"Problem Child" Harley won't let us sleep at night

HDrydr

So my 10 mth old Harley: He is a very "naughty boy" He is a bitter always has been, and is very feisty, got to love his spirit though. He is a very independent boy only wants attention when he wants it. He attacks my 11year old Patches all the time but she does put him in his place occasionally. However, we do have to intervene with the spray bottle often. Night time has been a struggle the whole time and we are running out of ideas.
Here's what we have done. locked him out of the bedroom (listened to him howl all night long) we have done this numerous times. Spray bottle works sometimes, ignoring him..... yea right... running across us at all hours of the night waking us up instantly. Play time before bed to attempt to wear him out....... doesn't work just winds him up more because he turns into the "energizer kitty". He wants to be with us but I am having a very difficult time getting him to "learn" a sleep schedule I know that cats are nocturnal animals. I have tried to keep him from napping during the day to hopefully get him tired at night.. doesn't seem to matter. We are not sleeping and the affects are starting to get to us we have tried ourselves meds to help us "sleep" through his activity doesnt really matter either.
I have been up since midnight taking him out of the bedroom so the bf could sleep he gets up early and has a hard job. Stayed out in the living room with the wild boy watching him bounce off the walls the whole time. BF thanked me this morning said he finally feels rested but sorry for me. Lucky I have been off from work due to a shoulder surgery. I don't know what to do? do they have sleeping pills for animals???? Mr. Green

Could try to crate him my boxer/lab doesn't sleep in his crate anymore at night. Help need sleep

Chessmind · Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:36 pm Post subject:

Hi Dana337. This is a pretty common complaint about cats, being as they are naturally nocturnal animals. Is he neutered? When you keep him out of your room, is your other cat also out of your room?

If yes, to both then you could try what I did with my cats. About 1/2 an hour before I would go to bed, I would get the laser pointer out and try and wear them out. Then give them their dinner and after that a nice brushing with the zoom groom. Then I would put in my ear plugs, close my bedroom door and ignore the noise they made at night in the other rooms. I never once gave in. Once you give in and go out they will know that all they have to do to get you up is howl or make a bunch of noise. Keep in mind it may get worse before it gets better. He's a young cat so this is pretty common. I think it took my cats a couple of months.

Have a cat bed out for them and all their toys along with food and water.

Some cats will outgrow this and eventually sleep at night. Others may not. If it ever got to a point where you would no longer want to keep him, because he affects your sleep so much, the vet can prescribe sleep medication. I'm not a big fan of this myself, but the alternative is there should it get to that point.

sunset05 · Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 11:53 pm Post subject:

Chessmind has some good ideas.

We used to put our two kitties in our basement family room at night with food and their litter. They were very used to that and were very good.

Then we decided to just let sleep with us but they were so annoying and kept us awake that we decided to close our bedroom door. For several nights our one feisty kitty kept meowing and scratching at the door but we ignored her. It if got too bad I would lop a puzzle magazine at the closed door and that seemed to scare her away. We have no problem with it, now.

Good luck with your kitty. You need your sleep.

Mary_NH · Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 11:56 pm Post subject:

perhaps a good meal before dinner - for you of course

Chezza · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 6:22 am Post subject:

Maybe sleeping tablets for you Wink

Just Kidding Wink

I was going to ask if he is desexed too??
You could try the crate, make sure he has fresh water and his litter.
I wouldn't give in either..
Hope he settles soon, btw what sort of Kitty is he???

HDrydr · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 4:48 pm Post subject:

we do play with him, hard not to because he is so active. We try and keep him active during the day so that he sleeps at night. We have tried keeping him out of the bedroom however, to keep the dog out of the food and litterbox I have them in the only shower stall with doors that I can block open only enough for the cats and not Buster. That bathroom happens to be in the master bedroom with us. Really don't have another place to put that stuff that Buster can't get into (believe me I've tried several different places he gets into all of them).
Had a lengthly conversation with the vet yesterday and we are trying the air diffuser that emits calming cat pheromones in the rooms that he is in the most. And if that doesn't work she will put him on some meds at night to get him over this phase (i hope) hopefully to be able to take him off of it as he grows up. I don't like the idea of medicating him but we also need to sleep. It did work last night or he was just so tired (as was I). I did not let him nap yesterday so we all slept until 6 this morning.
He is a domestic long hair. I don't know how to add a photo of him so you can see my little monster.
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Chessmind · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 6:52 pm Post subject:

Hi again. A possible food storage option would be to get one of those floor to ceiling cat trees (Walmart has them for under $40 USA). Then you could place the food/water at the top away from the dog.

