Help! Cats driving me crazy at night?

I adopted two 4-year-old adult male cats a few monthes ago (both are fixed), and just moved into a new upper unit of a farm house. They are brothers from the same litter and very close - and super loving and sweet. The problem is they love to chase each other at night, knocking stuff down and keeping me awake. They are also driving the person who lives below me nuts as they run like a herd of elephants around the place. I've tried playing with them before bed hoping to tire them out, but that has not made a dent. So I've started locking them in my room with me at night (along with food, water, and a second litter box). Well, that did stop them from running around the flat so at least the guy downstairs isn't complaining anymore. However I only get about 4 hours of sleep (if I'm lucky) as they jump on and off the bed, meow, scratch in the litter box, chase each other around, etc. I put foam pads on the floor to keep the banging down as they jump off the bed. But I need to sleep!!

Help! Cats driving me crazy at night?
It's the 'night crazies!'. There are a few things you can do to cut down on that.





Set aside some time every evening before bedtime for an interactive play therapy session with your cats. http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?ac...


http://www.thecatsite.com/Behavior/175/C...





A good play therapy session, followed by a nice meal of canned food, will mimic the cats' natural hunting, catching, and eating of prey cycle, which is then usually followed by sleep. Doing this will help to reset the cats' nocturnal schedule to be more in line with yours.





Also, you'll want to make sure the cats have plenty to keep them occupied during the day - this link has some ideas:


http://www.catclinicofroswell.com//faq/d...





There's another tactic you can try to cut down on them bothering you at night, but if your neighbor's bedroom is below your own, you'll need to get the neighbor's OK to do it. If you think he'll go along with the idea, talk to him and tell him you're trying to train the cats to be quiet at night, and you'll need to make some noise for a few nights, and see if he won't mind wearing earplugs to bed while you work this out.





What you'll want to do is plug in a vacuum cleaner and set it it within arm's reach near your bed. Whenever the cats start jumping on you %26amp; bothering you, briefly turn on the vacuum cleaner. It shouldn't take long for the cats to make the connection, and start letting you sleep in peace.





Hope this helps.
Reply:If your cats still do this do what i did when my cat was younger. Ever single night i would lock my cat in the bathroom with food and water and his litter box eventually he got the message to let me sleep! Report It

Reply:See if they like Catnip, it has a calming almost drugged effect on them if they like it, and try to encourage them to play a little earlier and if they're sleeping during the day try and keep them awake. We had to do that with our cats and bothering them during the day to keep them up helped them and us sleep at night.
Reply:cats are nocturnal (sp) animals they get burts of energy when you want to sleep. feeding them and playing with them are good ideas but do it at least 2-3 hrs BEFORE you want to go to bed. this way they burn off energy and by the time you want to sleep so should they.
Reply:this may sound like a crazy idea, but my vet told me to give my dogs some baby benedril when i needed to cut thier claws, so im assuming that it could calm the felines down to get them to sleep at night, i think once they get in a pattern they wont need it anymore. hope this helps
Reply:Give them catnip during the day so that they can tire them selves out and hopefully they will be calmer at night.
Reply:My friends and I, that have cats, refer to this as boiling! And it can be a problem. Try feeding them their night time meal right before bed. They normally sleep right after eating. Also giving them cat nip about a hour before bed. That might helo too.
Reply:My cat (male, 9 yrs) used to drive me nuts at night too. So, my husband and I took turns calling home every hour from work (he took top of the hour, I took on the half hour). This interruption of his daytime sleep helped him to sleep more during the night hours and therefore allowed us our sleep as well. Also, we make time every evening for play and chase time. We do this several hours before bedtime since, just like a child, if the cat is wound up too close to bedtime, it will be harder to calm him down when you are ready to sleep. Catnip may be another answer, try putting some in an old sock and tying it off in a knot. My cat loves to bite and scratch at one of these home made toys and he will relax afterwards.