My Siamese Kitten Won't Let Me Sleep, Please Help!

[terahival]

My kitten is about 8 months old and is a joy to be around, he has two siblings that he loves to play with and snuggle with. I did my research before adopting him so I knew from the start that he would be a vocal/high-energy cat. My issue is when we try to sleep at night, he and his sister (a tabby who's the same age) will start to go nuts and jump on our bed and us while we are sleeping. We are gone most of the evening due to work and don't get home some days till 10 pm. We try out best to keep them entertained when we're home by playing with them as well as giving them tons of toys and fun perches to play on. I assumed that since he had a sibling (who is the same age) to play with that they would wear each other out, but alas he still has plenty of energy when we get home. We cannot close our door either or he'll tear up carpet out side of our room and bellow at the top of his lung. He'll do this all night too if we don't let him in. But as soon as we do he just goes back to playing on our bed or knocking things off our night stands. He has the entire house to play in but chooses to be in our room, I know it's because he loves us but I'm a full time college student nearing finals and really need sleep. I love him and just want to make the best decisions when it comes to his health as well as behavior. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[war&wisdom]

How often do you play with him? And for how long at a time? Do you play until he's panting?

 

[terahival]

We try to play as often as we can so 2-3 times a day plus we take him for a small walks which he really loves and seems to wear him out. Our play sessions usually average between 20-30 min and his walks are usually about 10-15 min. We try to play until they start flopping over and lounging. It's usually a good sign they tuckered out but I'm wondering if it's the schedule we're on that is keeping them up late? We have a pet cam set up and they honestly sleep most of the time we're at work so 7-8 hours. I get the feeling that they rest when we are not there and go crazy because they've slept all afternoon. Not sure how to remedy that though.

 

[daftcat75]

Feed them. Play with them, and then feed them right before you want to go to sleep. Cats like to sleep after a meal. Depending on how much you can feed them, that bed-time meal should buy you at least a few hours of sleep anyway.

 

[LTS3]

Try the tips here: How To Stop My Cat From Waking Me Up At Night (step-by-step Plan)

 

[cuppa]

I know keeping the door closed at night doesn't work. But if you ever have to keep a door closed and are worried about them digging at the carpet, here's a solution that worked for me (mine wants to be in the closet haha):

I purchased a rubber bathroom mat from target and put it under the door so that it covers some of the carpet on either side. If a bathroom mat doesn't work, there's also clear desk chair mats you can get. They're a harder plastic and usually have little 'spikes' on the bottom to help keep them stuck on the carpet

 

[rubysmama]

Let me start by saying, gorgeous kittens.

Now about their night time behaviour. I think some of it is simply because they're still kittens. Once they get older, they should start to settle down, and sleep more, particularly at night. Though I suspect your late working schedule adds to their "lets play" while you're trying to sleep demands.

In addition to the TCS article already already posted, we have this short one on Cats And Night Crazies! that might be helpful.