Conference misery::feline

    
    
    	Himalayan.  =)
    
    	Play with her for a while before you go to bed.  Make *her* 
    	get tired!  Get her to run around a lot and burn up some of
    	her pent up energy.
    
    	That should at least help a little!
    
    	JJ
    

    I think you should get another kitten to play with the first kitten,
    and wear it out! ;-) They could also keep one another company while
    you're at work. 
    
    I like to have two better than one, but three is good too, as that's
    what I have now. Let a 16 pounder walk on your face, and you know
    you've been walked on! ;-)
    
    Yonee

    Oh I have another cat to keep her company.  ( A 15 pounder at that!).
    And up until last week I had 4 cats and she was doing it then too!
    So, I don't think she's lonely.  I try to play with her and her 
    toys for a while every night and she likes to chase the big cat around.
    I guess maybe I'm not doing enough to wear her out at night?
    
    thanks,
    Sharon
    

When I got Chester and Farley, they were 5 weeks and 3 months old,
respectively.  Sleeping was something I just had to give up on for a while.  I
woke up one night to find Farley grooming my eyebrows!  And Chester the buzz
saw would attack my legs whenever I turned in my sleep.  This behaviour only
lasted a couple of months.  Now Farley respectfully occupies the second pillow
on the bed, while Chester perches atop me in whatever position I happen to
wind up in.  Chester does, however, jump my feet once or twice right at
bedtime, just to keep himself in condition, I suppose.  Farley is about 20
months old now, and Chester's 18 mos.

-Patrick

she may also be hungry.  My kittens have all gone through wanting *something*
in the wee hours.  Josh & Becky used to chase each other, and I was the launch 
pad.  Simon decided that he needed to nurse on my face.  Keeping a small 
containier of food in my nightstand that I could open while still comatose
used to quiet them down 'till the regular feed time.

    I guess you need to play run around the house and chase Mom with the
    toy more to wear out a kitty with THAT much energy! ;-) You'll probably
    be so tired the kitten won't be ABLE to wake you up! ;-)
    
    Yonee

    Chief used to do the same thing... Now he wakes us up at around
    6 or 6:30.. A kitten is like a baby and needs to learn to sleep
    through the night. WE had the same problem with kicking Chief
    out of the bedroom and then hearing him scratch at the door.
    You could put the kitten in another room with food and litter and
    close the door.. I could never do that though, I just did not
    have the heart...  
    	Anyway maybe if every night when this happens you kick her
    out of the bedroom and let her scratch for a while this will
    eventually stop because she will associate waking you up with
    being locked out... My husband thought the good old " Im sleeping
    and I am going to kick you off of me and the bed" is the best
    cure, but mommie is a softie....  I notice though that Chief
    never tries to wake up my husband. I guess he knows better.
    
    The good news in all of this is that as they get older they
    get much better... They need more sleep I guess.... 
    
    Sandy

    I think you may have to find a way to live with it.  3:00am is the time
    cats go hunting, they wake up then and are at their sparkest.  It gets
    better as Spring turns into Summer, and also as the cat gets older.
    
    I thought letting my 3 out in the yard would work, and it did for a
    while.  Now they aren't happy unless I go out with them, which paints 
    a very silly picture; me sitting in the snow on the back porch with 
    a cup of coffee and a portable TV.  (It scared the heck out of a jogger
    last Autumn.) I know I shouldn't let them do this to me, but I have very 
    little willpower.
    
    Best of luck.

    To .7, age doesn't help.  Tai Tai who is 12, almost 13, wakes me
    between 5 and 6 a.m. every day (weekends included).  I think he's
    afraid I'll oversleep.  I've tried making sure he has enough food, he
    has a young (4 yr old) playmate, Figaro; I've tried locking him out but
    he wails and scratches the door.  He's just an early riser.  After he
    developed heart problems (which seem to be under control by medication
    -- just an another ultrasound and they said things had not worsened --
    I decided that I would just coax him under the covers and love him
    while we had him.  But it sure would be nice to sleep past 6 a.m. on
    Sundays.
    
    

    I must have 3 rare cats.  Mine don't wake me before my alarm rings
    during the week.  The weekends, however, are another story.  They're
    used to the alarm going off around 6am now (used to be 7am till the
    schedule changed).  They don't understand "day off".  They don't really
    try to wake me up.  They just walk up on my chest, lay down and wait
    for me to notice them lying there.
    
