Dear Miss Behavin’:
My kitten has been keeping me up at night, running around and meowing. How do I train him to know when it’s time for bed and not playtime?
If you’ve had your kitten for some time, then it’s probably not still going through the adjustment phase of being in a new home. If that’s the case, then it’s a good idea to start working on this behavior before it gets tougher to address.
Cats tend to be nocturnal animals, meaning that they are typically most active at night. Cats that live outdoors may use this time to explore, hunt their prey, and catch up on the weekly news with other cats. For your indoor kitty, this definitely proves to be a challenge that can lead to many sleepless nights.
Establish a nightly routine before going to bed, to help your kitty get used to the routine and slowly simmer down for the night. First off, try to clear the area where your kitty tends to play the most with all of his toys. This will help ensure that at there are no toys left out for him to play with and get over-excited with during the night. If possible, just leave out his essential items like food, water, litterbox, and also his bed and cat tree. Leave out some extra kibble at night if that helps curb your kitten’s appetite or feed his dinner later in the night before bed. If you allow your kitty in your room at night, then continue to follow the rest of your nightly routine.
The hardest part will be when your kitten wants your attention and becomes vocal, meowing to wake you up. This is the hardest part because any type of attention that you give your kitty, whether it be a verbal reminder that it’s bed time or tossing a toy its way, will be greatly accepted by your kitty and will reinforce the meowing as an attention-getter. Instead, you’ll have to muster up some patience and try as hard as possible to ignore your kitty. Some cats will take the hint quickly and stop meowing to explore elsewhere or may even find a comfortable spot on the bed and nod off to sleep. Other cats may take this opportunity to expand their vocal range and lung capacity, with more meowing. Really try to stick with the practice, and continue to ignore the meowing. It may take a few days or more, and your patience may be tried. Once your kitten gets the gist and you have a consistent routine, you’ll be able to catch up on that much needed sleep.