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Kitten wants to play all night with me

1.6K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  Mosi  
#1 ·
Hi, I have a 4 months old kitten and everyday she sleeps through all afternoon and wakes up at like 12am to play which wouldn't bother me if she didn't require me playing with her or she will start meowing non-stop.
I usually play with her for like 30-45 minutes at noon and for an hour minimum when she wakes up at night. I am a night owl so staying up does not really bother me but I get most of my work done at night so I play with her and then give her a treat and make sure she has all her necessities. It's 1:30 am and I'm trying to work but she stills wants to play, waking the whole family up in the process.
Is there a way that can help me deal with this correctly?
 
#2 ·
Maybe there's a way you can close off the room so others are not woken up by her noise?

And, play with her pretty vigorously if you are not already, so you wear off as much of that kitten energy as possible.
Look into interactive cat toys and see if you can get her one or two that she will want to play with on her own. some of them you can put dry food or little treats into them and the cat has to work hard to get them out. this is distract her and give her something to do. then, if you have played with her and given her something to do and she still makes noise, probably best just to ignore her if you can.

And, take heart. As she grows up this may stop. (Although, no guarantees as to when that will be!)
 
#4 ·
Wand toys are a great way to tire cats out when you can play together, and cat-kickers burn off lots of energy when they play by themselves. Some cats like to cuddle with stuffed animals so they don't get lonely, and cat beds or cat trees placed near where you are may help her to settle down.
When you're working, you could keep some kickers, fuzzyballs, or mice nearby, toss them to her, and tell her how adorable she is. My girls love to be told how adorable they are just as much as they love to play!
 
#5 · (Edited)
Cats are predators by nature.
Early morning and early evening are their natural hunting times although they do hunt at all hours because of their ingrained eating needs .
Even when they're not hungry, they tend to be active then.
Couple that with their very good night vision, and the fact they really like you, mom,dad, or whoever you are, explains why cats will bug you off and on all night long.
It's all party of the cost of having a small furry thing that you can hold and pet to reduce your stress and increases your life span .
 
#6 ·
@ miscellaneous

Hi, I will see what I can do when it comes to toys since they're either unavailable or way too expensive but I will find something that could work.
She has a few mice lying around and boxes and stuffed toys and balls but I guess she got bored of them.
Thank you for your reply.
 
#8 ·
You can make toys, cats do not need anything fancy. Here are some I have made for cats:

Crumpled up paper ball
Pile of old newspaper
A large paper bag open on the floor
A cardboard box the cat can get into
A piece of string with a twisted paper envelope tied to the end. This one you pull along the floor for the cat to chase and catch.
Any little plastic ball, like a ping pong ball

Also, see if your cat finds things on her own that she wants to play with. If it is safe for her to have, let her have it as a toy.

You will need to get her started with things like balls. Toss or roll it several times so she chases it, and after that she may play with it on her own.
And, if she makes a bit of a mess, such as shredding the newspaper, let her do it. It's easy enough to pick it all up again and it's a very cheap cat toy. :)
 
#12 ·
The problem with getting another kitten is that then the OP would have two kittens running around and disturbing everyone. And, not everyone wants to have two cats. And, not every cat wants to have another cat. Not sure that is really a good solution, unless the OP genuinely wants to have two cats.