Kneading (and more) at night

Hi,

Frank is neutered and is about 18 months old. He has been sleeping
overnight with us for a good while now. He doesn't go out much because
the weather is extremely cold. We try to give him blocks of playtime to
tire him out, especially at night before bed.

He initially settles in quite well, but when one of us gets up to answer
nature's call, Frank gets into a pattern of kneading and -- well, what
else can you call it -- humping. He leaves the room, goes downstairs,
comes back up, gets his hand quarters in an advantageous position and
goes to town, so to speak. This can happen three or four times easily
in a night.

Aside from shutting him out of our room (which has no heat vent and gets
cold), is there any way to modify this behavior? He used to just knead
a bit and settle down, but now he goes on for a good while, and the
humping especially is pretty distracting. I don't like to hear him cry
at the closed door, but we need our sleep.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Dave S

"Another Dave" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Frank is neutered and is about 18 months old. He has been sleeping
overnight with us for a good while now. He doesn't go out much because
the weather is extremely cold. We try to give him blocks of playtime to
tire him out, especially at night before bed.

He initially settles in quite well, but when one of us gets up to answer
nature's call, Frank gets into a pattern of kneading and -- well, what
else can you call it -- humping. He leaves the room, goes downstairs,
comes back up, gets his hand quarters in an advantageous position and
goes to town, so to speak. This can happen three or four times easily
in a night.

Aside from shutting him out of our room (which has no heat vent and gets
cold), is there any way to modify this behavior? He used to just knead
a bit and settle down, but now he goes on for a good while, and the
humping especially is pretty distracting. I don't like to hear him cry
at the closed door, but we need our sleep.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.


My cat Cheeky, who has been extremely polite for the three
years she has been with us, just started hassling me long before
I wake up. She wants to play. Although this is not the same thing
as what you are experiencing, the end result is the same--not
enough sleep for the humans!

I have begun grabbing her and hugging her and kissing her
and just generally being up in her face and holding her
in a way she hates every time she climbs on me and meows
to wake me up.I don't think I would have the heart to try to
startle her, but I imagine that might work too. With Frank
you might pick him up and tussle with him or put him
down on the floor--anything to break the "mood!" Good
luck.

"Another Dave" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Frank is neutered and is about 18 months old. He has been sleeping
overnight with us for a good while now. He doesn't go out much because
the weather is extremely cold. We try to give him blocks of playtime to
tire him out, especially at night before bed.

He initially settles in quite well, but when one of us gets up to answer
nature's call, Frank gets into a pattern of kneading and -- well, what
else can you call it -- humping. He leaves the room, goes downstairs,
comes back up, gets his hand quarters in an advantageous position and
goes to town, so to speak. This can happen three or four times easily
in a night.


You may want to have your vet check him and make sure he doesn't have an
undescended testicle.

--
-Kelly
kelly at farringtons dot net
"Wake up, and smell the cat food" -TMBG

Another Dave wrote:

gets his hand quarters in an advantageous position

Whoops, that would be "hind quarters" Cats got paws; this much I knows.