Although domestic cats prefer sleeping 16-20 hours per day, they do not continuously sleep at night. Once they are awake, they want to be with you. This behavior is definitely not good for cat owners as they are often irritated and sleepless because of their cats. A few follow tips to get them to sleep fastly and stay relaxed.
What if My Kitten Does Not Sleep at Night
It’s the first night of your kitten in your home and it may be challenging for you and your little feline!!
Here are a few tips and tricks that will help your cat is having a peaceful sleep through the night.
While you are deciding on where to place the kitty’s stuff and which local veterinary to consult, your kitten has entirely different concerns. Their new home is entirely different from where she was born and raised up till now. Further, she is not able to find her mum and siblings anywhere. Instead, she is seeing a bunch of people totally unfamiliar to her. This situation may scare.
As the night arrives, they are left to sleep alone in their new, strange house. Kittens do not sleep through the night. You will often see your kittens wake up during the night no matter how dark and peaceful their sleeping room is. They should not be given any sort of attention at that time and eventually, they will learn how to sleep at night.
My Cat Doesn’t Let Me Sleep
It is not unusual for cats to try to wake you up after you have gone to bed. It may want to be around you, play with you, or eat something. This behavior is often annoying for us and makes us think why it is doing so. This is normal cat behavior and can be linked back to the cat’s ancestors who were nocturnal creatures. Most cats tend to wake up at least twice at night.
6 Strategies to Improve Cat Sleeping at Night
Interactive Play to make them tired
Give your cat a chance for interactive play during the evening. Cats love toys that mimic the movements and sounds of birds or mice. Ping pong balls and softballs are also great options to make your cat tired before bedtime.
Large Meals Before Bed
Feed a big meal to the cat just before bedtime. Cats usually sleep longer when their tummy is full. If the cat is waking up at night even after having a meal, you can buy timed feeders. These devices dispatch food at the timed schedule. Make the cat learn to wait for the feeding time instead of waking you up for giving food.
Enriching and Socializing Activities
Filling the cat’s day with enriching activities is yet another way of making them exhausted enough to sleep peacefully at night. You can also add another cat to the house, so that they keep each other busy if they get awake at night, instead of waking you up. But beware that the romping cats are also very disturbing.
Don’t Allow Your Cat inside Your Bedroom
It is necessary to keep the cats outside the bedroom when you are sleeping. Cats can hurt you unintentionally in an attempt to wake you up. If the cat cries or scratches the bedroom door, then place something that will scare them from doing so.
Use Something to Scare Them
You can use a vinyl carpet runner placed upside down to keep the cat away from your bedroom door. Alternatively, aluminum foil, double-sided sticky tape, or a Scat Mat can do the job. You can also plug a remote control hairdryer or a vacuum cleaner outside your bedroom door. Just in case the cat meows outside to wake you up you can start it to startle the cat away from your bedroom door.
Don’t Entertain Them
Unless you doubt some emergency, don’t wake up to entertain your cat or to feed it. If you do so the cat will try a bit harder to wake you up every night. They want to seek attention, which you have to discourage strictly. Even scolding them is not a good option as it also provides them with negative attention.
Medical Problems of disturbed sleep
The cat who is medically suffering from an illness will not sleep peacefully. In addition to remaining awake at night, the cat will meow or cry excessively due to the pain and discomfort. In this case, it is essential to get the cat checked immediately with the vet and treated accordingly.
Conclusion
Cats love snoozing and their average sleep time is about 18 – 20 hours in a day. It is not necessary that they will also sleep when humans are sleeping. Cats are usually awake at dawn and dusk. However, making them sleep peacefully is essential to make them thrive and grow at a faster rate.