It’s the middle of the night. You’re walking down the hall to get a drink of water when out of nowhere, two jaws and four sets of claws are embedded in your legs.

Do you stay up at night listening to the pitter-patter of little feet racing up and down the hall for no reason?

Do either your feet under the covers or your closed door get attacked every time you lay down and close your eyes?

Is it so bad your beginning to wonder if they sell kitty sleep aides?

And can you empathize with this guy?

Here are a few things we have found work great to get our kitty relaxed while we fall asleep.

Tire Them Out

by silgeo via Flickr

First, don’t let your cat sleep all day. I know this can be tough. People have work and busy lives, but let’s face it. Indoor cats do not  live in the fast lane. They live parked, preferably in a window or sunny spot in the house. They will stay parked all day if you let them. Don’t let them. 

Come home and play during lunch. If you have business lunches hire a responsible neighbor or pet sitter to come play with Fluffy. People are hired to walk dogs all the time. Nothing is wrong with hiring someone to play with your cat.  When you get home play a few minutes with your cat yourself. Cats enjoy laser pointer, shoelaces and catnip. It won’t be hard to keep them busy a little before falling into your nightly routine.

Feed Them

by langalex via Flickr

Another thing we noticed that helps our cat calm down at night is food. My cat is like me. He wants a nap after every meal. Actually I’m not as bad as he is. I don’t need a nap after breakfast, but we both want to sleep after dinner. So we made our bedtime his dinner time. This actually works well.  He has to take time to sit and eat. He has to digest and he’s less inclined to hunt our late night feet. If you have a cat that likes to eat at the time you do simply for companies sake or if you worry he’s waiting to long for food, a small snack at your dinner or when you get home can still help this technique work without alienating your cat.

Stop Them In Their Tracks

Sometimes it also helps to give the cat speed bumps. Do you have stairs that you fuzzy friend likes to race up and down. Put children gates up at the top and bottom. Does he have a favorite raceway hall? Put a gate smack dab in the middle. Your cat will most likely not be blocked from the other parts of the house, but to jump the fence he will have to slow down. This will dramatically bring down the noise level of your indoor race way.

Enjoy the results!

by masochismtango via Flickr