Conference misery::feline_v1

You could get her someone else's fingers and legs to play with!!  My kitten,
Beth, who's 12 weeks old, finds it alot more fun to play with another
kitty than to incur the rath of me at 3:00 a.m.  Is she an only cat?  If she
is, she's it's gonna take a while for her to grow out of this "happy hour"
activity.  Have you thought of a playmate??  An only cat is a lonely cat....

Mary, who's let this cat companion thing get out of hand....

    God, I remember those nights when my two were kittens!  The only thing
    that helped me was the *other* kitten.  If Ralph or Alice decided to
    play with us at 2am I'd bring them downstairs where their toys were and
    they'd start playing with the toys and then each other.  There were
    many a night though that all you heard was little kitten feet racing
    around the house at full speed.
    
    The only other thing they still do is wake us at at 5:30 every morning
    (even week-ends) - just stare at you or start nudging in your face
    (they're our wake-up call!)  
    
    Good luck!  I'm sure the other noters will have some great advice.
    
    Congrats on new kitty!  I've always had dogs growing up and never owned
    a cat until my first one 5 years ago (unfortunately she died) and now
    my 2 2-year olds.  I can't imagine life without those darling furfaces!!
    
    Nancy

       Well I had the same prob a month ago when I got my Abyssinian 
       he used to come and play at night when I was asleep well it drove 
       me nuts so I tried closing the door but the little one would start
       crying so one night I decided to use my hand and gave him a little 
       slap on the ass and it work he came back couple hours later and
       started so I gave him another little slap on the ass and there he 
       he left me alone for the rest of the night, and now I don't have 
       this problem anymore. I beleive you have to dicsipline them when 
       nothing else work.
    

    Keep a squirt bottle near you and squirt your kitty with some water
    and say "no!".  This will help in training them for other things too,
    they'll associate the squiter with doing something bad, so when you
    go to reach for it they'll be off in a flash.
    
    Another thing I used to do when Tubbs was younger is play a lot with
    him before bedtime, he'd be so tired he wouldn't wake up until morning.
    
    

    I don't recommend ever hitting a cat, no matter how gently, as a
    disciplinary measure.  Cats have fragile bones which are easily
    broken.
    
    The high energy you're seeing is typical of kittens.  Another thing
    you might do until she grows out of it is tucker her out by playing
    games with her (chase the atnip mouse, etc.) before bedtime.
    

re .1 (Mary) and getting a playmate:

We had the same problem.  Now we have 3 kittens playing with our feet, hair,
etc. at 2:00am :-)

...and at 5:00am if we survive the first onslaught without kicking them
out :-).

Jill (Tigger, Hemi, CJ, Penny)

    All of this does pass, trust me, it does.  Then when they get older,
    and you have more than one, things start going 'BUMP' in the nite - oh
    they just go from one phase into another - there are several notes in
    this file filled with feline nocternal experiences - heeee - enjoy.
    
    Giudi +3

    Last year I had four little rug rats under the age of one...and
    nightime sleeping was always being interupted.   If you can
    survive it...it does pass.  did I call my babies...rug rats!! 
     
    What I tried was to spend atleast 1 hour with them before I went
    to sleep.  During this time all we did was run, chase and play...even
    if they were tired and went to go lay down....I wouldn't allow it!
    I'm not saying this works everynight....but it did give me a few
    restful nights.  On the other nights...we kicked them out and
    shut the door.
    
    The squirt bottle does work...as long as you don't have cats that
    like water.   
    
    Sandy
                                                                 

    I have the same problem.....multiple kittens didn't work.....it just
    increased the aggravation (smile).  There were many nites where I would
    lie sleepless as I had two kittens playing tag across the bed, diving
    under the covers to nip toes and other unmentionables, and toppling
    vases or lamps.  One morning I woke up with a floor lamp across my
    chest....it must have been just the many nites of sheer exhaustion that
    allowed me to finally sleep thru such an event!  
    
