Okay, here’s the deal. I have this 20-year-old Siamese cat who sleeps like a baby all day long and wakes up about 10:00 p.m. and stays awake most of the night. Wouldn’t be so bad, except that she wants everyone else in the house to be awake with her–mostly me, since I’m the mom. She jumps on the bed, paws at me, licks me and, most annoying of all, meows really loud (I think she’s hard of hearing, so she has to meow really loud to hear herself). She only started this about 3 years ago about the time her litter mate had to be put to sleep. At first I thought she was looking for her sister, but now I think she’s just lonely. She’s very territorial, which is why I never got another cat.
Anyway, the thing is, someone told me I could give her a little St. John’s Wart (good for human depression) or Valerian root to help her calm down and sleep at night, but I don’t know how much to give her and don’t want to OD the poor little kitty (despite what my hubby says–he didn’t raise her since she was 6 weeks old). She only weighs about 5 pounds. Does anyone know if an overdose of either of these remedies could be fatal or otherwise harmful? We sure could use some sleep around here. We also have a 6-month-old baby, who usually sleeps through the night, but between the two of them, I am totally sleep deprived.
We are also planning a short car trip this weekend (only about 2 hours to Gramma’s for Easter). Kitty used to be a great little traveler, but the last couple of times we took her in the car she got car sick (makes for such an enjoyable outing). Does anybody know if you can give Dramamine to a 5-pound cat?
I would appreciate any help any of you can offer. Perhaps there are some veterinarians out there? Other than the above and a slight hairball problem (you cat owners can relate, I’m sure), she is in excellent health for a little old lady. Thanks!
I’d recommend strongly very strongly to ask these questions of your vet. Do not give meds, even herbals to your kitty w/o checking with a reputable vet first (especially such an elderly small kitty).
But meanwhile, a little tough love might help. She wouldn’t keep coming to you at night if it weren’t worth her while. Close your bedroom door. After a few nights she’ll figure it out, and maybe get bored and go to sleep.
One of the characteristics of Siamese is that they are extremely vocal. Your Siamese sounds exactly like mine. If I close the door to my room, he’ll sit outside wailing until I open it. When we first got him and I heard it, I thought a baby next door was crying.
Yes, exactly. Often I’ve been talking to someone on the phone, and they’ll say, “Oh, is that the baby I hear? How sweet!” Nope, it’s the cat. She can sound like a baby, only really loud. We’ve tried closing the bedroom door at night, but she sits outside the door and HOWLS. We’re afraid she’ll wake the baby, so we (I) let her in. Very frustrating!
I had this problem with my cat Arthur for a while. Do you have a squirt bottle? If not, just get a plastic spray bottle with water, with a straight spraying jet. Every time she howls when it’s time for bed, squirt her. She WON’T like it. A combination of ignoring her for a while, and when she gets really bad, squirting her, should work. It may take a while, but she’ll get the picture sooner or later. Our cat was broken of his habit in about a week. Now he waits patiently for 6:15 AM before insisting on breakfast.
About the car sick thing, I just read today that it usually isn’t the motion that is making your cat sick, it’s the scenery moving by outside. Makes them dizzy or something. I would not feed the cat before you leave, feed upon arrival, and use a cat carrier. When I was a teen I was taking my cat to the vet and she was loose in the car. I almost got in an accident when she decided to climb up into my lap from the floor…through the spokes in the steering wheel as I was turning a corner. Never again will I have a cat in the car loose. Plus then if your cat gets sick it will be easier to clean the carrier than clean your car’s upholstery.
