Sleep Deprivation After Adopting New Kitten

[Laura.esg]

My husband and I just adopted a ragdoll kitten from a very reputable Breeder, we are totally in love with him, this is my first pet ever. I have to say he has been ver nice. My only one problem is that no matter what I do, he wants to play 24 hours a day, including at night, which means that I am extremely sleep deprived. He is 3 and a half months old, I play with him, I feed him before going to bed, and I don't know what else to do. He jump on top of my bed while I am sleeping, bites my hair, tries to do some chasing of my comforter on top of me. As you can imagine, I can't function during the day under this circumstances. ,y husband say this is kitten behavior and will outgrow it. Is this true? And do you have any tips of how to make him let me sleep?

 

[Mamanyt1953]

You husband is absolutely right (and if he is like most of them, "for once"). The bad thing is that he's in the kitten equivalent to "the terrible twos". The good thing that he will outgrow it much, much faster than a human child. As far as what to do about it, not much. Although I will tell you that no cat ever continues an activity that brings no payoff whatsoever. The only thing you can really do is try to totally ignore him (or do a good job of pretending, to be honest about it) until he realizes that none of his antics are going to get you up and paying attention to his little royal self. Keep that information on file for future reference, as well.

I am SO glad that you found TCS! Especially being a first-time cat guardian/mama/ow... no, nobody ever owns a cat...anyhow, newbie. We have a TON of articles on all things cat that you will find tremendously helpful, and, of course, you can start a thread with any specific questions or observations at any time! When you have a moment, click on this link New Cats on the Block and introduce yourself and your kitten to your new community! We LOVE pictures, and ragdolls are so adorable!

 

[LTS3]

Getting another kitten often helps. Two kittens will keep each other company although they will still want some attention from you If getting another kitten from the breeder isn't an option, your local animal shelters and rescues are probably full of kittens and older cats who need homes.

If another kitten isn't anoption at all, provide your kitten with plenty of interactive toys and attention. Kittens are full of energy. Around a year old or so, sometimes sooner, the energy levels off. However some cats will always have a high energy level because of their breed or personality. My 7 year old Aby is still a

24/7

 

[elliesvictim]

My kitten woke me up at 4am once...I repeat once, only once. I leant forward looked her straight in the eyes and stated "if you wake me up this early again, I will take your life"

Whilst I was never going to hurt her and she didn't understand the words she got the message.
However 6am wake ups are still a problem.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

 

[susanm9006]

There is no law that says a rambunctious kitten must be allowed to remain in their owners bed or even room, so all of my kittens and cats could only stay in the bedroom if they played quietly and left me alone. You start by telling the kitten verbally in an assertive tone "settle down", "stop", "no", or whatever phrase you will remember to use consistently. It will of course at first do nothing. So then you set the kitten on the floor. After you have repeated these two steps a number of times and the kitten is still pestering, you put him outside your room and shut the door. Usually the kitten will meow, scratch and generally pitch a fit to get back in. Give it a half hour, let him In and start the process again except this time if you need to shut him out of the room you do it for the rest of the night. He might give up the noise at some point but he may cry at your door all night as well.

Next night you start all over again. Eventually the kitten catches on but in some cases it takes months, and a lot of activity in your part to get them trained. But hopefully you will spend the next twenty years with this kitty so it's worth it.

One other thing. No petting, playing with or even talking to your kitten in the bedroom except to use your settle down warning word. Cats and kittens learn very quickly the things they get rewarded for. If misbehavior results in attention, they will want to continue that behavior.

 

[maggiedemi]

I'd say either ignore him or shut him out of the bedroom at night. He will learn that nighttime is for sleeping once he gets no reaction out of you.

 

[sargon]

Freya used to wake me up at night a lot, when bored, so I would put her out of my room with the door and cat flap locked. Five minutes like that and she'd usually behave for the rest of the night.

Cats can learn that the bedroom is a place for calm activities, it just takes persistence (and he occasional reminder...)

 

[Laura.esg]

Last night when we went to bed, he sleep in one of the pillows that is close to me in bed, he was pretty quiet, but I was so nervous that he wouldn't let me sleep that I wasn't able to sleep anyways, around 4am he woke me up and wanted to play, I put him down and said the world "No" 3 times, he keep doing it and I locked him in the bathroom with food and water. I was anticipating that he will meow, but he didn't, I was expecting also that he will start meowing around 6am, because it is when sun comes out, but he didn't either, he patiently wait until we open the door of the bathroom at 9am, I think once we adjust to each other things will get better, I suffer from anxiety and everything always seems to me like it is the end of the world, and I am the kind of person that likes her routine, and any little change throw me off.

One thing I have observed with him is that he goes through cycles during the day, first he gets very hyper, like runing, throwing himself in the floor, biting everything he can( these are the moments that terrified me because I am extremely afraid that he will hurt himself, surprisingly he is not destructive), the he gets really mellow( in these stage he will let you do anything you want to him), comes to you and he is really a sweetheart. Then the cycle repeats. Is this normal cat behavior? Also when he gets hyper he attacks my hair and earrings, I have long black very straight hair, so I don't know if he confuses it with a prey. Anybody knows how to deal with that?