    So what worked?  Well, the water pistol worked for one kitten, but the
    other kitten delighted in the spray.  So it wasn't completely
    successful.  Food would temporarily distract them, so I would often get
    up and lurch to the fridge from a dish of Science Diet.  This would
    calm them for 10 minutes and then you had about 20 minutes more of
    peace as the clean and wash sessions took place.  After that you could
    only hope that they would run out into other parts of the house and
    resume play there.  Like another Feliner, I tried the "shut the door to
    the bedroom" scheme, but they cried and cried and kamikazed against the
    door!  No luck.
    
    I guess I haven't been much help.  All I can say is that I'm told with
    time they outgrow this stage and become big lumps that sleep and eat
    and ignore you...  so is it all that bad?  (smile)
    
    Nancy

Nancy,

I think you were a lot of help...it's nice to know we're not the only ones
"suffering" :-).  And you're right about the lumps, too...Tigger is a big
lump; the kids are a lot more fun.  But lumps have their own good qualities...

Maybe we'll try the "tire them out before bedtime" route, though I suspect
they'll wake up again and start over...

Jill

    Thanks for all the ideas.  I guess I'll just have to grin and bear
    it.  I'll try the water pistol as that seems to work for other things.
    thanks again for all your ideas.  And I do agree 99% of the time she
    is a joy to have around.
    
    Pam

    Re: lumps that eat and sleep
    
    Reminds me of a description someone gave of her robust pussycat:
    does not have to be coaxed to eat....
    

    Jill,
    
    I think the funniest part of all this is that I sometimes find myself
    accomodating my sleep habits to them as opposed to via versa.  The
    other nite Bear (the smallest of my three ... yes, I even got another
    one just last week) came up to me and wanted to spend the whole nite
    curled up next to my face ... I think he was in an emotional slump over
    the addition of the third kitten, and so I spent from 11:30 till 3:30
    consoling him....fell off to sleep till 5:15....then was awoken from my
    stupor by all three of them... FEEDING TIME MOM!  Zoom !!  Zoom!! 
    Pounce!   OUCH!
    
    Anyway, all of the agony....but they still make me smile.  In a
    masochistic sense, I almost enjoy this torture!  Like, "someone really
    needs me!"
    
    Nancy
    
    P.S.  Good luck!  If you are bored at 3:30 in the a.m., do call!  I'm
    sure I'll be up!  (smile)

    Kitties do not necessarily outgrow this! My one year old STILL comes in
    around 2 AM and lays on my chest looking for a major petting/cuddle
    session.  If I ignore her, she walks around the room knocking things
    over to wake me up!
    
    The only way I have trained her to let me get through an entire night
    of sleep with NO interruptions was to train her from 4 months on to
    stay outside my bedroom until I opened the door.  Yes, they cry, but
    they'll get used to it if you are firm (and sleep with a pillow over
    your head!) and eventually give up and amuse themselves otherwise. Do
    you have a nightlight on for your kitty? She may be scared and want
    you. I leave out food and another stuffed-animal in the shape of a
    small kitten for her to play with during the night.  Now I can sleep
    peacefully unless I choose to leave my bedroom door open and let her
    join me.

    Hi Jill!
    
    My furface still wants to play some during the night and he is a year
    old now.  What I frequently do is to give him some dry food around 9
    p.m. and that seems to settle him down for the night...having a full
    tummy. However do you manage with "3"????!!!
    
    Colleen
    

    Yes, now that you mention it, Nancy DC did tell me that cats are
    creatures of habits and that initially if they don't like the situation
    they may grump, but with time become used to it and live comfortably
    with the "routine."  So I guess that perhaps listening to the little
    devils squall outside the bedroom door for a week may be worth it if
    you want to be able to function days!  I think I will try it.
    
