Is your cat keeping you awake at night by running around your home in the middle of the night? Perhaps you’re well accustomed to hearing your kitty clumsily climb onto your bedroom dresser or desk during the wee hours of the night. Or maybe you are lucky enough to have a cat scratching at your door, pawing at your face, or walking around on your bed begging for food at 5:00 am.
Cats are nocturnal animals by nature, which is why they tend to sleep the day away and cause havoc during the night. This behaviour causes many owners to lose valuable sleeping hours, so how can you stop it?
The first thing you should understand is that you should not respond to this behaviour if you want your kitty to stop it. If your cat scratches at your door every morning at 3:00 am expecting you to play with her, do not give in to the request by playing with her. If your kitty receives attention after this behaviour she will continue to scratch at your door every morning because she now knows (or thinks she knows) that you will play with her if she continues scratching.
The best way to get your feline friend to sleep at night is to monitor her sleeping hours during the day and to give her adequate playtime during the evening. Try to make sure that kitty is not sleeping all day long, especially during the late evening (as this means that she will be re-energized during the night). If you notice your kitty is sleeping too much during the day, try to wake her up to play with you. You can even try to schedule play-times throughout the day with different kinds of toys to make sure that all of your kitty’s interests are fulfilled.
If you’re unable to set aside time for this interaction during the day (as is the case for people who work all day long), you might want to consider adopting a companion for your kitty. Although this option is only appropriate for those who can handle two pets, it can be quite beneficial during both the day and the night. Cats that have a friend to play with will become less bored with their surroundings, which will increase physical activity and play-times for your kitty. This will also allow you more sleep at night. Instead of bothering you to play, your kitty will now spend the night playing with her new friend.
Do you have any useful tips for dealing with a cat’s midnight antics? Leave your tips in the comment box below, we’d love to hear them.
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If your cat is keeping you awake at night then you might want to check out our latest post, above, for some tips to help both of you to get a good night’s sleep.