Sleep deprivation and my new kitty

Hi,

I just got my first cat, my first pet actually, a few weeks ago.
She's about 12 weeks old now, and the biggest problem I am having is
keeping her entertained and managing my own sleep around that.

She's alone at home all day, so I imagine she sleeps a lot. After I
come home, I notice she tends to stay in whatever room I'm in. It is
quite cute, and I enjoy her company very much, but the problem I have
is tiring her out so I can get a good night's rest.

I've bought her lots of toys and I've tried playing with her for three
or four hours some nights and she is still going like the Energizer
bunny - but I don't have the luxury of playing for several hours most
nights, though I try to play with her for half an hour to an hour at
least.

Usually she wakes me up in the middle of the night, or if I'm lucky,
at around 5 am or so in the morning. I've resorted to placing her
outside my bedroom and closing the door when this happens, but she
cries incessantly for the next few hours until I get up.

Even when I go to the bathroom, she cries and cries because I have the
door closed.

I'd like some advice on the best way for me to get some sleep, while
allowing my cat to sleep with me when she is sleepy, and secondly how
to prevent her from crying when we're not in the same room.

A lot of people have suggested a second cat, which I would gladly
adopt, but my building has a one cat rule.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,
Steve

"Steve" wrote in message
om...
Hi,

I just got my first cat, my first pet actually, a few weeks ago.
She's about 12 weeks old now, and the biggest problem I am having is
keeping her entertained and managing my own sleep around that.

She's alone at home all day, so I imagine she sleeps a lot. After I
come home, I notice she tends to stay in whatever room I'm in. It is
quite cute, and I enjoy her company very much, but the problem I have
is tiring her out so I can get a good night's rest.

I've bought her lots of toys and I've tried playing with her for three
or four hours some nights and she is still going like the Energizer
bunny - but I don't have the luxury of playing for several hours most
nights, though I try to play with her for half an hour to an hour at
least.

Usually she wakes me up in the middle of the night, or if I'm lucky,
at around 5 am or so in the morning. I've resorted to placing her
outside my bedroom and closing the door when this happens, but she
cries incessantly for the next few hours until I get up.

Even when I go to the bathroom, she cries and cries because I have the
door closed.

I'd like some advice on the best way for me to get some sleep, while
allowing my cat to sleep with me when she is sleepy, and secondly how
to prevent her from crying when we're not in the same room.

A lot of people have suggested a second cat, which I would gladly
adopt, but my building has a one cat rule.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,
Steve

She'll grow out of that playful age all too soon. In the meantime you might
want to get something like the "Panic Mouse" that is automated (just be sure
to only let her play with it when you're supervising so it doesn't get
wrapped around her neck): http://www.panicmouseinc.com/. She can play with
this while you do something else (again, in the same room).

Personally, I wouldn't lock her out of my bedroom, but I love having my
kitties sleep with me so that's a personal choice. You might try putting
catnipped infused toys in your bedroom and if she bothers you in the middle
of the night "hiss" at her (like a mother cat would do a bothersome kitten)
to gently discourage her from the behavior you want to discontinue.

Other than that, just wait it out until she grows out of the playful stage
and starts sleeping all night.

Hugs,

CatNipped

"Steve" wrote in message
om...

SNIP

I'd like some advice on the best way for me to get some sleep, while
allowing my cat to sleep with me when she is sleepy, and secondly how
to prevent her from crying when we're not in the same room.

A lot of people have suggested a second cat, which I would gladly
adopt, but my building has a one cat rule.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,
Steve


Gee Steve, I'm afraid you have a perfectly normal kitten on your hands.
Proper sleep is going to be a precious commodity for a while. Your kitten
will grow out of this... I know this does'nt get you any more sleep NOW....

Ypu're doing all the right things... My only thought would be to adjust the
kittens feeding scedule to encourage sleeping at night. Eventually your
kitten will adjust more to your scedule, but instinctively they are
nocturnal creatures.

Hope you get some sleep soon.
--
Mathew
Butler to 2 kittens: Chablis & Muscat
En Vino Veritas

Jeez. ONE cat rule? So ridiculous. Is it at ALL possible to talk to
management? Sometimes, if you just formally request it, or offer a deposit,
they will write something into your lease. It has worked twice for me both
on limit (2 cat limit but I had 3) and on declawing (I will NOT declaw.
Would just go somewhere else, but they saw the light and also I showed them
my cat furniture and how cats can be trained and claws trimmed.) It is
really the best possible solution. I will say, that as she gets older she
WILL adjust to your schedule, but remember she is a baby and they just are
not "up to" that level of understanding yet. Nor is their body on the same
schedule as an adult cat. I did find that even with two youngsters sleep
could be a problem. I played with them as late as possible and then fed
them. IT seemed to hold them off longer. In general, I had no trouble
through the night, just with early awakenings.