    Jan

    That's what Furby does to me. If it's cloudy, sometimes I get a few
    extra minutes, because it gets light a bit later, ;-) but When Furby
    decides I've had an adequate amount of sleep, and should be up getting
    her breakfast, she lovingly walks up and down my person every few
    minutes until I give up. ;-) She of course never misses stepping on a
    boob at least every other trip. That gets me up real fast! 8-(
    
    If that doesn't work right away, (like on weekends) she sits on the
    table next to my bed, and looks out at the birds, and very conveniently
    flicks her tail into the wire from my lamp, and bangs it against the
    wall. She's a dull bulb most of the time, but not when it comes to
    getting fed! ;-)
    
    Yonee
     

    I guess I'm really fortunate.  My 4 love to sleep and they don't get up
    until I do.  On weekends, when I sleep later, so do they.  Misha
    usually comes up and snuggles next to my shoulder.  Last night, Bob
    woke up at 2:00 and noticed that all 4 were on the bed.  Then Misty
    (our 11 pounder) walked over me, and that didn't even make me stir. 
    Maybe part of the reason they don't wake us for breakfast is that there
    is always dry food available for them and they don't get any canned
    food in the morning.
    
    Steffi

    Well, my other two usually just wait for me to get up. Maybe they know
    Furby is going to bug me. ;-) Maybe they call her in and tell her to
    get me up! Who knows what goes on in their little heads? ;-)
    
    Sometimes Feendoonie decides she wants 'under' the blankets with me,
    and will dig at me until I let her in, and make a tent with my knees
    for her, bt then she is content to wait for Furby to get me out of bed!
    ;-) 
    
    Furfaces! I love 'em! 
    
    Yonee

    My 3 head cases are ready to eat between 4 and 5 AM!!  Herbie is
    purring in my face, and Kelsey is pawing at my water glass on the
    nightstand, trying to tip it over (he usually succeeds... I should know
    better!), and Taja starts to talk at the top of his lungs.
    
    I just get up, feed them their canned food, and go back to bed!  It is
    easier than rebuffing them until the alarm goes off at 6:30.  After the
    eat, they all snuggle into bed with me until it is time for me to get
    up.
    
    The things they get away with are really incredible!
    

    This is so funny!  It is reminding me of the commerical for Coast(?)
    soap where the two little dogs are waking "mom" up to take them for a
    walk!  It is a CUTE commercial!
    
    Well, at my house the two Korats and Tabitha usually get put into the
    cattery at night.  Kyra gets the run of the house at night.  She
    doesn't usually bug me for breakfast in the morning.  She bugs us to
    get up and PLAY with her!!  She won't stop in the mornings until one of
    us gets the teaser and plays with her for a few minutes.
    
    Holly
    

    Maybe it's just a Birman thing, but my cats are just like Steffi's. 
    They do not wake me up. Period.  They get upset when I get up early and
    turn on the lights and the radio.  They give me dirty looks through
    sleepy eyes and then turn over and go back to sleep.
    
    I do not feed canned food in the morning either, and there is dry food
    available at all times.  This might be the key.
    
    Jo

    
    
    	Audrey is occasionally annoying while I'm trying to sleep.
    	Sometimes she'll decide she'd rather be under the covers
    	and covering my legs with scratches, then sleeping by my
    	head.  I usually take her out and put her back on top of
    	the covers.
    
    	Sasha sleeps at the end of the bed.  But she's my alarm clock.
    	I set it (the real clock  =)  ) to go off at seven.  But I
    	usually shut it off and go back to sleep. (no snooze button)
    	Sasha wakes me promptly at 7:15 every morning by just walking
    	up the bed and into my face or nudging my hand.
    
    	Chloe's a mush and usually stays in one spot on the bed all 
    	night.  =)
    
    	JJ
    

    My two never wake me up either.  When I go to bed they go to bed.  They
    get up earlier in the morning than I, but the only time they come back
    once they've left is when the radio alarm goes on.  
    
    On the weekends when I sleep in they will occassionaly jump up to see
    if I am awake, but when they see I am not, they leave.
    
    I also have dry food down all the time and do not feed them wet food in
    the mornings (except Sunday mornings, that's their special treat).
    
