Crating At Night

[Kgraham1511]

I have a 3.5 half month old kitten. We crate him at night. Recently he has stopped using the litter box within his crate. He has a larger one in my spare bathroom he uses all the time, excpet for when he is in his crate at night.

Is it ok for him to hold his bladder during the night? Could it possibly be his bed is to close to the box in the crate?

Just wondering if I need to figure something else out at night before problems arise.


We put him a crate at night because we are afraid he might get into trouble while we are asleep. During the day he is free to roam the house and mostly sleeps.

 

[She's a witch]

cats are very clean animals by nature and it's possible he doesn't want to use the litter box where he sleeps and has his food (if that's the case). Can you cat proof your place instead of crating him? Is the crate at least located in your bedroom when he could see you or is he by himself? Personally I would never crate a cat baby by himself, I would find alternatives.
It's also a little bit weird that he sleeps through the day and night (I'm assuming he sleeps in the crate, what else can he do there?), is he otherwise healthy? 3.5 month kittens usually are full of energy.

 

[Kgraham1511]

He has tons of energy at around 5p when I get home and in the morning. Sorry made it sound like he sleeps all the time. The crate is downstairs and not in my bedroom.

Just last week he had a check up and was cleared as healthy.

The main reason for crating at night is because if our 2 story home. We keep the bedroom door open during the night due the it getting so hot at night. During the day we keep the bedroom door closed.

I just haven't kitten proofed our bedroom. And mainly know cats are active and mischievous at night.

 

[She's a witch]

Glad that he's active after all! I would definitely cat proof the whole place and let him roam. It's possible that he will sleep through the night now that he got used to that in the crate.
Cats are naturally more active at night, but they also adjust to his humans schedule. One of my kittens, that was always super hyper, active during a day, always went to sleep when we were in bed. There are some tricks you can do, like make sure you play a lot with him before bedtime, keep him awake whenever you're home etc, that way he will be tired enough at nighttime. I'm sure he will be so much better when not crated, he must be very lonely there, he's so small...

 

[Kgraham1511]

We have been playing for about a good 1 hours at when I get home from work. And for about 15 minutes at lunch time. I would feel bad if he had all that energy and to be locked up.

I have been having a hard time letting him roam the house just during the day. My partner does work with computers. So lots of cords and small parts sometimes get left lying around. And the bedroom being open at night just opens up a lot more things he can get into.

Just trying to weigh the pros and cons of him having access to certain rooms.

 

[Kgraham1511]

And he is going to be a big boy. He is a maine coon mix from what our feline vet specialist told us. Right now he is about 5 pounds.

 

[She's a witch]

such a beautiful big small boy 3.5 months is still considered a baby and in ideal world, he would still be with his litter mates. There are number of members here on this forum working with computers and I'm sure they will be able to advice how it's best to catproof cords and other accessories. But you need to train yourselves anyway to put the things and small object away, my 2yo cat is still the fan of biting things just lying around. So even when yours is adult, he may get into troubles if you won't change some things.

 

[Azazel]

I would vote for kitty proofing your home rather than crating at night. There are lots of things you can do cat proof your home. For example, Home Depot sells cable organizers that you can put your cords in to keep them from being chewed.

The activeness and mischievousness of cats is why we love them. I don't think limiting their movement at night to a crate is the solution. Your cat may develop other behavioral problems as cats don't really like being confined to small spaces. My 3 cats are all trained to go to sleep with us at night. We keep on a strict schedule which has made them accustomed to our routine. As soon as we go to bed at night they are in their little beds (okay, sometimes it takes them an extra 10 minutes of running around and getting rid of their zoomies... but they eventually come to bed) with us and they sleep until we get up.

 

[Kgraham1511]

Yep. I do a floor check every morning and before bed. And cables have been bound and sprayed with no chew.

I'm thinking to cat proof my bedroom whenever I get home from work and leaving the door open. That way he can check it out and get used to the room before having unsupervised access.

 

[Kgraham1511]

Also have been vacuuming more than ever lol

 

[susanm9006]

Crating does not work long term for cats. If you cannot give him free roam at night then find a room that can be his place for the night so that he has room to run and play.

 

[Kgraham1511]

We never have planned to long term crate. It mainly has been for his safety since he is only 3 months.

 

[DreamerRose]

If you've got your cords fixed - you may need some Chewsafe for the finer cords - let your kitten out. He probably will want to sleep with you through the night. Most of us with cats sleep with them. It's like being back all heaped up with his litter mates. I love snuggling with my kitties.

Cats are crepuscular, meaning they are active at dawn and dusk. It's unlikely that your kitten will get into anything during the night.

 

[Kgraham1511]

Well I'm convinced no more crate at night. Lots of work to do when I get home. Will be cleaning the bedroom top to bottom lol

 

[1 bruce 1]

I will be the odd one out and say Baby Girl was crated at night for about a year, but the cage was large (Great Dane size). She was one to chew cords, knock furniture onto herself and we just generally worried what she'd do. She hurt herself a few times while she was loose in the house when we weren't around, so until she grew up we did cage her at night.
We took the cage down but I wish we would have left it up so she could do her trick. She knew at night she got her favorite treats. All I had to do was say "bed" and she'd leap into the cage waiting for her bedtime snack

 

[Kgraham1511]

So last night was the first night for him to be out.

After jumping up and down from the bed. Bitting toes and thighs we ended up shutting the bedroom door. Luckily it was cool last night and our bedroom wasn't too hot.

Hopefully after a few days we can leave our bedroom door open at night and his schedule will adjust.

 

[1 bruce 1]

We once took in several barn cats into the house, and the adjustment was very smooth. Until bed time. They played the same game, bite the thing that moves (toes and fingers, under a blanket, were their favorite) but after a few days they stopped and learned to like sleeping on a bed with humans.
I bet it won't take long before he adjusts

 

[Kgraham1511]

Thanks we are hoping so.

I think he was just excited to be free all night last night. Lol

 

[1 bruce 1]

Thanks we are hoping so.

I think he was just excited to be free all night last night. Lol

They're like little kids, excitement wears off quick and they adjust

 

[Azazel]

In my experience shutting the bedroom door is worse than leaving it open. I would suggest just leaving it open and letting him do whatever he wants the first few nights. The trick is that you cannot have any response whatsoever to anything he does. You have to stay perfectly still and silent. Eventually he will learn that his antics have no response and will stop.

Also, you should play with him right before bed. Give him a good workout session and a bedtime snack and it should help him calm down and sleep when you do.