Sleepless in Seattle

Well actually London, England.

We adopted two 9 week old kittens seven days ago and have had a week
of sleepless nights. They sleep on and off most of the day and come
the night time they are fully awake and playing with each other,
wrestling and running up and down the hall way.
They are not allowed out as yet and we don't want to keep the door to
our bedroom closed (which seems the logical solution) in case they
require any assistance during the night (get stuck or cant get down
from some where). At present we have put their bed beneath our bed
(not that they use it much anyway).
I manage to keep them awake all day yesterday (even when they wanted
to go to sleep) and that managed to do the trick. They pretty much
slept all of last night. However, I felt it was cruel as every time
they wanted to sleep during the day yesterday, I was waking them up
and making them play and as I work from home I wont always have time
to keep them on their toes all day.

Could someone please enlighten me as to how we can manage to get a
good night sleep with out me forcing them to stay awake during the
day? We really would appreciate it.


Tia

"just call me J" ImNot@ThisAddress wrote in message
news
Well actually London, England.


Could someone please enlighten me as to how we can manage to get a
good night sleep with out me forcing them to stay awake during the
day? We really would appreciate it.


Quite frankly, I think you're worrying unnecessarily about the possible
problems that might arise if you close your bedroom door. I have twice had
sets of two kittens in my house, and each time, the bedroom door has been
firmly closed at night. Once there was an event in the middle of the night
that involved an expensive ceramic candlestick being shattered by two
wide-awake kittens running over it, but other than that, it's never been an
issue. One of the points of having two rather than one is that they provide
company for each other, so you don't have to worry about that. And if
anything *does* happen (unlikely as it is), the crashing, banging and mewing
will wake you.

I suggest you learn to close the door or, if you're really worried, have a
safe room you can lock them in overnight, with things to play with. Then
invest in some earplugs (they will still run around and make noise), settle
down and get a good night's sleep :-)

"just call me J" ImNot@ThisAddress wrote in message
news
Well actually London, England.


Could someone please enlighten me as to how we can manage to get a
good night sleep with out me forcing them to stay awake during the
day? We really would appreciate it.


Quite frankly, I think you're worrying unnecessarily about the possible
problems that might arise if you close your bedroom door. I have twice had
sets of two kittens in my house, and each time, the bedroom door has been
firmly closed at night. Once there was an event in the middle of the night
that involved an expensive ceramic candlestick being shattered by two
wide-awake kittens running over it, but other than that, it's never been an
issue. One of the points of having two rather than one is that they provide
company for each other, so you don't have to worry about that. And if
anything *does* happen (unlikely as it is), the crashing, banging and mewing
will wake you.

I suggest you learn to close the door or, if you're really worried, have a
safe room you can lock them in overnight, with things to play with. Then
invest in some earplugs (they will still run around and make noise), settle
down and get a good night's sleep :-)

"just call me J" ImNot@ThisAddress wrote in message
news
Could someone please enlighten me as to how we can manage to get a
good night sleep with out me forcing them to stay awake during the
day? We really would appreciate it.


Tia.

welcome to the world of kittenhood. Just like babies, they will keep you
awake for a while. Do NOT give them any sort of attention at night. If
they pounce on you or look for loving while your sleeping, do not give it to
them, it will only encourage them to do it again. Just take them, and put
them on the floor.

You can close your door, or find a safe room for them, but this will not
teach them the manners they need. As soon as they have access to you
sleeping again, they'll be all over you. They don't understand that humans
need 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, cause they sure don't.

Good luck

"just call me J" ImNot@ThisAddress wrote in message
news
Could someone please enlighten me as to how we can manage to get a
good night sleep with out me forcing them to stay awake during the
day? We really would appreciate it.


Tia.

welcome to the world of kittenhood. Just like babies, they will keep you
awake for a while. Do NOT give them any sort of attention at night. If
they pounce on you or look for loving while your sleeping, do not give it to
them, it will only encourage them to do it again. Just take them, and put
them on the floor.

You can close your door, or find a safe room for them, but this will not
teach them the manners they need. As soon as they have access to you
sleeping again, they'll be all over you. They don't understand that humans
need 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, cause they sure don't.

Good luck

Subject: Sleepless in Seattle
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From: just call me J ImNot@ThisAddress
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 09:48:27 +0100
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Well actually London, England.

