I adopted a little Siamese-cross male kitten at the start of July when he was only 2 months old.
I know that's a bit young...
It turns out he’s very active – a bit too much, actually.
He jumps on me all the time and scratches and bites!
I tell myself that at 3 months old, it’s just normal kitten behaviour.
However, the biggest problem is at night.
I shut my bedroom door and leave him in the living room because he never sleeps when he’s in with me.
As a result, I’m only getting maybe 2 or 3 hours of sleep a night because he meows behind the door.
If he sleeps for even an hour, it’s a miracle.
Does anyone have any advice? Do you think the fact that he's part Siamese plays a part?
Thanks a lot
Translated from French
The forum content is sometimes translated from another language, and posts may concern countries with different animal laws. Do your research before making any decisions.
Since the forum is translated by AI, the translations may contain errors.
You’ve got to remember that cats are nocturnal animals. It’s perfectly normal for them to be more active at night than during the day.
Mine just laze around all day and then go prowling all night.
Train him not to meow outside your door. A quick squirt of water when he does it should break the habit fairly quickly. Mind you, that’s one way of doing it, but perhaps not the best.
Tiring him out before you go to bed is also a good shout for a peaceful start to the night.
But you can't really go against a cat's nature, which is to be active at night.
Hi there, most kittens actually behave like this, whether they’re Siamese crosses or not. Try to anticipate the "attacks". When you feel he’s about to pounce on your feet, for example, give him a firm "no" and distract him with a toy—throw a ball, for instance—so he focuses on something other than your feet. When he’s being gentle, praise him with some strokes and a soft voice. You really should avoid playing with your hands; stick to toys so that he gradually stops trying to play with you. It’s harder to manage all this at night, so do make sure she has enough to eat so she doesn’t wake you up crying for food. If you keep the door shut, he’ll probably get used to being on the other side over time. Give him a high spot where he can look out of the window when you go to sleep; that should keep him occupied.
Kittens have bundles of energy. Playtime before bedtime (yours) is a great way to 'tire them out'. I'm currently fostering five 3-month-old kittens and I spend at least half an hour every night before I go to bed having a vigorous play session with them, and I sleep almost normally ;)
I had the exact same issue with my three-month-old kitten (it’s not necessarily an age thing). My husband and I didn't want to be disturbed during the night. On the first night, we shut the door and had the same problem as you. We thought he’d get used to it, but the second night was just the same (he was meowing even louder), and besides our sleep, we were worried about the neighbours! Kittens get scared because they’ve recently been separated from their mums, and I think they just hate closed doors and being left alone in a room.
So we opened the door the second night, but obviously, around 5 am, the cat wanted to play.
We finally found a solution: leave the door open (so he stops meowing) but ban him from entering the bedroom (so we can actually get some sleep ;)). The idea is to "scare" him (absolutely no hitting, obviously!). When he tried to come in, we’d make him leave by saying "No, Kiri" quite loudly and stamping our feet toward the door, or even tapping on the furniture. The goal is to chase him out noisily without actually touching him. It might sound a bit mean, but it was the only compromise in our situation. Since he’s an impressionable little kitten, it worked straight away, and he doesn’t come in anymore. After three weeks, we can now close our door without any issues—no meowing or scratching at the door. We’re even thinking about letting him back in during the day and just keeping him in the lounge at night with our bedroom door shut.
That’s what worked for us. I really feel for you; it’s exhausting to hear them meowing and the lack of sleep is really tough, both for the little one and for us.
My girls play early in the morning and late at night, you can hear them tearing around the whole flat! Give him a proper play session before you go to bed, it'll tire him out a bit.