    - Lauri

    Sharon,
    
    I'm hoping it's something they grow out of.  Shadow is wonderful,
    sleeping through the night, getting up if I do, but going right back to
    bed if I do.  Sammi, on the other hand, likes to bat the blinds or jump
    up and down chasing shadows on the wall right next to her daddy's head
    - not a good move.  Consequently, for now at least, we have to shut her
    downstairs - and Shadow too, just to be fair. I don't like it, but
    their daddy insists - and it does feel good to get a full night's
    sleep.
    
    Rebecca

    I haven't slept through the nights in the last three years since I 
    got the cats. Harley is the chow hound. Between 4:00 and 4:30 am his 
    tummy starts to growl (he has bowls of kibble, he wants canned food).
    His first tactic to claw the bed until you wake up, if that doesn't
    work he whacks on the head a few times. If I still ignore him he'll
    licking my ear or bite my nose. He has tried to need my bladder too.
    Of course there is the evil stare that wakes you out of a sound sleep.
    When all else fails he knows things off the dresser. Lately I escort
    him out of the bedroom and then shut the door. Which leads to clawing 
    the carpet and scratching the door. Thank god my other three cats don't
    partcipate.
    
    Thor is my kitty who loves shades and blinds. He loved my new cloth
    mini blinds so much chewed the drawstings in half. I now have a 
    useless miniblind. Thor is also the toilet paper shreader. There is
    nothing like the sound of the toilet paper being shreaded to pieces in
    the middle of the night.
    
    Who needs sleep. We want even discuss my husband snoring and the dog's
    whining.

    Well,  I think Kelsey senses that I've been talking about her behind
    her back because since I entered the base note she hasn't bothered me
    at all.  If she is still doing it to me, I guess I'm so tired I don't
    notice. She has, however started pestering my daughters at night
    instead.
    
    I leave dry food out all the time, and about 1 week ago I stopped wet
    food entirely because it gives Kelsey bloody diarhea.
    
    Kelsey is in heaven when she is licking the wax out of my two daughters
    ears.  (GROSS!)  She will lay next to them and just lick and suck and
    get her tongue as far in their ears as she can.  She'ld keep doing it
    forever if you didn't stop her.  The girls have told me that she has
    recently started waking them up in the middle of the night by cleaning
    out their ears.  She doesn't do it to me cuz I keep my ears cleaned
    out myself - thank you very much!  
    
    I wouldn't shut her out of my bedroom because when I shut Channel (my last
    Himmie that would pester me at night)  out she would try to dig her way
    under the door through the carpeting and she destroyed a section of it.
    By destroyed I mean it was totally gone - about a 4x4 inch square was
    totally ripped to shreads.  So, I cant afford to have Kelsey doing the 
    same thing to this carpet.  But, at least she's not bothering me
    anymore (for right now that is...)
    
    Sharon
    

    .21                 
    Sharon, I know what you mean about ear wax.  My sister is in constant 
    terror of our cats hooking the ear plugs out of her ears while she is 
    asleep, and eating them (she sleeps by day).  I too have two holes in 
    my carpet, each side of the door jams, right down to the bare boarding.  
    I don't know why they attacked the carpet right there, the door is open 
    always.
    
    Three of my four are getting pretty irritable what with the spring
    being here and the yard wet and full of snow, and tomorrows snow storm
    doesn't help.  I thought I had this problem licked, guess I should
    have known better--those three are giving me a hard time both ends 
    of the day now. They seem to be able to get by on 4 hours sleep a night, 
    I can't.

    Well I can't win for losing.  I really want Sammi and Shadow to be able
    to stay with us at night instead of downstairs, so I keep trying Sammi
    out.  Thursday night we went to bed at nine and she was wide awake at
    12:52 a.m.   Saturday night we went to bed at 11:00 and she was wide
    awake at 1:00 a.m.  Last night I woke up at 1:00 a.m. with my head
    falling off the bed.  When I raised up to turn over - there was Sammi,
    sound asleep sprawled all the way across my pillow. Of course, I was
    just so thrilled she was asleep I took the teeny corner that was left
    and made do.
    
    Rebecca

    Close the door.
    

