Managing Nighttime Activity

Is your foster kitty keeping you up with 2 AM zoomies or scratching at your bedroom door at 5 AM demanding food? While a cat's activity level at different times of day can vary based on their age or unique personality, you don't have to settle for sleeplessness. There is a lot you can do as a foster to train your foster cat to have a regular routine so that you, and their future adopters, can sleep uninterrupted. Through an appropriate feeding schedule, regular and strategically timed play time, and adequate environmental enrichment, you can train your kitty to sleep through the night, or at least entertain herself if she does happen to be up at 3 AM.

Establishing a Feeding Schedule

One of the biggest factors in helping your kitty get into a regular sleep routine is to get them on a strict feeding schedule. This means, if you are free-feeding your kitty you should stop. There is more information on how to transition a cat from free-feeding to regular meal times here.

When you have your cat eating 2-4 separate meals per day, you should plan to feed them their last meal of the day around when you are getting ready to start winding down for the night. This means they will be full and sleepy right around when you're going to bed. ​

Play Time

Once your cat knows to expect dinner at a specific time, start giving them an intense 30 minute play session right before dinner. Throw balls or springs for them to chase, let them hunt a laser pointer, get them jumping with a wand toy, or throw pieces of treats across the room to get them to run around. Do whatever it takes to get them nice and exhausted! Some cats can get a second or third wind, so if they get tired and flop over, give them a bit of a break and then try again. You want to get them totally tuckered out. (This has the added benefit of helping you build a strong bond with your kitty, too.)

After this intense play session, you will give them dinner as described above. This taps into their instincts to hunt, catch, kill, eat, and then groom and sleep!

Environmental Enrichment

One of the reasons your cat may be bugging you at night is that they are bored. You can help by giving them lots of toys and activities that keep them mentally stimulated and active at night.

Make sure your kitty has scratching posts, cat trees, or window seats where they can play, climb, and look out at the world.

If you already have lots of toys for them, try putting some them away and then rotate them in and out of circulation as some cats get bored of their toys and need a bit of a break from them before rediscovering how fun they are. Some cats are picky about the kinds of toys they are interested in. Take advantage of your regular trips to Ops to pick up food and litter to also get different toys to try and see what works best for your kitty.

Set up a puzzle feeder to tap into their problem-solving skills and make them work a bit harder to get treats, and keep them occupied for a long time. These are easy to DIY using things you'd normally put in your recycling bin. You can also get a puzzle feeder treat ball and put treats in it. 

Create a treat 'scavenger hunt' around the house to keep them active. Start easy, by putting treats in spots your kitty already hangs out. Then, slowly expand the places you put the treats to encourage your kitty to explore. If you have a scared kitty who tends to stay glued to a few safe spots, this can also help encourage them to explore your space when you're asleep, and can help them expand their safe territory. Remember to never put treats in spots you don't want your cat to be (e.g. on the kitchen counter), and to avoid spots where they may accidentally knock things over in pursuit of their treat.

Whatever treats you're using, try to break or cut them into relatively small pieces so that each individual treat isn't a lot of extra calories. You can pick up treats at our Operations Centre where we have a range of more healthy treat options.

Photo credit: @callisterandadanac

Bonus Tip: Ignore, Ignore, Ignore!

The last thing you need to do - which might be the hardest one - is to ignore your kitty when they bother you at night. This means no talking to them, no yelling at them, no playing with them or feeding them to get them to be quiet. You have to pretend they're not there. Any kind of engagement can reward their disruptive behaviour and could undermine all the other hard work you've done. Stay strong, and don't forget the ear plugs!