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My kitten is too hyper at night and gets poop on her legs. What to do?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | unspayed | 5 lbs

Hi! i have two questions. my kitty is 12 weeks old about i just got her. she is very very hyper especially at night when i am trying to sleep and i want to know how i can calm her down so i can sleep. Also when she goes into the litter box and she poops she will play around in her litter box and get poop on her legs, how can i prevent that?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Anna M., DVM

Answered By Anna M., DVM

Veterinarian

Published on November 12th, 2017

Hello, and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Kittens are full of playful energy, and it can be an exhausting (but very entertaining) phase. What you're describing is completely normal kitten behavior, which means it's just a phase that you need to get through. There is no way to ask Jinx to be calmer - but you can help her use some of that energy before bed by playing with her, encouraging her to chase a laser pointer, etc - and hopefully that helps tire her out so you can sleep! If you need to confine her to get some sleep, you might set her up in a different room with plenty of things to play with, or get her a large indoor kennel (big enough to fit food, water, litterbox, and toys). Her playing in the litterbox is also part of the mischievous kitten stage, but it might help to get her a larger litterbox that offers a bit more space, make the layer of litter deeper, or play around with the type of litter and see if there's one that better covers her stools. If all else fails, have patience and try to find the humor in her antics - she will calm down eventually when she grows out of her baby stage! Hope this helps!
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