Many cat owners and breeders often face this problem when a furry pet confuses day with night and becomes more active at night. Agree, it’s not very pleasant if, after a hard day at work, someone disturbs your sleep and peace, even if it’s your favorite cat. The inability to get a good night's sleep leads to irritation, decreased performance, and nervousness. Therefore, let's look at how to stop a cat from running around at night in a house or apartment? What to do if your pet makes noise, meows and keeps you from sleeping at night?
Night games of cats
Let's take a closer look at why your pet is more active at night. Night games become an integral part of the life of cats who do not have a daily routine. After all, just like for humans, animals need a clear regime. The cat tries to adapt to the rhythm in which the owner exists. If a person sleeps until noon and watches TV until late at night, then what can one expect from a cat? The pet must have a clear feeding and rest schedule. For example, feeding takes place strictly at 8 am, 12 noon and 8 pm. And you can only run from 8 to 21 hours.
Not all owners are strict with their pets and behave inconsistently: for the same offense they can be scolded or ignored. Such selectivity confuses the animal, and cats believe that they have the right to behave as they want. Don't make these mistakes. Be regular and consistent in your prohibitions, this is the only way your pet will understand what is being asked of him.
If a pet has not spent its energy reserves during the day, then how can it not be active at night? We have to run and play at night. Try to keep your cat busy during the day, play with him, offer special toys so that he can entertain himself while you are at work.
At night, on the contrary, hide toys, close doors, remove rustling packages from the access area, etc.
What to do
Give the animal enough attention
If you have been away from home all day, don't forget to feed and pet the animal when you return. And of course, you need to play with it. The later you start the game, and the more intense it is, the more likely it is that the cat will spend a lot of energy and will no longer want to be active at night.
Offer your cat toys
To diversify the game, you can buy various toys and devices for cats. Some of them do not even require the presence of the owner. For example, various tunnels with a rolling ball inside that can be driven back and forth. In addition, you can buy a laser pointer and give your cat active movement without wasting your own energy. At the same time, you can sit more comfortably in a chair or on a bed, and the pet will independently chase the “naughty” red dot.
Get your pet a friend
If you don’t have the energy and time to entertain your cat on your own, get him a playmate. A second cat is not the easiest option, but it will definitely help save the animal from loneliness and you from the need to spend a lot of time playing with it.
If the reason for nocturnal activity is “cat spring,” even if it’s still February, this issue can be easily resolved in two ways: find a mating partner for the animal or buy a special medicine. When choosing a drug as a solution to your problem, be sure to consult a veterinarian first. Drugs such as “Sex Barrier” and “AntiSex” are hormonal and can cause serious harm to the animal, especially if they are used regularly for many years. In this case, it would be more humane to castrate or neuter your pet.
Morning activity of cats
Early morning awakenings for your pet can have several causes.
· The animal is bored and asks to be entertained
· The cat is hungry and hurries the owner to give out the morning portion of food
· Excess tenderness. Incredible, but true: it is in the morning that cats especially need affection and attention.
You can control your pet’s morning activity by providing him with independent entertainment. For example, give your cat access to a glassed-in balcony, where your pet can watch passers-by on the street.
Coordinate your pet's feeding times so that your cat doesn't feel too hungry in the morning.
Pet the animal only after you have woken up. Don't react to a cat if he asks to be petted at 5 am. The pet must understand: while the owner is sleeping, he cannot be disturbed.
Why are cats active at night?
Cats by nature are incredibly inquisitive, quite energetic and cheerful creatures. Throughout the day, periods of wakefulness alternate with rest and sleep. But what if your pet is active at night when everyone is sleeping? To stop a kitten from running at night, you need to find out the root cause of this behavior.
As a rule, small kittens or energetic young cats show playfulness at night. While the owners sleep, inquisitive animals explore the world and explore their home. In most cases, such behavior is noted during the period of socialization and adaptation of the animal to new conditions. During the day, when no one is in the house, cats sleep in anticipation of “night games”, so their “day” begins with the onset of darkness or in the evening.
Important! Adult, elderly cats adapt to biorhythms, the schedule of their owners and sleep at night. Even if the pet wakes up at night, it does not necessarily mean that it will make noise; most likely, the cat is hungry or wants to get around its property.
Manifestations of night activity in cats manifest themselves in different ways. Some pets run around the apartment, climb all the heights, use various objects as toys, happily rolling them along the floor, and climb curtains. Others, after running around the house, climb into their owners’ beds, begin to bite their hands, and meow loudly. At the same time, maximum night activity is observed in the period from three to five hours.
Adult male cats can scream heart-rendingly at night during the rutting season. Typically, this behavior occurs several times a year, and especially in early spring.
Reasons for night wakefulness and activity in representatives of the cat family:
- the pet is hungry or there is no water in the bowl;
- the cat is worried or in pain;
- lack of physical activity during the day;
- the cat experienced severe stress, nervous shock;
- the pet attracts the attention of the owners.
If a cat is shy and there are other pets (cats, dogs) in the house, it tries to sleep during the day, hiding in secluded places to avoid unnecessary contact, and stays awake at night.
Also, do not forget that cats are excellent and very cautious hunters, so they prefer to go hunting at night. The hunting instinct makes cats very sensitive to sleep and dozing. Animals hear and distinguish sounds that are elusive to the human ear. If the cat has shown activity, it is possible that someone has disturbed her sensitive sleep (a bird, a night moth).
