My Kitten Keeps Attacking Me At Night

[RJI0304]

Sorry for the long post just feel like I need to cover a few things in order to address the issues properly..
I recently adopted a 10 week old (estimate) kitten who was tied in a bag with her sister and dumped at a local park. They were brought to my vet where I met the two of them and chose her because she was far less timid than her sister who I thought would have a hard time fitting in at my place with my other animals, and needed more one on one love -- and because she's hard not to fall in love with. I have two other cats who are now almost 2 years old, and have had quite a few cats throughout my life- raised each from young kittens.
I don't recall any of my cats being this PSYCHO as a kitten.. my new kitten, Nova, barely sleeps and is practically bouncing off the walls 24/7 now that she has gotten comfortable. She stays in my room mostly because we're easing her in to the rest of the family and she's quite timid for all she has known is the park where she was dumped and the cage at the vet (our house is also quite large). We leave the bedroom door open for her to leave at any time but she just wont. I've tried tiring her out with playing and toys as well as feeding her before bed, and it just doesn't make a difference. She'll sleep for around 2-3 hours then attack me all night/morning long. I've been having to wrap my head in a thick blanket in hopes that it would deter her but has just made it worse and scratches non stop at the blanket. I could deal with the jumping and playing but its constantly my face or she's running up under the sheets and scratching my arms/back. My partner sleeps right next to me and she barely bothers him, definitely doesn't attack him he'll just get jumped on every so often. I am covered in scratches all over my arms and i just woke up this morning to her giving me a massive scratch on my mouth and I am seriously at my breaking point. Should I put her in a different room at bedtime? Is that sort of isolation wrong even if that room is filled with her things and toys? All of my animals have always slept in my bed without a problem. It's not like she hates me she will initiate love and cuddles throughout the day (she's laying on my chest purring away right now), It's just when I'm sleeping.
I'm also wondering if its normal for her to be barely sleeping... She seems to be sleeping only a few hours a day... My other kittens slept almost all of the time in comparison.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Luckytheordinary]

IMO it’s not inhumane to keep your cat inside of a room at night as long as she has everything she needs (food, water, litter box, scratching post, bed and toys). I don’t let my kitten in my room at night because I like my sleep (lol). If leaving your cat out of your room means that you get better sleep and therefore less grumpy, then go for it. Better to start off your relationship with positive feelings than those of annoyance. So cute!!! I adopted a kitten recently as well. Good luck with Nova!

 

[RJI0304]

IMO it’s not inhumane to keep your cat inside of a room at night as long as she has everything she needs (food, water, litter box, scratching post, bed and toys). I don’t let my kitten in my room at night because I like my sleep (lol). If leaving your cat out of your room means that you get better sleep and therefore less grumpy, then go for it. Better to start off your relationship with positive feelings than those of annoyance. So cute!!! I adopted a kitten recently as well. Good luck with Nova!

Thank-you so much for your input, I think we'll give it a go. It's definitely a bummer when my feelings towards her are mostly annoyance at the moment when I also love her so badly, and feel these early months are super important for bonding.
Hope everything is going well with your new kitten <3

 

[nazzurai]

She's adorable!

Kittens are so full of energy like little babies/toddlers they just want to run around and use that energy up

Try playing with her as much as you can during the day to get her tired and hopefully she'll sleep during the night

You can read this article for some tips

Nighttime Activity in Cats

Hope this helps

I miss my Cat when he was a kitten - he's 12 years old now! They sure do grow up quick!

 

[Kflowers]

my most recent kitty was 5 weeks when she was rescued. As soon as she could walk/run, she didn't want to take naps. Unfortunately, the affect and effect was the same as a toddler who doesn't take naps - frantic and cranky. We put a cushion in her carrier, a soft toy, a teething toy. We'd put her in the carry several times a day. She still wouldn't sleep unless the carrier was covered with a towel. With the towel she'd fall asleep in a few minutes. Like a parrot. Insisting on naps really improved her -- the frantic eased up.

She also slept in her carrier every night until she was several months old. This was more because since she is black without only a smidgen of white, we were afraid we'd step on her in the dim light. The first night I let her sleep out of it, was the last time I managed to get her into it at night.

Remember to keep the carrier in a comfortable heat/cool place.

She continued playful and happy even with enforced naps and sleeping separate. (It was weird since I'd never done that before and worried.) She continued attacking my feet until I hissed at her. She immediately flipped away from my foot and didn't attack it again.

None of this may work for your particular cat. Good luck.

 

[duncanmac]

There are a lot of youtube and web articles of how to get your cat to stop biting. They all are pretty much so no or hiss or squeal when he does it EVERY TIME, ignore them when they do it, and tire them out with play. They also almost all end with "get another cat" which you have - set the adults to babysitting duty.

My first boy Duncan did the same thing - he had no siblings to teach him manners and would attack us in the middle of the night. It was a progression to treat it: a couple of no's and putting him on the floor, then outside the bedroom for a few minutes and then locked in his safe room. I don't know if it worked, if he out grew it or if getting a second cat did it, but it eventually stopped.

 

[Midnight1710]

One of my kittens likes to bite my feet and legs while I am sleeping. If it gets really painful or bothersome I pick her up and gently put her on the floor, sometime I do this 6-7 times a night but she eventually figures it out. And on the nights I just don't want to worry about it, I place a large pillow over my toes and ankles and then set my blanket over the top of the pillow.