kitten keeps me up at night help

[ejwmla]

my kitten now sleeps all day & at night when i want to sleep she wakes up & climbs in my bed walks all over me & pounces & spats all in my face. i pick her up & put her down on the floor but she just comes right back up. i have tried distracting her with toys but in stead of playing with the toys she then starts biting my hands. is there something i could do at night to keep her away from getting in the bed? i dont get to fall asleep til about 2am & then i get woke up by her about 5am

[TheAntiPam]

Sounds very familiar! Kittens can be very pushy, but so sweet!

One answer can be to get another kitten of approximately the same age. Then they can bother each other instead of you. It really isn't much more expensive, and your kittens will have companionship while you are away. It often makes them less demanding.

Another aspect is that your kitten will probably grow out of this stage. You are on the right track, just be patient. (I know that is difficult on short sleep and with nipped hands!)

You can also try the old parental standby -- keep the kitten awake more and play with it more during YOUR hours...then the cat will need to rest more while you rest.

Good luck. There is no instant fix, but you can get through this! Give your kitty a rub on the head for me!

[nsweezie]

Friends of mine are going through the same thing now. They just got a kitten, named Jack, and he is a pest at night.
Unfortunatly they both work during the day, so the cat sleeps when they are out. By night he is wired, and won't go to sleep.
I had suggested that they get another kitten, but they aren't in the position to right now.
So what they did was run the kitten ragged for about an hour before bed. They would have the kitten running all around their apartment non stop, and eventually he would be too tired to play any more, and he was better about sleeping at night.
It is true too that they grow out of it. Clyde and Scooter drove me crazy when they were little, they were always breaking things, knocking things over, keeping me up etc. I love kittens, but I think that my next cat will be an adult.

[ejwmla]

thanx for all the great ideas. i will try tonight to keep her up so maybe she will start getting tired by the time i go to bed. if i could get another kitten i would so the one i have now will have another kitten to play with but i already have a hamster a dog the kitten & an adult kitten & it is hard enough keeping up with all of them. i tried letting my older cat play with the kitten but i dont think he likes the idea of a new cat being in 'his' house

[Pam]

Yes nsweezie...I agree with you! Sometimes it's nice when a kitten reaches adulthood and they adapt a little easier to our day/night schedules. I think adopting an adult makes a lot of sense in that regard. My cats are 5 and 8 years old and, although they do sleep at night, they get up when they hear the birds chirping in the morning, which can sometimes be 4:00 a.m.! Then they feel they have to let me know that the world is waking up!