I haven’t had a proper nights sleep in 5 years

[McShowy]

I adopted two sister from the same litter. I initially just wanted one but read up on how lonely and bored they might get. Kitty A is so relaxed and hardly ever makes a sound. Even if her food is late. Kitty B is forever mewing and crying! She is LOUD! She is not ill or in any pain as we have taken her to the vets many times to make sure.

She is just very clingy, not at all a lap cat though but wants to be there with us all the time except when she’s asleep during the day (8-12 hours). I play with her when I get home (or log off if I’m WFH) and just before I go to bed. Lots of running around and fetch to try to tire her out but she will still wake every 1 -1.5 hours at night needing attention. We have a small open plan 2 bed and can hear her from every room. At night if I lock her in (alone or with her sister) she’ll scream and scratch the door. Earplugs don’t work. She always has food so it’s not hungry meows. I’ve tried Feliway but that doesn’t have any effect. She just want us to be awake looking at her! Is there anything I can do to get 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep? Or am I doomed to never have a good nights sleep again (or the next 15+ years)?

I assume you’ve tried keeping her awake all day to attempt to reset her clock .

Is she able to go outside at night? Sounds like she's bored.

That sounds really hard! Maybe it's like controlled crying (which I'm not keen on for babies but for cats I'd give it a go) - if she learns it won't work she might give up if you stick it out? Or could you ask the vet if there's some kind of tranquilliser pill she could have at night?

I think I's be booking her into a cattery for a few nights just to get a sleep!

Is she an indoor cat? If so, it would help to let her out during the day/evening and keep her in at night. I've always had cats (42 years) and they've always been able to come and go throughout the day, but always been kept in all night. I've kept feeding times to 7ish, then about 1pm, 6pm, and lastly 10pm, and after a while of doing that, they became used to the routine (3 times a day is fine) and know that 10 pm is time for bed.

my cat used to scream at 4-5am every night without fail. then she had a fight, got an injury and had to stay in for 2 weeks. When she started, I told her no and shut her out/in. eventually she gave in, after 2 weeks she stopped asking to go out and when she was allowed back out I continued to not let her out at night anymore. choose a strategy and stick with it.

You're doomed. I've had cats for the last 20 years and havent had a proper night's sleep in those 20 years unless I'm on holiday. And annoyingly I often wake up anyway around the time a cat would be waking me up!!

She doesn’t like going outside, they both don’t. I have a cat flap or usually have the windows or doors open especially in summer and have tried encouraging them out. They tried it once and never again.

I honestly don’t think she’s bored. She has her signals for when she wants to play and playtime lasts for 10-15 minutes. She just wants us awake and around her. On days I’m not working I try to keep her awake but when she goes to her ‘deep sleep’ spot under the bed I have no chance.

I’ve tried the controlled crying. She’ll be quiet for a max of three hours before starting up again. I’ve seen a new Feliway max plug in so maybe I’ll try that.

You're doomed

We have a cat flap and our cats come and go as they please. Boy cat is a lazy lump, who rarely leaves the house and uses a litter tray. Girl cat likes freedom to roam or she tears the house apart and howls. She sleeps inside through the night, then heads out at 5am.

My cat used to do this and as suggested above we just ignored him for a few nights and he eventually realised that he wasn't going to get attention. They were a tough few nights but it had to be done .

I have never paid attention to night time howling and have never given in. He sleeps in the living room, end of story. I have a water pistol, which I sprayed under the door due to a couple of incidents of screeching at the start, which the yowler associated with his own bad behaviour (and desisted).

For you, get a white or brown noise app on your phone/Alexa and put it on full blast. When my cat was trying it on with the yowling, I put a laptop outside the living room with white/brown noise on full to drown him out too.

If you haven't seen this already, Jackson Galaxy talks about it here.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=myTrcaeUyzo

Where are you lockers g her and her sister in? Do you mean you lock her in the house - so she can’t get outside? Or do you mean that you’re locking them in a room inside your flat?

If it’s the latter - then you’re obviously going to hear her if it’s a 2 bedroom flat. Unless you live in a Manor House with separate wings, I think it’s impossible not to hear them!

If you are locking her in a room overnight - why is that? Have you done that from the start, or in response to her noise. Maybe a better description re the “history” of this behaviour would help with better advice being given.

Could you set up an igloo-type bed in your bedroom, so that she’s near you?

It’s difficult to begin to advise without knowing things like when did this start, what have you tried, when did you start locking her in a room, etc etc.

We’ve only had our cat 4 months, haven’t had a full nights sleep since🤣

She sleeps on our bed but wakes about 4 for a snack and then wants to get up at 6. She isn’t a lap cat either but wants company, someone downstairs with her while she goes outside! Slightly annoying.

It’s more complicated now DS1 is home from University because he is more nocturnal than us and not the quietest. When Ds1 is at university we leave the door open but currently shut the cat in with us when DH comes to bed, she sleeps and she stands on my chest about 4ish so I can open the door and let her out. She then has something to eat and normally settles for a bit longer.

Good to read peoples ideas. I won’t shut her in anywhere, she just needs people near her so much and she doesn’t deserve anything that would distress her.

Good job cats are so lovable😻

I wouldn't know if mine make noise. We shut them downstairs at night from day 1.

Seems like she’s settled very happily into daytime long sleep and nighttime awake time.

If she went out I’d advise you to try locking her out in the daytime, to reset her ‘deep sleep’ to a normal pattern.

When our old boy got nocturnally disruptive we shut him downstairs and ignored until the habit was broken.

How long have you tried ignoring her and shutting her away from the bedrooms? If it’s less than a week then you need to keep trying.

If you can’t do any of that, then I think I’d rehome unless they’re a super bonded pair. I simply couldn’t be kept awake night on night by a cat long term, and a different house set-up someone else might be able to cope with.