"Steve" wrote in message
om...
Hi,

I just got my first cat, my first pet actually, a few weeks ago.
She's about 12 weeks old now, and the biggest problem I am having is
keeping her entertained and managing my own sleep around that.

She's alone at home all day, so I imagine she sleeps a lot. After I
come home, I notice she tends to stay in whatever room I'm in. It is
quite cute, and I enjoy her company very much, but the problem I have
is tiring her out so I can get a good night's rest.

I've bought her lots of toys and I've tried playing with her for three
or four hours some nights and she is still going like the Energizer
bunny - but I don't have the luxury of playing for several hours most
nights, though I try to play with her for half an hour to an hour at
least.

Usually she wakes me up in the middle of the night, or if I'm lucky,
at around 5 am or so in the morning. I've resorted to placing her
outside my bedroom and closing the door when this happens, but she
cries incessantly for the next few hours until I get up.

Even when I go to the bathroom, she cries and cries because I have the
door closed.

I'd like some advice on the best way for me to get some sleep, while
allowing my cat to sleep with me when she is sleepy, and secondly how
to prevent her from crying when we're not in the same room.

A lot of people have suggested a second cat, which I would gladly
adopt, but my building has a one cat rule.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,
Steve

Hi Mathew,

It's good to know she is entirely normal.

What do you recommend in terms of a feeding schedule? She never eats
what I lay down for her in one sitting. I'm feeding her dry kibbles
(Natural Choice), and I leave treats around the house for her to find
(Science Diet).

Cheers,
Steve

Alas, it is a condominium corporation and I am on the board of
directors. I brought the issue up in one of the meetings but I was
defeated.

They did mention that enforcing the 1 pet rule for cats is usually not
done, but one of the problems is that I am a director, so I am looked
up on to set an example. Maybe I won't be running for relection.

Thanks for your advice.

Cheers,
Steve

Thanks for the advice - I haven't gotten her an automated toy yet, so
that might be a good alternative - I'll check that out.

I will also work on my hissing skills.

wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi Mathew,

It's good to know she is entirely normal.

What do you recommend in terms of a feeding schedule? She never eats
what I lay down for her in one sitting. I'm feeding her dry kibbles
(Natural Choice), and I leave treats around the house for her to find
(Science Diet).

Cheers,
Steve

First, I'd stop with the treats, this might be encouraging the continual
running around. If she's only 12 weeks old & you're using high quality
kibble (I've seen Natural Choice, looks like pretty good stuff) She should
only need 1/4 cup per day. I'd try to get her to eat about 2 hours before
you're ready to go down, followed by high energy play time. When you want
to go to sleep, try calming her with a petting/brushing session....

Of course, NONE of this may work.... But she will grow out of the all night
zoomie faze... Eventually.

Have fun, please post some pics if you can.

--
Mathew
Butler to 2 kittens: Chablis & Muscat
En Vino Veritas

wrote in message
ups.com...
Alas, it is a condominium corporation and I am on the board of
directors. I brought the issue up in one of the meetings but I was
defeated.

They did mention that enforcing the 1 pet rule for cats is usually not
done, but one of the problems is that I am a director, so I am looked
up on to set an example. Maybe I won't be running for relection.

Thanks for your advice.

Cheers,
Steve


Wow. That is really sad. I can never figure out a 1 pet rule anyway since
all pets, cats and dogs, generally behave much better if they have a
companion.

wrote in message
ups.com...
Alas, it is a condominium corporation and I am on the board of
directors. I brought the issue up in one of the meetings but I was
defeated.

They did mention that enforcing the 1 pet rule for cats is usually not
done, but one of the problems is that I am a director, so I am looked
up on to set an example. Maybe I won't be running for relection.

Thanks for your advice.

I live in a condo with a one pet rule too. Luckily, we a fairly private
people and hardly ever do our neighbors come in. The only ones who know we
have more than one pet also have a couple pets too, so we're keeping each
other's secret I also have the cover of working at an animal shelter, so
I often say "oh, they aren't all mine" even if they are.

It's too bad you can't have one more. Watching two kittens play together is
so much fun!

About your sleep issue. Try feeding her regular meals instead of
free-feeding. Give the last one close to bedtime. When I had two kittens,
unfortunately, I did have to lock them out of the bedroom. I felt like such
a meanie, but they had each other and didn't seem to mind. I only had one
other adult cat, and she acted like she was going to die if she couldn't
come in the bedroom. So, I put food, water, and litterbox in the bedroom
and she had to stay in. We did this until the kittens were about 6 months
old and able to stay sort-of calm during the night.

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