I know that I’m not the only cat owner who has a cat that becomes active at night right before I’m ready to go to bed. And, I will admit, if I’m really tired and Sammy is running around, I get out of bed and feed him to calm him down.  I know it's the wrong thing to do, but sometimes I just give into his madness!

However, the first step in getting your feline friends to calm down is to understand your cat’s behavior.  As most of us know, cats are nocturnal by nature.  There has been research done that shows that even cats that have developed sleep patterns similar to our own still wake up several times during the night.  Therefore, simply locking your cat out of your bedroom at night is not always effective.  He or she may yowl and pound at the door for you to let her back inside.

Below are some tips that you (and I) should follow to calm our cats down at night.

Provide a warm, cozy bed in a spare room.   If you provide a nice, comfortable bed for your cat, he or she will migrate there and relax.

The best solution in tiring out your cat at night is to increase your cat’s play time and activity during the day so that he or she sleeps at night.  If you're away from home during the day, try to create an environment that stimulates your cat and increases his or her daytime wakefulness.  Try leaving toys around or better yet, adopt another cat or dog so your cat has a play mate!

You should also try to play with your cat in the evening before your bedtime. The best toys are laser light and fishing pole toys that encourage lots of running and jumping.  Sammy loves it when I fetch a toy mouse with him.

There are two changes you can make to your cat’s feeding schedule that will help calm your cat t at night: One is to feed him or her the largest meal of the day just before bedtime to increase lethargy and encourage sleep. Second, if your schedule permits, shift your cat’s breakfast time to later in the morning, so that she expects her food later.

It's important that you ignore your cat's nighttime behaviors. If you don't, he or she will think that this errant behavior is being rewarded, which reinforces and perpetuates the behavior.

Get some good earplugs and keep your bedroom door closed!. Once that your cat learns that you won't be jumping up every time he or she wakes up, your cat will give up his efforts. Even though cats are wired to be active during the night, it is possible to increase the amount of time they sleep and decrease their nocturnal activity.  Good luck!

Come and join, Sammy, the site administrator for petpav.com, and he will be your first friend!

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