Lat Night Crazies? Help!!

[Nikolai]

Hello, all this is my 1st post. We got a kitty yesterday and she is very sweet. Last night was her first night with us and was a little rough.

She was running back and forth from the bedroom to the living room, and making a weird howling meow. I'm pretty sure this is normal late night activity.

We brought her to our house yesterday at about 3pm and by bedtime last night had eaten her entire dish of food! I think its good that she has an appetite, however my girlfriend fed her again during the night because of the howling.

Do you think she was howling because she was hungry? Or just becuase she's excited about the new house, ect?

Any help would be great. It's 7am and she seems happy I'm awake and has quit being crazy! :)

['too crazy]

Hi Nikolai and welcome!:)

I would also like to welcome you to the life of a cat! Cats love to prowl around at night. It's part of who they are. It sounds to me like your new kitty is pretty normal. How old is she? Sometimes it does take them time to adjust to a new home but being up at night and meowing is just a part of what they do. Soon she will be on the same time schedule as you in the morning. For example, my husband and I get up at 5:00 am M-S and at that time, they get fed. On Sunday when we get to sleep in, guess what time they want to get up and play or eat? Young kittens are espically playful during the night. I have 4 cats and this morning, the youngest (1 yr.) woke me up just so I could pet him. Enjoy your new kitty. She sounds like fun!

[horsefeather]

welcome nikolai. i have 2 questions. how old is the cat and is she spayed. if she is old enough and unspayed, she could possibly be heat. if so, there is nothing you can do but get her spayed AND FAST!

if she is spayed, then i would say she is just getting used to her new home, and also playing. Talia, (my 1 yr old cat) has a tendancy to zip and scamper around the kitchen when everyone is trying to sleep--she even turned moms room into a kitty amusement park.

lately she has taken up playing with her cat toys on my bed while i sleep. and she wakes me up with meows and purrs if she wants to be petted or even fed . it may take a couple days to get the cat into her routine and to settle down. Tell you girlfriend to NOT feed her when she meows, or she will start to expect it, just ignore her or turn her attention to something else like a toy. set up feeding times (i feed at the 8:30's). you dont want her (cat or girlfriend)to learn that food comes when the meowing starts.

otherwise you may end up with a 20 lb diabetic cat with bad joints and who know what other health problems (we see so much of this at the vet i work for). keep dry food out all the time, and only feed a small amount of wet food. this will also help reduce tartar buildup--which is caused by wet food.

i hope some of this helps and enjoy your new kittie. not a day goes buy that talia doesnt make me laugh! ive only had her 2 months, but i cant imagine (or remember) life without her

[Nikolai]

She is 7mos old, and her name is Franny. Thanks to everyone for the help!

[jenn]

My cat is almost 4 now and he still goes crazy at night. I think it is pretty typical. Hopefully she will stop the meowing part of it. I am not really sure of any way to get her to stop that. Maybe she is just settling in. As for food I agree with horsefeather. We keep dry food and water out all the time and he gets about a forth of a small can of cat food in the morning and the same at night. He seems to be a pretty good weight and a healthy boy.

[Furbaby Mom]

Late night crazies are normal. Cats are nocturnal by nature and will often want to play at night.

If she is begging for food in the night, try feeding her later in the evening.

Play really hard with her for at least 15-30 minutes right before bedtime.

Do not encourage any playtime in bed. No finger and toe wiggling under the covers!!

I have explained time and time again to mine that bedtime if sleep time not play time. If they play on top of us, they first get a time out (pick up the cat and hold them close to you while talking gently to them). If they continue, they get booted out of bed. Eventually they get it.

[Fallen_Angel]

Originally posted by Nikolai
She is 7mos old, and her name is Franny. Thanks to everyone for the help!

Nikolai,
If oyur kittie is 7 mos old, then it is possible that she may be experiencing her 1st heat. Some cats start that about this age. Some start it a bit later.

[darkeyedgirl]

My cat Hamtaro is 18 months old, and he is STILL a kitten at heart. He doesn't really do the late-night crazies anymore, but he does have his moments in the evening. He likes to do this low-growling kind of meow, and then take off running like he just 'has to' be in the kitchen in 5 seconds OR ELSE!! He will just be laying there all normal, then POOF, he takes off in a cartoon-like scamper and makes those growling, meowing noises... ears back, tail cocked, butt off to the side like a dog... running around the house. Then, he'll just collapse as if nothing happened.

When he was a kitten (I adopted him at age 12 weeks), he was ten times funnier... he would actually 'talk' to us, and the growling-meows and running around mad was CONSTANT!

Most kittens grow out of this craziness... Hammie did to a certain point, I think he just does the evening-crazies now to entertain himself cuz my other cats are real boring.

=-)

[dlaura]

More then likely as others have said your kitty is experiencing her first heat. Unless you desire a litter of kittens (if she goes outside) then you will need to have her spayed. She will do this night time thing until she finds what/who she is howling about or you have her spayed.

Our first kitten did the same thing and I thought she would go into heat once or twice a year. A month went by where she seemed to be fine then this night time thing started again. I called our vet and was told that she would continue going into heat until she mated or was spayed. Since we lived in an apartment at that time and were working full time we elected to have her spayed. That solved this night time behavior. So, it's your choice.