Either The Cats Go Or My Wife Goes....help!

js12

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Hi everyone,

We got two Bengal kittens about a year and a half ago for our daughters. The cats are sisters from the same litter. The cats are very sweet and our daughters love them to death.

So here is my problem. They don't let us sleep at night. We thought they would start to outgrow this, but they haven't.

If we let them in our room at night they will sleep for a while, but then there comes a point where they are running around like lunatics, playing, knocking things over, clawing our feet through the sheets, etc. Clearly they are not ready to sleep with us.

For now, we keep them locked out of our room. The problem with this is that they meow on and off all night long and bang on the door because they want to come in the room, and it keeps my wife awake. My daughters and I can sleep through a marching band, so it's not a problem for us. But for my wife, it's become a huge problem.

It has been so bad lately that she really wants to give the cats away. I told her we can't because our daughters will be devastated. So now my wife wants to leave and go stay somewhere else until we get this resolved.

I don't want to give the cats away, but I don't want my wife to leave either (although I would choose the cats over my wife - don't tell her that).

I have tried playing with them to tire them out, feeding them, spraying them with water when they start meowing, but nothing seems to work. These rascals just keep coming back for more! I even had to change the door knobs because they figured out how to open the doors!

If anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate it very much.

Thanks!
 

susanm9006

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If you don’t have another room to shut the cats into for the night, there are wonderful two story cat kennels you can purchase that they could comfortably spend the night in.
 

di and bob

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Lock them in your daughter's room, the kennel idea above is a good one, as far away from your room as possible. I lock two of my biggest brats in the shop every night. Do you have a garage or shop? They have TV, heated beds, food and water, so don't think they have it bad! My little girl cried at first, but now she doesn't mind at all, I give them each a treat when I bring them out. In fact, now, two years later, they go to the door in the evening, wanting to go to the shop!
 

danteshuman

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They are your daughter's cats. I vote they should be sleeping with your daughters. Also your daughters should be keeping a litter box in their room, cleaning the litter boxes, feeding them. If it is age appropriate they can harness train your little night time devils. If not, you can. A daily walk should help with all that energy that breed is famous for. It might even be better if two people (like your daughters) walk them so they can explore separately. Pets take work. It is why parents often use pets to teach children responsibility. Unfortunately you got 2 cats that are from a high energy breed. It took my hyper punk 7 & 1/2 years to calm down. I'm not sure how long Bengals take to calm down into a more sedate pace. Still at 10 years old Dante the punk, still has his daily moments. About an hour before I go to sleep each night I play with him so I can sleep. (He has been downgraded to punk, when he was a kitten he was a little terrorist ;) )
 
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js12

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Thank you for the ideas everyone.

Unfortunately we don't have another separate room to keep them in. They have the run of the living room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom. We only have 2 bedrooms. Ours and our daughter's.

We can't have them sleep in our daughter's room. They do the same thing in their room that they do in ours, so our daughters would be the ones not sleeping, and we can't have that. They are young and need their sleep.

I may look into the kennel idea. Seems like that might be our only option. I just feel bad doing that to them because they like to run around and play with each other at night. But if it stops the meowing and banging on the door, I may have to do it. I am just not convinced it will stop the meowing. They may just continue meowing inside of the kennel.

I am all ears if anyone else has some suggestions for me.

Thanks!
 

alphakitty

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Hey, there's lots of babblers out there. However, two things are immediately apparent to me, 1) they are still adolescent kitties, and 2) they are bored poo.pless and that's because the kitties are being kept indoors. Kitties really need to roam outdoors to be genuinely happy and healthy, in my opinion. Unfortunately, in a lot of places it is really not safe for the kitties to be outside, but in those scenarios, why have the kitties in first place? For your convenience?

Here's how I solve that problem when I introduce new kitties into my home, I have a very large indoor bottomless cage that I bought via eBay for $60 from Communist China (what doesn't come from there?). I line the bottom with a plastic tarp, overlay that with a soft blanket and towels. Water and food bowls at the other end. I put them in at night and cover the entire cage with a sheet, while allowing an inch above the floor for free-air-flow. That puts them to sleep at night. During the day, I let'm out of the cage, they romp around and when old enough, I let them play durring the day outdoors. I scheduale the dinner dish offerings to train them to come inside at night so that they don't play in the empty and apparently safe streets at night.

If you would like to know the source for the cage, I'd be happy to supply the eBay contact information. I am not affiliated with the vendor other than having purchased a cage from them four years ago. The cage is six feet long, by four feet wide, three feet high. It has a top door, two small side 'guillotine' doors and a large front swinging door. Its large enough for me to sit inside with them with me leaning my head forward and I'm 6'1.

Best Regards for All,

AlphaKitty
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danteshuman

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Harness walks might be the solution. Outside time was the only thing that calmed my punk down. Speaking of which I'm going outside for an hour so my clingy punk will get his bird 'hunting' time ;)
 

Shane Kent

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Kittens don't need to roam outside at night they need to stalk and kill things. They want to kill mice and little things that move about at night.

Get some little stuffed mice and balls, things for them to pounce on. I get stuffed toys with no plastic eyes, nose, mouth and no bean bag type. I get stuffed toys at used stores like Salvation Army and Good Will. And some stuffed toys have a bit of beans (little plastic balls) in them avoid those as well. Stuffed with stitched eyes, nose, mouth.

Find the balls and stuffed toys during the day and put them out in different places at night. They want to stalk prey at night so create some prey:)
 

arouetta

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Cats don't need to roam outdoors to be happy, and are far safer inside.