 

[susanm9006]

Yes periods of extreme hyperactivity mixed in with periods of calm is very typical normal kitten behavior. And provided he doesn't knock something on himself, he is unlikely to hurt himself when he is running around being crazy.

Hair and earrings are just more dangly stuff to play with. When he tries to play with them, tell him no, put him down and walk away from him or distract him with another toy.

 

[rubysmama]

Congratulations on adopting your first ever pet! I think everyone here will agree that a kitten was a purr-fect choice. What's the little guy's name? Can you post a picture?

As for all your behavior questions, yup, all normal for a kitten. A friend of mine adopted a kitten back in July, so he's about the same age as yours. And he was keeping them up every night too. Now they let him in the bedroom until he starts to bother them, then it's off to another room for him till morning. They, like you, were getting sleep-deprived, and it was the only solution. Some nights he makes it till nearly morning, other nights barely midnight.

Cats will eventually learn that sleep time is not play time, but it will take a while. My Ruby, when I adopted her, was 2 or 3 years old, and she would wake me every morning sometime between 4 and 6 looking for breakfast. I eventually had to start putting her out of the room when she woke me, because I was getting sleep-deprived. I used to tell her she had to wait for the radio to come on, and eventually she learned that the sound of the radio coming on meant it was breakfast time. And since then, she only occasionally wakes me before morning, and then if I ignore her, she settles back down. Of course, Ruby is now 6 or 7 years old, so she's had years to learn my routine. Hopefully your guy won't take that long.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

My kitten woke me up at 4am once...I repeat once, only once. I leant forward looked her straight in the eyes and stated "if you wake me up this early again, I will take your life"

Whilst I was never going to hurt her and she didn't understand the words she got the message.
However 6am wake ups are still a problem.

LOL...I have the distinct feeling that had I ever said that to Hekitty, the reply would have been, "Not a problem. I'll just kill you in your sleep," and she would have been far more serious about it than I would have been! Old-timers here know about Hekitty. She's the one they coined the phrase "tortitude" for.

 

[momof3b1g]

Can you crate him or put him in another room? My 4 month old kittens have their own room. I let them out. But at bed. They go in there and other times when I know they need to nap.

 

[danteshuman]

My advice is more strict/mean. When it is time for bed, lock the kitten up in a pet proofed room with litter, food & water. Then close the door to that room, your bedroom door, use earplugs, play music whatever. Just whatever you do, do NOT open that door, talk to the kitten or let the kitten out until your morning alarm goes off. Then after a month or so let the kitten sleep with you BUT if the kitten wakes you say no, and put the kitten on the ground. If it does it again, say no and put it in the kitten's room for the night. Expect wailing and door rattling. Some cats learn after a couple of times, some cats take a couple of weeks. Also be sure to neuter him .... when his hormones are raging he will destroy the house, meow loudly all night long and wake you up in his drive to get out and impregnate some cat. The only disadvantage I see to adopting a second kitten is trying to train 2 kittens at once to let you sleep. Personality I like to stagger my cats so only one adorable/pain in the but kitten at a time

 

[bluebirdy]

I fostered my two along with their four siblings and they were all night owls for the first few weeks. However, after being consistent each time they tried to wake me up at night (said it's night night time, picked them up off bed and put them beside it). They learned within a few weeks that it was more fun to play out in the rest of the house where they didn't get in trouble (and I got a few quiet toys). They learned to be very quiet if they wanted to crawl into bed with me (I'd often wake up to them in my bed without them having disturbed me to crawl in). Cats are naturally partially noctural but they can help them to sleep more at night if you give them lots of play and keep them more awake during the day.

 

[Amelias'Human]

My Amelia is about a year old & she absolutely loves keeping me up all night playing with her favorite jingly toys, playing with my hair, biting my fingers, attacking my toes, running around in circles while digging her claws into the carpet...you know. Cats are nocturnal creatures, who sleep like 17 hours a day. When she finally calms down & decides to chill out (she loves cuddling up next to me atop a pillow I keep on the bed for her. So cute) it's about 5 AM.

After this really started driving me insane I began to put all her noise toys away when it was time for bed, closed the closet door so she couldn't get in there & make it her personal playground anymore. This next part makes the biggest difference. During the day when I'm home I try to keep her awake & interrupt her naps (as nice & lovingly as possible, not trying to be cruel). She doesn't mind & it doesn't stress her out, I break out all her play things & we play as long as we can. At first I eased her into this carefully & soon as the first day she got on my sleep schedule. I know this may not work for younger kittens but it worked for her. & Amelia is extremely high energy & a big PITA!!!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

LOL...come to think of it, this behavior is actually so typical that there is even a brand of cat toys named for it, Midnight Crazies.

 

[Laura.esg]

Thank you so much for all your replies, last two days I have been able to sleep better, he will wake up in the middle of the night and I have been locking him in the bathroom, and he doesn't even meow, I think I was just too scare to locking him in the bathroom, as I say this is my first pet ever, the first been that I have to take care of, so I was really scare that I would do something that will kill him just out of ignorance. At 3 and a half months he looks so cute and fragile. We name him Wombat, I will post a picture soon

 

[kittens mom]

Quite honestly the only time Frog and Toad , even Mercy kept me awake was when it got suddenly quiet.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

For those of you who are confused by the Trace Atkins video, the reference is to the lyrics of the chorus:

"You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this"