The main reasons why a cat does not sleep at night
A healthy feline sleeps 2-3 times more than a human. The average adult pet should sleep at least 14 hours a day. So it is acceptable for a cat to sleep at night, wake up several times, lick itself, and then go back to sleep. But if the activity is not moderate, and the animal begins to walk back and forth, meow and does not allow sleep, then the second reason may be a feeling of hunger. In this case, cats are like wild animals. They need to satisfy their hunger, after which they will fall into a deep sleep for a long time.
Important! If your pet is eating well, but continues to behave this way, then you need to contact a specialist. This behavior may be a signal of psychological disorders. This could be a lack of security or stress. In such cases, a cozy place is allocated for the animal, where it feels protected and can sleep peacefully.
A cozy place for a pet that needs to be accustomed to in advance
If your cat starts to freak out or yell, it may be worried about health problems. Because, as you know, at night illnesses make themselves felt more strongly. But how do you know if this behavior is healthy or really a disease? An unhealthy pet begins to meow with different intonations, it even looks a little like howling or yapping. The animal is constantly trying to find a place to crawl into, cannot sit quietly in one place, walks around the entire apartment and meows continuously. This may indicate health problems. In this case, you need to immediately contact a veterinarian, and not wait until it passes, so that the animal does not suffer.
How to relieve a cat's suffering during heat?
If the cat
If it is very difficult at this time, it is better to ask the veterinarian to prescribe something sedative.
Typically, such medications are started a couple of days before the expected start of estrus
, because they do not act immediately. The most famous drops - “Cat Bayun” or “Stop Stress” are based on herbs and also help well.
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This could be a sign of infection or health problems
If the cat not only runs around at night, but also meows, it could be a flea bite. This causes itching and discomfort in the cat.
Running around in the middle of the night can also be the result of a skin disease that worsens at night. Hyperesthesia can cause this reaction.
This disease causes a general increase in activity, causing the animal to behave aggressively, attack its own tail, lick furiously, and scream. Pupil dilation is also observed.
Hyperthyroidism in cats is known to result from increased production of thyroid hormones and causes hyperactivity.
If you think your cat's health has changed, it is best to take her to a veterinarian for a check-up.
How to stop your cat from running around at night?
- Buy automatic cat toys that can keep your cat entertained.
- Engage your cat in heavy nighttime play to tire her out and help her sleep through the night.
- Save your cat's dinner until late at night, when you are going to bed.
- Don't let your cat leave the room until morning.
We may never know the one true reason why cats run at night, but at least we have a few good ideas. At best, cats simply waste their pent-up energy. In the worst case scenario, they are trying to open a portal to the cat dimension. But who knows.
Raising Animals
But what can you do to stop cats bothering you at night? This issue has been studied for a long time and veterinarians advise regulating the sleep patterns of pets. That is, you need to make sure that the animals are active during the day and go to bed with the owner. To do this, it is necessary to provide them with conditions for daytime activity. You can buy or make all kinds of mazes from boxes, as well as toys in the form of balls. Even a rustling bag left on the floor will do, and should keep predators occupied for several hours. The main thing is to cut off the handles of the bag so that they don’t get tangled in them. Having wasted energy during the day, pets are unlikely to be active at night.
The box is one of the best toys for cats
It is also worth thinking about the cat's diet. Veterinarians recommend giving food little by little in the morning and afternoon and at strictly defined times - for example, at 8:00 and 14:00. But in the evening the animals can be allowed to eat to their fullest. As a rule, after a heavy dinner they do not want to run and prefer to just sleep soundly until the morning. And in the morning, the likelihood that furry creatures will wake up their owners, demanding food, decreases.
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Cats should not be punished by dousing them with water from a spray bottle or throwing slippers at them. The best thing to do is to be patient and explain to them day by day what can and cannot be done. In the evening, it is better to play with them on your own and restore the emotional contact lost during the day. Believe me, these furry creatures really want this. After all, the fact that cats perceive their owners as parents has already been proven by science. An article on this topic can be read at this link.
The cat is bored and wants to play
Being nocturnal animals, cats are more energetic at night. And as humans, sometimes they want to have fun. It's not weird or bad, it just might interfere with your sleep.
Cats treat everything in the house as toys and can figure out how to have fun with many things. Some may even stomp on your face or start crossing your legs to invite you to play while you are having your seventh dream.
If the cat fails to wake you up, or if you lock it in the bedroom, the animal has no choice but to entertain itself. He might be busy with cat toys, or maybe he'll be chasing his own tail.
Features of cat behavior
Statistics show that there are about 600 million domestic cats on the planet. Each differs in its behavior and appearance, but they all have one thing in common - running around the apartment at night. Many people notice how their pets with bulging eyes rush around the apartment in the evening. Animals are not at all embarrassed that their owners are sleeping at this time.
From a scientific point of view, cats belong to the family of predators, and it’s not for nothing that they love meat and hunt rodents, reports the publication rsute.ru. Previously, everyone got cats because there were mice in the house, and the animals quickly dealt with them. This benefited not only the owners of the house, but also the animals, who remained full and did not ask for food.
Cats are social animals that love to communicate not only with each other, but also with people, using different sounds and movements. To show their emotions, cats also use facial expressions, but few people can see them.