We adopted two 9 week old kittens seven days ago and have had a week
of sleepless nights. They sleep on and off most of the day and come
the night time they are fully awake and playing with each other,
wrestling and running up and down the hall way.
They are not allowed out as yet and we don't want to keep the door to
our bedroom closed (which seems the logical solution) in case they
require any assistance during the night (get stuck or cant get down
from some where). At present we have put their bed beneath our bed
(not that they use it much anyway).
I manage to keep them awake all day yesterday (even when they wanted
to go to sleep) and that managed to do the trick. They pretty much
slept all of last night. However, I felt it was cruel as every time
they wanted to sleep during the day yesterday, I was waking them up
and making them play and as I work from home I wont always have time
to keep them on their toes all day.

Could someone please enlighten me as to how we can manage to get a
good night sleep with out me forcing them to stay awake during the
day? We really would appreciate it.


Tia







Lock them up in a separate room when you wish to take your rest.
Man... It seems to me that simple survival instincts would kick in somewhere.
How brainless can a person be?

Subject: Sleepless in Seattle
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From: just call me J ImNot@ThisAddress
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 09:48:27 +0100
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Well actually London, England.

We adopted two 9 week old kittens seven days ago and have had a week
of sleepless nights. They sleep on and off most of the day and come
the night time they are fully awake and playing with each other,
wrestling and running up and down the hall way.
They are not allowed out as yet and we don't want to keep the door to
our bedroom closed (which seems the logical solution) in case they
require any assistance during the night (get stuck or cant get down
from some where). At present we have put their bed beneath our bed
(not that they use it much anyway).
I manage to keep them awake all day yesterday (even when they wanted
to go to sleep) and that managed to do the trick. They pretty much
slept all of last night. However, I felt it was cruel as every time
they wanted to sleep during the day yesterday, I was waking them up
and making them play and as I work from home I wont always have time
to keep them on their toes all day.

Could someone please enlighten me as to how we can manage to get a
good night sleep with out me forcing them to stay awake during the
day? We really would appreciate it.


Tia







Lock them up in a separate room when you wish to take your rest.
Man... It seems to me that simple survival instincts would kick in somewhere.
How brainless can a person be?

"~*Connie*~" wrote in message
...


You can close your door, or find a safe room for them, but this will not
teach them the manners they need. As soon as they have access to you
sleeping again, they'll be all over you.

Just a small point - the whole idea of having the bedroom door closed from
the word go is that this teaches the kittens that this is the way the world
is, and the way it will continue forever. My bedroom door is always closed
and the cats know they don't get to sleep on the bed with me. The only
exception I've ever made to this rule is when I've moved house and for the
first night or so the cats are really disoriented. If I'm lying in in the
morning, the door gets opened and the cats get to come and laze about with
me if they wish - sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. But I need my
sleep and, much as I love my cats, having a good night's sleep is more
important than anthropomorphising about their hurt feelings cos they don't
get to curl up in bed with me!

"~*Connie*~" wrote in message
...


You can close your door, or find a safe room for them, but this will not
teach them the manners they need. As soon as they have access to you
sleeping again, they'll be all over you.

Just a small point - the whole idea of having the bedroom door closed from
the word go is that this teaches the kittens that this is the way the world
is, and the way it will continue forever. My bedroom door is always closed
and the cats know they don't get to sleep on the bed with me. The only
exception I've ever made to this rule is when I've moved house and for the
first night or so the cats are really disoriented. If I'm lying in in the
morning, the door gets opened and the cats get to come and laze about with
me if they wish - sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. But I need my
sleep and, much as I love my cats, having a good night's sleep is more
important than anthropomorphising about their hurt feelings cos they don't
get to curl up in bed with me!

In addition to the other good advice people have posted -- sometimes
time is all it takes. When I adopted my girls, the shelter gave me a bunch
of papers and one of the things it said was that it typically takes about
two months for cats to adapt to a new home, so give them at least that
long before giving up. Also, with 9 week cats (mine were 10 weeks),
in two months they'll be twice the age they are now and it does make a
difference.

I remember being terribly frustrated with all kinds of kitten behavior --
though overall I loved having them, watching them, playing with them.
One day I looked up, realized that they had calmed down a lot and my
frustration level was a lot lower -- and that it was also just about two
months since they had come home.

When I adopted them, I also considered, instead, a pair of 3-year-old
cats that were at the shelter. I could have taken them home the same
day (since they'd been spayed long ago), plus they were declawed, so
I wouldn't have had to deal with scratching training, yet would have had
zero guilt, since I didn't do it to them.

But noooo, I thought the kittens were cuter, in part because they were
active, while the 3-year-olds just lay in their cage sleeping. In the
following months I had many occasions when I wished for cats that
would just lie around sleeping instead of charging around acting like
kittens. :-) But it does get better, almost before you know it.

C, the non-furry one.
Mandy & Judy, the furry ones.