HDrydr · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:12 pm Post subject:

Chessmind that is a great idea and would work for Harley because he already uses his cat tree/condo that's 6ft tall but it is not very big at the top and when he cuddles up in it he fills the space. And then there is Patches she doesn't climb anymore she rarely goes up to the first level. Thought of that too, great minds think alike, I have thought of where up high I could put food/water and litter box but the safest place and still accessible for me is the shower stall. oh well

Chezza · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 10:49 pm Post subject:

Thats an excellent idea Chessmind... Surprised

HDrydr · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:53 pm Post subject:

Well I can't be sure but I think the cat air diffuser may be working a bit. Harley seems to be better at night not great mind you but better. We'll see if it continues I go back to work weds so I won't be able to keep him up during the day so medication may still be in Harley's future.....

Bente · Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 7:04 pm Post subject:

I had the same problem with my cat when he was younger (he is almost four years now). He would howl all night and scratch at our bedroom door just to get my attention. I wasn't very strict since I felt so sorry for him, so I gave in almost every night. I got up, turned on the faucet so his royal highness could have a drink, and petted him for what felt like an eternity before I got back to bed... He is much better now, part because he grew out of it, and part because I decided to ignore him. It was REALLY hard the first weeks, bot totally worth it.
I think the key is to be consistent (I have NO idea if I spelled that right), and not to do what I did: First I yelled at him, then I felt sorry and petted him, and later I would squirt at him with the waterbottle, only to feel guilty again. No wonder my kitty was confused Mr. Green

Good luck anyway, I hope the cat air diffuser helps! Smile

HDrydr · Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 4:34 pm Post subject:

Bente that is too funny I feel the same way I know he does it to get attention he wants to be with us. He just wants to play and we want to sleep..... wrong schedule..... The air diffuser I think worked but only a little bit... I had to result in putting him on what I call Kitty downers hopefully for the short term. Just until he grows up a bit. He just doesn't give up gotta love his spirit I wouldn't trade him for anything he just is a naughty boy!! Very Happy

Chessmind · Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:14 am Post subject:

I'm glad it's been working and you are all getting some sleep. You are the first poster here that I can recall that is giving a cat sleeping pills. So it will be interesting hearing how it's all going. Did the vet mention any possible side effects? Is it hard to give him his pill? We pretty much gave up on pilling my wife's cat when he had an ear infection (he's an old man). We had to grind it into a powder and add it to fresh baked chicken. I'm a vegetarian, so my wife cooked up his five star chicken meals.

HDrydr · Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:39 pm Post subject:

Chessmind · Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 1:56 am Post subject:

I actually posted a few days ago here, but the reply must have been lost as we moved to the new server. I think I said something about how it's good you are having no trouble pilling him, as my wife and I would be in the E.R. if we tried to pill her cat.

HDrydr · Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 7:00 pm Post subject:

HDrydr · Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:38 am Post subject:

Well just have to say Harley is a different naughty boy now..... Surprised

He is calm and peaceful at night. He has actually been sleeping on the bed with us on occasion. Mr. Green

He has shown no ill side effects since on the new meds. That makes me very happy!! And he also lets me pet him more during the daytime hours!!! We now sleep without being woken up during the night... love it!!!!

Chessmind · Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:40 am Post subject:

That is great news. We all need to sleep. Thanks for the update. Surprised

Chezza · Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 6:04 am Post subject:

LOL @ The sitting on him bit .. Laughing

Great news.. Surprised

HDrydr · Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:57 pm Post subject:

Hehehe you know you got to do what you got to do and sitting on him well it's what needs to be done.... haha Laughing

After all he is equipped with sharp teeth (we know he is good at bitting....) Very Happy

, he's got pointy nails (18 of them ready to strike....) so I guess you could say it is survival of the fittest..... Mr. Green