Why do kittens go crazy at night?

Question

Her name is Delilah and she's almost two months old. She lives with with two other dogs in the house but is alone when it's bed time. Every night before I'm about to go to sleep she goes nuts, bouncing from the bed to one corner at lightning speed. She will also attack anything that moves the slightest bit. I'll try to play with her for a bit, so I can get some rest, but nothing works. And if I try to ignore it and go to bed she'll attack everything from my toes, hands, shoulders, and eyes. Is there anything I can do?

Answer 1

Cats are crepuscular, which means they are most active at dusk and dawn. However, they play all throughout the night. She is just being a very normal, healthy, playful kitten.

The only thing you can do is learn to sleep with a bouncing kitten around you. If you put her in another room, make sure that room is kitten-proofed. Kittens will get into everything and they learn how to climb very quickly. Get her some toys to amuse herself with. A cardboard toilet paper roll is a great toy for kittens. I wouldn't give her string, actually, as she could get tangled in it and choke herself when you're asleep. Wal-Mart has a bag of assorted cat toys for $3 and it's well worth the investment. My cat, Zoe, got 2 of those bags and he plays with them every day. Also, get her a scratching post for $8 at Wal-Mart, it will save your furniture later. :)

Just be patient. Your kitten is still a baby and she will eventually tire herself out and hopefully cuddle in beside you. Before you go to bed though, give her a long play session. I use one of those cat "fishing poles" with the feather thingy on the end and I made my kittens run around chasing it for about half an hour before I went to bed. They still played for a little while (I had 3 kittens bouncing around on me) but soon, they became exhausted and curled up next to me and went to sleep. However, once the sun was beginning to come up, they were back to playing again. Just be patient with Delilah. :)

Answer 2

Cats need exercise and mental stimulation, especially as adolescents. Because they are typically nocturnal, they expend extra energy at night. Try playing with her more during the day, and put scratching posts near the places she likes to scratch. You can teach a cat to use a post by holding their foot very gently and mimicking a scratching motion on the post, then offer a treat immediately. You should only do this for a second or two. If she scratches something inappropriate, take her to the nearest post and repeat the exercise (no scolding! You want her to associate the scratching post with happy feelings). Pretty soon she should scratch on her own and then you can offer her a treat to let her know that's a welcome behavior. She should calm down in a few months, but lots of vigorous playtime now will help her sleep at night and develop good habits.

Answer 3

Because cats at a young age are very curious and will attack anything. As for doing it at night, your kitten might feel lonely because you'll be going to sleep and not giving your kitten attention. Try giving her tons of attention about an hour or 30 minutes before you go to bed. She'll get tired out and go to sleep.

Answer 4

Hi! I think my cat may be related to yours! He does his damage at night! He tears things apart,I'm worried about a $1000 sofa that he started scratching when the sofa was 2 day's old! And i can also hear him zooming... threw my hallway at night and running into the wall's! I can see the throw rug's pushed out of place in the morning too! My cat sleeps all day! That is the only time i have any peace and quiet! They must have those glowing eye's to see their nightly path! My cat looks like yours! Hope you can get some sleep! Bye!

Answer 5

Cats are noctural animals, hence the burst of energy at night. Mine does not do it every night and we call is "psycho cat." She suddenly wants to play, hence running around and attacking things. I will play with her if convenient for five or ten minutes and she loves it.

But I also discovered she will calm down if I give her "stinky rat" which is the toy with the catnip. She plays with it, throws it, licks it, and then settles down.

But as a noctural animal, your kitten is running on instinct and you should give the kitten the attention it seeks.

BTW I sure hope you have at least one scratching post where the kitten can direct the need to scratch!

Answer 6

Because cats take long naps throughout the day, so they're not tired at night. She wants to play with you becasue she senses that you're going to sleep for at least a couple of hours so she'll be bored and feel 'abandoned' even if she's in the same room as you.

Answer 7

This is normal. The kitten is playing and getting exercise. Wear her out by playing with her for an hour or so before you go to bed and and she will probably settle down while you are trying to sleep.

Answer 8

LOL-ok, for one, NO-you can't really do anything about it except make time to play with her as much as possible during the day. She's a CAT!!!! All cats are prowlers and hunt at night, its her nature and she's young, when she pounces and jumps on things, she's preying and stalking. Lions, tigers, cheetahs, bobcats, all the way down to house cats, they all stalk and play at night. It's cute to watch when we're awake but annoying at night-if you had another kitten around they could play fight and stalk each other but she's alone and has nothing to do but find her own things to pounce on - have fun!!! Just try to wear her out during the day, especially close to bed time and see if she can tone it down a notch-lol.

Answer 9

Isn't she sweet. Just love them to bits.
The way I see it you are feeding her a bit late. I find with
cats that just after they have been fed, they go through an energy burst or something like that and do all kinds of crazy things just for the sheer joy of it. An active cat is better than a brow beaten little soul. Soon she will behave with the dignity that only cats can display and you will miss your playful little ball of fur. Soak it up while you can.

Answer 10

Cats are nocturnal & kittens are just crazy in general. If you can, keep her out of your room while you're sleeping. She may paw under the door a bit, but eventually she'll get bored & find something else to do.