Cat misbehaving at night

metaoblivia

Looking for some advice here.
Most nights, my cat Samhain sleeps on my bed with me. She likes snuggling and so do I, so this works out well. But once in a while, she gets a bug up her butt at night and goes on a trail of destruction.
For example, last night, between 1am and 4am, she scampered around my studio apartment (which has wooden floors, so I can hear the scampering quite well), knocked ornaments off of the Christmas tree and played hockey with them; knocked a bottle of lotion off of my bureau, spilling the contents all over the floor; knocked my pencil holder off of my desk, spilling the pencils, pens, rubber bands and paper clips all over the floor; broke several blinds in the window shade near my bed and basically made a nuisance of herself.
My apartment is a studio, so there are no other rooms for me to put her except the closet and the bathroom. If I did put her in there she would cry and scratch the doors until I let her out. Same with putting her in the cat carrier. She's a very vocal and determined cat.
The nights she does this are random and not very often. Sometimes it comes after a day where I've been at work/haven't seen her much, and sometimes it comes after a day where I've spent almost the whole day with her, playing.
But it's really frustrating, especially when I have to be up early and can't sleep because she's wreaking havoc.
Any advice?

animalcrazy

All I can think of is she's bored, is she in the apartment 24/7?, any outdoor access.?

metaoblivia

Unfortunately, we live in the city. I have parking lots on three sides of my apartment and a road on the other. She's also terrified of cars and doesn't like being outside for long. Even when we lived with my mom who had a nice garden outside, she didn't like to stay out there if I wasn't around.

animalcrazy

Ya then my guess is she's bored, the behaviour she's showing in the apartment at night is the same a cat would display when hunting at night. I'd lock up your valuables and give her stuff to keep occupied, toy mice, cardboard boxes, one of those scratch posts might help keep her occupied.

Tabitharose

I'd suggest playing with her lots & lots just before bed time - tire her out

da bird is a great cat toy for interactive playing - I've yet to meet a cat who didn't love playing with it , the cat dancer & cat catcher are also great - you can pick any of them up on ebay

sillymoo

A laser pointer is a god send

MsFifers

Talk about a destructive little kitty!!

I would second the idea to tire her out - and fresh air can help with that also. Could you try her on a leash and bring her for a walk - if your area isn't safe? I know you might feel like an eejit, but my "night owl" kitty definitely sleeps better if he gets fresh air during the day.

When I was in an apartment I got a thing called Kitty Hide & Play - its in the bigger pet shops - you hang it over the back of a door and it has various levels they can climb up and down in, and they can also sleep in it. My two love it! Its v. expensive - but definitely the best thing I ever got them.

Anti

Do you have a big scrathing pole for her? I've two kittens at the moment and they love it. I have one similar this below, but with an extra two tiers on top of it:



Saying that, last night there were a pain, running from room to room (wooden floors, and left all the doors open) and misbehaving. But they are still kittens i suppose!

Sigma Force

Cats love to have play at night esp. younger cats it's partly boredom but not boredom at night but boredom possibly during the day as in she's not worn out by night time.
Another cat as company may help although you will have double the paws but they will play during the day and not be so full of beans at night.
Mind you when they are young in particular they do like to mess at night.

When I had cats eventually I just got used to it, sounds like little elephants trampling all over the place though.

Plenty of toys and scratching posts/cat towers (check out zooplus.ie) and play time with you during the day should help.

metaoblivia

Thank you for all of the replies! She can indeed be a destructive kitty, but part of me is glad that she still enjoys playing so much at 5 1/2 years of age. She has lots of toys, but her favorites are the ones require me to interact with her, which I don't mind at all. Usually when I come home from work, we play with a dangling feather, which she loves.
I rearranged my furniture so that she can comfortable look out of her favorite window from my bed, and so that she access to the highest points in the apartment. I do want to her a cat cubby she can climb on and rest in, but those are kind of expensive, so I'm waiting to see what Christmas brings me.
Hopefully, we won't have too many nights of destruction in the future.

ukgalwaymcguire

you have my sympathy and i know exactly what your going through,
i breed bengals, and currently have a 8 month old leopard spotted, her mother and a snow spotted, i also have a sensible siamese.

my only option is at night too lock them in the kitchen/dinning room area with beds etc, ( i know your in a studio flat) as they cannot be trusted at night ever... my siamese can be as he isnt as mad as the bengals.

question does your kitty react too cat nip?? that can knock excess energy out of them, try that late at night
or,,, feed kitty about a hour before you go too bed,, that way she has a nice full belly, and ready too sleep ( can work the other way giving her plently of energy as well)

apart from that i have no other suggestions that havent already been posted, apart from sit her down and read her the riot act lol

good luck on that one!!

ps what breed is she, she sounds exactly like one of my bengals,
she may have some feral in there!!! lol not unusal in ireland