    For the first year of kittenhood expect this. Until their bodies get
    older (re: into the middle of the second year), they will run around at
    all hours and drive you nuts. Once they are past the running into your
    room at 3 AM stage, then they climb on top of you and go to sleep on
    your stomach stage, to climbing in bed with you at 5 AM stage. I found
    closing the door in the middle of the night the best solution (I always
    get up to go to the bathroom). This way you don't feel like you are
    shutting them out before you go to bed (I hate that look in their eyes
    as you shut them out).
    
    If you don't get up in the middle of the night, then shut the door and
    keep them out. Your kitten will learn after a while and get used to the
    idea of not coming in your room in the night. However, be prepared to
    find things tipped over in the morning in the room the cat is kept in.
    For the first year many, many things were broken from a bratty little
    kitten trying to wake me up to come out and play. 
    
    Now that Carly is 3, she sleeps most of the time and doesn't wake me up
    until 6 AM (if the door stays open all night). This is just part of
    being a kitten!

    Arrgghh!  I'm going through this with a new kitty.  Unfortunately,
    he's not really a kitten any more.  He's 11 months old and probably
    weighs 10 lbs.  When he pounces on your sleeping body, you know you've
    been pounced on.  In the last two nights he's pounced on my head twice
    (with claws extended) and pounced on my chest once.  He's a very
    aggressive boy and when I try to push him off of me, he thinks it's time
    to attack instead of leaving me alone.  I've been popping him into the 
    Tokyo cage at night after he does this but I have to give the cage back 
    tomorrow and I'd better get him trained soon or he'll be spending a lot 
    of nights sleeping in the bathroom.
    
    Jan

    I guess I'm lucky, too.  When they first came to live with me , I let
    my Max and Dixie know that they could sleep anywhere in the house at
    night except for Mom and Dad's room.  (Kept bedroom door closed).
    I had no choice 'cause Dad's allergic.
    
    Good thing, too.  It turns out that one of my 8-month-old cats is
    a monster in disguise - Max weighs almost 14 pounds, and if he catches
    you lying down, he wants to lie right on your chest (ouch) and put
    his very furry face right in yours.  He has to be right at chin/mouth
    level, too, he won't lie on your stomach.  He constantly puts his 
    mouth and nose right on your mouth or nose (or eyes, or whatever else
    is on your face), and it tickles, not to mention cutting off your
    air passage.  
    
    He really isn't a monster, though, even though my husband has tagged
    him "Maxilla".  He's a real sweety, wouldn't hurt a thing.  
    
    His sister, Dixie, is smaller, but likes to bite anything that moves,
    especially if it wakes her!  (She doesn't bite hard - just enough to
    let you know you moved!).
    
    I admit that if hubby's out of town, kitties sleep with Mom.  You
    can always tell when that happens 'cause my face is blue and my arms
    and legs leak when I drink water! ha ha
    
    Sharon 
    

    Though cats sleep a lot more than people, they're seminocturnal animals
    ("look at those eyes"), and our "housecats" are only a bit removed from
    their predatory heritage.  I find it helpful to remind myself what kind
    of animal I'm sharing my life with by regularly visiting "small" (e.g.,
    bobcats) and large cats in zoos and watching nature videos featuring cats.
    
    It's too easy to forget, especially with some of the more exotic breeds,
    just what kind of animals these are.
    
    len.
     

    Re. -1

    That's right!  Since cats are smaller, we tend to forget they're real
    felines.  The other day the National Geographic magazine on TV featured
    a program just on cats where they showed the similarity between
    household cat behavior and *bigger* felines behavior, namely lions,
    tigers and leopards.  You could hardly tell the difference, except for
    the size and the fur markings...

    The program was titled "Cats - Caressing the Tiger", which was
    apparently a quotation of a poet who said: "God created cats so that
    man could caress the tiger". I thought it was a wonderful line and just
    wish I knew who was the poet who wrote that (the program didn't say). 
    Anybody knows?

    My parents kitten, Dirce, (introduced in the appropriate note) used to
    play all over their bed during the night, preventing everybody from
    sleeping.  She is better now she's older.  But she does have a very
    handy characteristic: my sister is the first one to get up in the
    morning and if she doesn't get up when the alarm clock sounds, Dirce
    bumps on her bedroom door until she wakes up and gets her breakfast. 
    Much better than an alarm clock, I should say! :-)

    Eduarda

    FT:  My little "Mondo kitty" and how nice he is turning out!  I can't
    wait to show him!