Hello everyone. Let me say first that I am 67 years old, retired but have had cats, dogs and horses most of my adult life. I'm a professional groomer and have worked for years in animal hospitals as a groomer and assistant tech. I apologize in advance if this gets too long.
Having said all that, I'm at a loss with my new kitty Simba. I am his third person and he's only 4 years old. His last family had him for 2 years and I brought him home with me to another state the day after Easter this year. I was told he was very shy and probably prefer being the only pet, which he is and he's strictly indoors. I did bring him to the vet for overall health check and he's healthy.
He adjusted very well at his own pace. He hid for the first couple of days. I went away for two weeks and had my brother in law come in daily. The cat never showed his face the whole time. A woman came in the last two days and he came right out for her. Any time a strange person comes in he hides and doesn't come out for hours.
During the day, he's pretty much a normal kitty. He stays close to me most of the time or sleeps on my bed. I play with him a couple of times a day with his toys. He has a big picture window to look out of when he wants, plenty of food, a water fountain and clean litter at all times. Overnight is the issue. He seems to do everything in his power to keep me awake.
At first he will sleep at the foot of the bed nicely. Then when I'm ready to sleep, I turn off the light and before you know it he's hard at work. Knocking things over, jumping up into the closet shelf, clawing at the cardboard under my bed. He tries something new all the time. At first it was opening all the cabinets, closet doors etc. Lately he's making noise rattling the baseboard heater. He can't seem to settle. He'll get back on the bed and knead and knead, purr, walk all around me. touch me lightly but won't settle. I think it's anxiety and I may try some of those scents they make for cats or ask the vet about valium because I am not getting enough restful sleep. I used to be an early riser, this morning I got up at 10:30 am. Now he's asleep on the bed.
Do any of you have some suggestions for me. He's a beautiful cat and I really do love him. He's a big boy, 14 pound but not overweight. HELP! This picture was taken after I got home from vacation. For a week after that he was great. Slept all night next to me in bed, no behaviors. Then, right back to crazy cat.
Having said all that, I'm at a loss with my new kitty Simba. I am his third person and he's only 4 years old. His last family had him for 2 years and I brought him home with me to another state the day after Easter this year. I was told he was very shy and probably prefer being the only pet, which he is and he's strictly indoors. I did bring him to the vet for overall health check and he's healthy.
He adjusted very well at his own pace. He hid for the first couple of days. I went away for two weeks and had my brother in law come in daily. The cat never showed his face the whole time. A woman came in the last two days and he came right out for her. Any time a strange person comes in he hides and doesn't come out for hours.
During the day, he's pretty much a normal kitty. He stays close to me most of the time or sleeps on my bed. I play with him a couple of times a day with his toys. He has a big picture window to look out of when he wants, plenty of food, a water fountain and clean litter at all times. Overnight is the issue. He seems to do everything in his power to keep me awake.
At first he will sleep at the foot of the bed nicely. Then when I'm ready to sleep, I turn off the light and before you know it he's hard at work. Knocking things over, jumping up into the closet shelf, clawing at the cardboard under my bed. He tries something new all the time. At first it was opening all the cabinets, closet doors etc. Lately he's making noise rattling the baseboard heater. He can't seem to settle. He'll get back on the bed and knead and knead, purr, walk all around me. touch me lightly but won't settle. I think it's anxiety and I may try some of those scents they make for cats or ask the vet about valium because I am not getting enough restful sleep. I used to be an early riser, this morning I got up at 10:30 am. Now he's asleep on the bed.
Do any of you have some suggestions for me. He's a beautiful cat and I really do love him. He's a big boy, 14 pound but not overweight. HELP! This picture was taken after I got home from vacation. For a week after that he was great. Slept all night next to me in bed, no behaviors. Then, right back to crazy cat.
![DWOK2233[1].JPG](/data/attachments/298/298138-ee9fcd252fc2b1b44836cd7e95024a5f.jpg)
To me, this is very normal cats’ thing. To add to everything what has already been mentioned: I’d try to keep him awake during a day as much as possible so that he sleeps through the night. I wouldn’t wake him directly, but with the sound of toys etc. I’d spend an hour before bedtime playing to tire him out. 
