Nocturnally active cats
Cats may be known to sleep their lives away for the most part, but when awake, cats can get very active. They tend to be most active at night. This is the time our four legged friend wants to play, eat or just enjoy the attention and company of its owner. Especially young cats have the ability to drive their poor, sleep deprived owners completely bonkers!
Your cat's ancestor is the African Wild Cat. It mostly lives during the night and sleeps during the day. By domesticating cats, their pattern of activity was modified to a pattern in which the cat is more active during the day than the African Wild Cat, but still our cats wake up during the night 2 or 3 times. The good news is that you can teach your cat to let you get your well deserved 8 hours of sleep every night.
Important:
If you own a cat that usually lets you sleep during the night but suddenly becomes restless and start walking around the house meowing, there could be a medical issue involved! Should it start eating considerably more, it could be dealing with an overactive thyroid, a condition which may be regulated with medication. In such cases it's best to be sure and visit a vet.
Do's:
During the evening, plan a few moments to play with your cat. Playing together will work best. Use toys which imitate the movements of mice and birds. Playing with ping pong balls, soft balls en fake mice is ideal for cats who love to play catch and hunt.
Try to play with your cat until it gets tired.
Just before bedtime, give your cat its main course for the day. Cats usually like to sleep after eating a big meal. Should your cat wake up during the night because it wants food, you could consider a time regulated food system so your cat has fresh food at certain times during the night. Do adjust the portions correctly so the cat won't get fat!
Make sure you use a variety of toys and activities for your cat to keep it busy during the day. Should your cat not be allowed to go outside (for example, because you live near a busy road), consider (if possible) a fencing system in your backyard or on your balcony, making it safe for your cat to be outside without being able to escape.
If your cat gets along well with other cats, perhaps you should consider getting a second cat. If the cats are a good match, they will play with each other when they feel the need to play and there's a good possibility they'll leave you in peace. You should realise there's a possibility your two cats decide to play with each other during the nights.
Should your cat try to wake you up and/or play with you during the night, it might be necessary to remove your cat from the bedroom when you sleep. There are reports of cats unintentionally harming their owners in their sleep. For example when your cat watches your eyes move behind close eyelids and tries to catch your eye, mistaking it for a hidden prey.
If you banished your cat from the bedroom and it starts scratching your door and meowing, you may try to discourage him by putting something up against the door your cat does not like, like a piece of carpet, tape or aluminium foil. As an alternative you could 'booby trap' the door. Like a hair dryer or vacuum cleaner just outside the door, attached to an on and off button you are able to reach from the bedroom. When the cat wakes you up, turn it on for a moment. Chances are you will scare the cat and it won't even want to come back to try again.
Don'ts:
Don't get up out of bed to give your cat attention, unless of course you suspect something is wrong.
If you get up just to feed or play with your cat to keep it quiet, you are encouraging the cat to be even more persistent in his demanding attention the following night. Even sobbing or grumping at your cat might have an unwanted result. Negative attention is better than no attention at all!