My kittens have WAY too much energy and rarely sleeps, what can I do?

[macyaji]

I adopted 2 kittens a month ago: Scarlet and Sapphire. They are 8 weeks old when I adopted them and they are 13 weeks old now. They are not biological sisters, but they are very close and bonded like sisters. The animal shelter prefers both of them get adopted together; so I adopted both of them. The first week I adopted them,I put them in an isolated room with food, water, and plenty of toys to play with.  They are very quiet at first  and they hide in the cat cave/bed most of the time, only come out to eat or use litter box. After the first week, they started exploring the room and play with the cat toys. Starting in the third week, they will leave the room for a few minutes and explore other area of the house before heading back to the room. Both kittens are very well behaved and quiet for the first 3 weeks;they spend most of the time sleeping or playing with cat toys.  However their behavior started to change in the fourth week, they are now hyper active and full of energy. Constantly chasing each other/ fight each other, jumping up and down, knocking down everything they can. They rarely sleep now, they are full of energy both during the day and night; I can not go to sleep now without being waken up with loud noises. If I try to lock them in their room at night so I can sleep, they will torture me with their sad meowing. I thought cats are supposed to sleep most of the day, what can I do to make them less active?

 

[kittens mom]

Wait 6 months. It will calm down some.

Wear them out with a wand type toy you go to bed and make sure their tummies are full. Should buy you some time. They are babies and just like human babies they need a lot of attention and tolerance as they mature.

Someone commented on what a cute kitten Mercy is. I simply replied she is a pre-cat. The kitten you raise is the cat you'll own. They have no control over their behavior at this age. Often referred to as the Flying Wallenda Stage. You can't discipline it out of them or scold, control you endure these few months and love them and when possible redirect unacceptable behaviors. Their childhood is brief but it is the time you have the most influence over them. Cherish it. Embrace it and love them.

Sometimes at this age it's best to just put really precious things away. Personally I liked hearing where my kittens were when I was sleeping. The quiet would get me out of bed quicker than anything.

 

[nezumi]

This is the best stage of cat ownership imo. When my two were tiny they were completely mad. Actually, they're still tiny and mad.

Anyway, enjoy this stage because once it's gone it's gone and there really is nothing funnier than two kittens playing. Yes you'll lose some sleep, but kitten cuddles and mad laughs more than makes up for it. If you can, take some time off work, it'll help you bond with them and make it easier to cope with interrupted nights.

For me, if I have to be awake at 4 am, I can think of much worse things to be woken up by than two tiny nutters play fighting on my feet.