrating. I had a few that decided it was time to stand at the bedroom door and cry very loudly. Yelling at them to knock it off didn't work to well. They would go away but then soon return again for another loud meow. Solution....set the vacuum cleaner up in the hallway and bring the cord under the door once it is plugged in it will start up. When kitty comes around and starts howling, the vacuum cleaner gets plugged in. They don't like this to well at all. After a few nights of doing this they soon stop. But what I have done is leave the vacuum cleaner in the hallway for at least a month after the last night time serenading.
It usually works very well. Once in awhile it may need to be brought out again. Probably only one night needed to plug it in and they get the hint. If a second reinforcement is necessary, leave it again in the hallway for another month.


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## Adesmond (Feb 7, 2012)

Hi everyone thank you for all the advice! We have tried feeding her before we go to bed this does help but i think your right with her being bored so we have started spending lots of time playing with her to try and tire her out. Will keep you posted as to whether this works or not. We would love to get another kitten but at the moment it is not financially viable  although the vacuum cleaner idea is tempting lol!!


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## catlover0581 (Jan 14, 2012)

hi and welcome

Freddy is just over 4 months old, and i feed him and his little friend Tilly (just over 2 months) about 20 minutes before i go to bed. then they come up with me, with their bed!! they normally play around for about half an hour, then settle in bed for the night.

i know it sounds silly, but i have their bed right beside my side of the bed (i love them soooo much lol)- Freddy tends to sleep on my pillow, and Tilly in the bed, but normally halfway through the night Freddy snuggles up with her instead (he likes to spread the love! lol)

maybe you could try something similar, so even though you're sleeping, he feels close to you. as he doesn't have a 'Tilly', i would also suggest playing with him for a good half hour before or after feeding him, just to wear him out and feel that he's had your undivided attention - cats like to feel the world does revolve around them after all heehee 

let us know how you get on - and don't forget the golden rule of PF -PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!  x


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## catlover0581 (Jan 14, 2012)

eeeek!!!! 'she' not 'he'! apologies  xx


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## sskmick (Feb 4, 2008)

We ended up with three cats exactly the same, basically they wanted to be with us through the night, I know for some people this works for them but not for us - cats jumping up on the bed and jumping off, outboard motor purring in our ear, padding, attacking our feet or anything that is hanging out of bed.

If we let them stay in one room boy did they kick off, meowing, scratching at the carpet, woodwork, paintwork and walls. That didn't work. Open their door and close ours it was the same - basically let us in.

I use crates and it works a treat, the crates are set up with a matress, donut beds for each cat, food & water and corner litter trays. I do have throws over the top of them, not sure whether this has anything to do with it but the idea is to create a den. Quiet nights - bliss.

We all wake up refreshed.  

At four months Lulu could be maturing, I would have her spayed within the next few weeks (around 5 months).


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## irishlady (Feb 13, 2012)

Hi there 

I have a adult cat of 9 yrs and a kitten of 10 months! 

Do you leave food out for the kitten? If you can rule out bordem and loneliness as the problem it could be hunger! 

my adult cat will sleep all night at the bottom of my bed but the kitten can get restless (usually she enjoys waking me up with drool and looking for hugs) If I leave dry food (make sure you leave out water too!)out for her she tends to be more chilled out. Kittens have huge appetites and quite often when Tia starts playing up its because she is hungry.


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## Adesmond (Feb 7, 2012)

Hi everyone! Thanks for your help we having started playing with her more in the evenings and putting food down just before we go to bed and this has really helped she still likes to have a little bit of a fidget during the night but think she is just checking on us to make sure we are ok bless her!! 

Its so nice to finally get some sleep thank you again for all your help it has been so appreciated.

For those who wanted piccies please see below!


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## TatiLie (Nov 2, 2010)

I'm sorry to say that Ari is one year and a half and still wakes me up most nights. The good news is that the advices given (play with her, give her high protein food before going to bed, leaving some dry kibbles out) helped a lot. 

And when Ari wakes me up at three in the morning by scratching the blinds and trying to get rid of those 'horrible white-pinkish parasites that are growing on the plant' (and that we call orchid flowers ) I pick the brush and call her. She jumps on me for 10 minutes of brushing, cuddles and loud purring, and then she is all relaxed and we're ready to sleep again.

I know that for most people waking up for cuddles is unthinkable. But Ari is not a cuddly kind of cat and those times are the only times she would let me do it.

PS: I love the idea of the vacuum cleaner. I have a robot type with a remote control that gets Ari all nervous, puffed up and in 'stalker mode'. I may get it running for a few minutes in the middle of the night. She will get exhausted and I will get the living room clean!


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