Title: When Your Cat Gets the "Midnight Crazies"
Headings: When Your Cat Gets the “Midnight Crazies”
When Your Cat Gets the “Midnight Crazies”
Help Your Kitten Relax
Provide More Opportunities for Play
‘Evening Proof’ Your Home
Confine Your Cat for the Evening
Interrupt Bad Behaviors

Content: She lets out a howl, leaps to the floor, runs sideways, leaps into the air, and pounces on nothing with all her might. Your cat has been gripped by the “midnight crazies.” The “midnight crazies” is a popular name for a cat’s behavior when she plays and roughhouses in short spurts in the middle of the night. The cat may entertain herself with wild activity or jump on your bed and paw at your feet, elbows, hair, and face to get you to join in. What motivates a cat to such boisterous and disruptive behavior? One theory is that the cat is simply practicing hunting methods, fighting maneuvers, and escape techniques. “Cats in the wild are active at times when rodents come out, typically after dark,” says Sandy Myers, an animal behavior consultant with Narnia Pet Behavior Clinic in Naperville, Ill. “A cat naturally wants to spend her evenings hunting and playing predator games, even if she is a well-fed house pet.” Another theory is that house cats become active at night simply because they aren’t getting enough play and exercise during the day. “Many house cats spend the days alone and indoors while their owners are at work,” says Dr. Barbara Simpson, a board-certified veterinary behaviorist with the Veterinary Behavior Clinic at Southern Pines, N.C. “When the owner comes home in the evening, the cat wants to play and will be very active.” Late-night activity is especially common in young cats with a lot of energy to spare, and in new kittens who simply do not know any better. “