So really stupid idea here, can you put up some type of barrier like a screen door between the common rooms and the bedrooms? Some physical distance plus a thick comforter hung on the barrier for soundproofing might do the trick. I would hesitate soundproofing the kennel unless you can get the blanket in a doorway between the kennel's placement and the bedroom. You could also double soundproof by hanging a comforter on the inside of the bedroom door.

Beyond that, cat-proof everything. Someone mentioned something about museum tape or museum putty (please help, whoever mentioned it) that can keep items on shelves.

Would your wife feel comfortable with foam earplugs? They are comfortable, but the inability to hear can play tricks on the mind.
 

Neo_23

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I think the harness training idea is your best bet to calm them down so they’re a little less crazy at night. Bengal cats especially need lots of exercise. I’ve heard a lot of people do well with an exercise wheel for their bengal cat. You can purchase one on amazon.
 

Shane Kent

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I am not entirely against them going outside. Outside trips are good to calm them down. Zoe was a 3 year old stray when I got her she loves going outside.


She hates the leash and collar. She was on them at first but we have an agreement she does not leave our property. I follow her around to make sure she honors that agreement.

I don't let my cats roam because all four are disease free and a fight outside with another cat would mean a long isolation from my other cats before tested for disease:(
 
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kissthisangel

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I wear earplugs at night because my partner snores like a hog, but I also find it keeps out cat noises nicely. Cats are generally active at night, with such an active breed as well it might be easier to alter human habits than cats. That said Bengals are notoriuosly loud and playful, and do want for human attention. Have you anywhere you could set up a nice cat commando course. get your daughters into a routine, playing with them after school or before bed to make sure the cats are really tired. being so young wand toys will be a great idea to keep any sharp bits away from your daughters but being Bengals I bet the girls still tire before they do! When your wife sees how much of an effort the whole family is making to help the situation she might just be touched enough to stay. Please check out some Jackson Galaxy My cat from hell, there is a particular episode, featuring the breed which might help as well.
 

Shane Kent

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P.S. Don't buy promotional cheap stuffed things companies would give out. Small teddy bear type things meant for children. I get ones that look like they have never been used. Children toys don't contain harsh chemicals, stick with those.

Like poor Pooh Bear laying face down on my floor.
IMG_20171003_192002.jpg
 

danteshuman

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It took a year to train my cats to stay inside the fence. Honestly I think the neighbors dog that chased my punk from our front yard , through the backyard & up a wall helped a lot. (We were missing the side gate then. We have a new tall gate now.) They know they are safe in the backyard. It took a lot of effort & patience. Still I won't let them out when it is dark. Hence my recommendation to harness train them, then to take them out every day. (Yes my cats are neutered & vaccinated against everything.) Until your cats are vaccinated/neutered they should stay inside. Also lots of cat shelves & cat trees should help. You can set up an obstacle course in the living room using cat trees/cat tunnels, cardboard boxes etc. Then guide your Bengals around with a toy, rewarding them with a treat. The good thing about an obstacle course is you can always change it so they don't get bored. You can also set it up, have them run through it a few times, then take it down & have your living room back. Clicker training your cats might help keep them entertained and get your daughters invested. I love the idea of installing a screen door to separate the living room so everyone can sleep in peace. Even if you rent, it is a minor fix/paint match up to make it look as good as new :)
 

Shane Kent

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It took a year to train my cats to stay inside the fence. Honestly I think the neighbors dog that chased my punk from our front yard , through the backyard & up a wall helped a lot. (We were missing the side gate then. We have a new tall gate now.) They know they are safe in the backyard. It took a lot of effort & patience. Still I won't let them out when it is dark. Hence my recommendation to harness train them, then to take them out every day. (Yes my cats are neutered & vaccinated against everything.) Until your cats are vaccinated/neutered they should stay inside. Also lots of cat shelves & cat trees should help. You can set up an obstacle course in the living room using cat trees/cat tunnels, cardboard boxes etc. Then guide your Bengals around with a toy, rewarding them with a treat. The good thing about an obstacle course is you can always change it so they don't get bored. You can also set it up, have them run through it a few times, then take it down & have your living room back. Clicker training your cats might help keep them entertained and get your daughters invested. I love the idea of installing a screen door to separate the living room so everyone can sleep in peace. Even if you rent, it is a minor fix/paint match up to make it look as good as new :)
As much as I appreciate what you say cat vacs against everything? What are you talking about? There is no vacs for everything!
 
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js12

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Some great ideas! Thank you everyone!

Ok, I am definitely going to make sure our daughters start playing with them more. Where we live, taking them outside is not an option.

I also need to find a place to buy really strong toys for them. Every single toy I get them is completely destroyed within a day or two. And I had some really strong toys. These are not your average cats. They are tigers. I got them toys from a Bengal website and they even destroyed those. The woman on the phone sounded shocked when I told her the toys were done in 2 days. So I need to investigate this some more.

I tried the ear plug suggestion a while ago, but my wife is scared she won't hear her alarm in the morning. And since she is the first one out in the morning, we can't have that or she will be late for work.

The screen is a good idea. I am going to have to think about how I can do that. If it's not really high I know they will climb up and over it. There is nothing they won't climb. They are fearless. So I need something that goes up to the ceiling which could be tricky.

The last thing I thought of is trying to sound proof the bedroom door. Will need to create a really tight seal so that the meowing is not as loud. This might be my best bet to start with.

The screen and kennel idea could be next. But in the meantime I am getting more toys and the girls have to play with them when they get home from school every day.

Thanks again to all who responded!
 

Neo_23

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If your wife is afraid of missing her alarm, there are wristband alarms that vibrate too... might be another option?

I wear earplugs every night and I still hear my alarm. :dunno:
 
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