    With three, it IS tough, especially since I have one currently
    suffering from parasites, and the other two suffering from mites.  I
    need to keep the parasite kitten away from the other two kitties'
    litter box and let me tell you, it is quite a feat!  I run from room to
    room to room when I am supervising their playtime, trying to make sure
    that they behave!  Phew.  Monday will be the day they can play freely
    and dig about freely in each others' boxes because that is when the
    medication is supposed to be over and Suki will be parasite free ....
    we hope!  It has been quite an education or me.  Single and 34, I
    realize now that if it is this much work with kittens --- who NEEDS
    kids?
    
    Nan

    
    This brings back memories - just as my two oldest cats started to
    settle down at night (they were around 3-1/2) I added another to the
    family.  It was fun and games all over again - not only were we
    pestered to death during the night but the other two reverted to kitten
    antics or all three would start having hissy fights.  I can still
    remember being sound a sleep this one night, Pippin in between me and
    Richard and Gino down by my feet and then the earth shook - Stitch hit
    the bed with the force of a 7.0 earthquake - cats went flying
    everywhere, Richard bolted out of bed and walked into his dresser and
    almost knocked himself out (he fell on the floor) I banged my head on
    the headboard - Pippin got hung up behind the fish tank and the motor
    fell to the ground as well as the lamp.  Gino took off for parts
    unknown.  When I got the lights on - there was Stitch - curling up for
    the evening in the center of the bed.  Little Piss Ant!
    
    They are 7 and almost 4 now and every once in a while we will have a
    "hell night"  but for the most part it's quited down.  Ah - the joys of
    a multi-cat house hold.
    
    Yea, I'd probably do it all over again.
    
    Giudi +3

How do we do it (with 3 kittens)?

Well, we don't have a choice! :-)  When we get desperate, we remove them from
the bedroom and close the door.  Luckily, they don't cry, and amuse themselves
by looking for trouble :-).

Last night wasn't too bad.  The interesting part is trying to guess which
kitty is which in the dark.  Geez, it's hard enough when we can see them! :-)
At one point I had two kittens lying down on my pillow, which I was also using
at the time.  It wasn't a problem because they were lying down and not
causing trouble or stepping on my face :-).  I thought to myself "gee, if
Bill wants to blackmail me all he has to do it take a picture of this and
threaten to send it to my allergist". :-)  You know, the one who says things
like:

"think about the role your cat plays in your life" (back in the single-cat days)
"do you still have your cat?"
"are you keeping the cat out of the bedroom?"

This morning was really funny...another learning experience, I guess:

When Bill and I decided we weren't going to sleep anymore, I opened the bedroom
door and invited the critters to join us (not that they'd listen or anything).
We were lying in bed talking, when all of a sudden we hear the vacuum cleaner!
It takes a moment for us to figure out what it is, since the air conditioner
goes on and off by itself also. :-)  It's a canister type, and it is turned on
by stepping on a pedal with your paw, er, foot :-).  We're sure it scared the
hell out of the guilty party, especially since they run for cover when *we*
use the vacuum!

    
    Well, now - it gets even more interesting around 4-5 months when they
    start teething.  Then they start chewing on body parts - like toes.
    That's Mayday's current favorite.
    
    You ought to try this with seven kittens and 10+ adults!
    
    Nancy
    

    Ugh! I know what you're going thru! We had Tabitha for a year before we
    decided to get her a playmate. We had JUST gotten thru that stage when
    Callie came to us. She's an absoulte DOLL, but now we have BOTH of them 
    going at it @ all hours of the night! It's not so bad this time tho, at
    least they're playing w/ EACH OTHER, AND NOT US!
    
    There really isn't much you can do (aside of closing the door, spraying
    & spanking, none of which I would ever do) but I can offer this advise.
    Try not to get up or let them know they're waking you up. This is their 
    purpose, and once they feel they can acheive it, they won't stop.
    
    It worked for me!
    
    Bonnie

    Ha!  You ought to try getting woken up at 2 am by a Bratty scottish
    fold in heat calling to her boyfriends!  
    
    On the good side, Mayday is now chewing the toes of someone else!!
    I'll wait and let her introduce him under his new (and improved)
    name.
      Nancy