Crazy Cats - HELP!

My parent-in-laws lock (close the basement door) the cats in the basement at night. If you don't have a basement then another room with all the essentials could work.

For awhile we locked the cats out of our bedrooms but I missed having them at my feet at night. As someone said below the cats are crazier when springs comes around. They get spring fever just like us. They miss the smells, open windows and so on.

Also someone mentioned not letting them sleep all day and play with them an hour or so before your bed time. I have 2 cats and they are crazy at night if I do not play with them before I go to bed. I try to wake them up throughout the day to so they don't nap too long, that way they are tired at night or at least won't be crazy at night.

My aunt used to put sheets of very coarse sandpaper on the kitchen counters to keep her cats off. Otherwise I would agree with putting them in a room where they can't do any damage or a cat carrier for the night.

Our cats shaped up after we tossed them outside for a year. I mean that we made our indoor cats live outside for an entire year, winter and all. It had got to a point where we were either going to have to give them away or, yup, bury em in the back yard. They survived just fine outside (we fed them on the porch), and when we let them back in finally, they were much better behaved. I have absolutely NO idea why that would work, but somehow it did. I've also noticed now that they've been in the house again for several years, that they act up way more at springtime, and if I let them outside during the day, they sleep all night, but if I make them stay inside all day, they sleep all day and make mischief all night. Don't know if you'd be willing or able to turn them into outdoor or indoor/outdoor cats, but it might be an option worth considering.

When my cats act up, I spray a feremone that I get from the vet. I spray it in places around the house like the bottom areas of door jams, lower legs of furniture, etc. It calms them, and the activity stops. I also spend more time with them in the evenings which helps. It has never stained anything that I spray it on. And we make sure to have scratching posts located in a few areas around the house for territorial marking.

Well, they are CATS. Cats do that. Well, here are a couple solutions... First, do you have a room that you can "cat proof" and put them in at night?
Or, I got mine to stay off of the counter in the kitchen by buying those mats that go on carpet to protect it...usually they are clear and have little rubber spikes on the bottom that help it stick to the carpet and not slide. Cut them up and put them upside down on the surfaces you don't want them to be. When they jump up, the rubber spikes are uncomfortable, so they get down. After a couple weeks to a month of trying and it continuing to be there, they just stop trying. They assume it will be there every time and just stay off. It worked for mine. Good luck.

I found a great product calle Scat they carry it at Petsmart (not petco) http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751025

it's an areosol can with a motion detector attached. We have placed it in the doorways of the rooms that kitty is not allowed to go in. It doesn't actually spray anything on them, it just makes a loug "poufing" noise and a non-toxic mist comes out...Worked well for us!

Buy those plastic mouse traps (not the traditional wood ones). Place them along the counters, move them around periodically so they do not learn where they are. They will snap when bumped but have a light enough spring that they will not harm the cats. It will startle them enough that they should learn to stay off the counters.

Lol! We have two cats, and our male is a little devil. Our female is a few years older, and much more subdued, but he just can't get into enough trouble. He's like a naughty two year old. :P

During the day if he gets into trouble, he gets sent to his room (the bathroom, which he HATES as he's learned to fear the bathtub when he's naughty) but at night if he acts up and starts knocking things down he goes straight to the travel carrier. We don't leave him in for the duration of the night, but he gets to sit in there for an hour or so. It's not so small that he can't move, but it's by no means comfortable. (that and I think he remembers going to the vet to be neutered in it) He's to the point now that when he gets hyper, all I have to do is pick up the carrier and take it towards him and all of a sudden he's Mr. Sweetheart again. It's not fool-proof, but his behavior is improving. Good luck!

I feel your pain! And I only have two of them!

Tinfoil worked for us. Cats hate the sound it makes when they walk on it. I used it in my daughter's crib before she was born to condition my cats not to go in there and it worked well. Just make sure you don't lay it totally flat, krinkle it up a little bit.

When one of my cats was really young, we actually had to kennel him (yes, like a dog) while we were away so he wouldn't get into trouble! It might not hurt to try that while you are sleeping. You could also just confine them to a small room where they can't really get into anything while they can't be supervised.

I don't like someone else's suggestion of tossing them outside. It is a very dangerous world for a cat out there. Busy streets, stray dogs, cold weather, etc.