How to Make a Cat Sleep Instantly: 10 Tips

Making your cat go to sleep in just several minutes can be difficult, if not impossible, especially if you don’t have a routine set in place. 

Ensuring that your cat has a regular routine, gets 30 minutes of exercise during the day, and is given space to relax and wind down in the evening are a few things that will help your cat fall asleep very quickly.

Keep reading for a few more ideas on how you can get your cat to sleep almost instantly:

1. Play with them before going to bed

Playtime is important for cats of all ages, even though we might tend to think that they need less of it as they grow older.

The best way of making sure that your cat can fall asleep around the time you do is to make sure that she gets enough stimulation during the day. 

If you can, play with your cat at least 30 minutes a day – 15 minutes in the morning before you go to work, and 15 minutes in the evening, before her last meal. 

Playing with your cat not only gets rid of some of her excess energy and makes her calm down, but it’s also important for her health.

Bored and constantly ignored cats can develop a variety of behavioural problems and can end up suffering from depression or anxiety. 

2. Keep your cat busy while you’re away from home

If you’re lucky enough to have two cats, chances are they’re going to keep each other busy during the day, when you’re at work.

But if you have just one, ‘tiring’ her out while you’re not there can be challenging. 

Switch up your feline friend’s toys on a regular basis, but keep in mind that interactive ones and puzzles are the best as they are capable of stimulating your pet appropriately.

Toys that come with digital timers are another good option as you can set them to entertain your cat several times throughout the day.

Installing a cat perch on a window and a bird feeder outside of it can allow your cat to get a free show even when you aren’t at home.

All of these activities will make your cat feel more tired by the time evening comes around, so you won’t have a hard time convincing her to go to bed. 

3. Create a routine

Pets tend to function better when they are fed or their litter boxes are cleaned at the same time every day, and even when you have a sleep routine in check, too. 

Activities such as brushing your teeth or changing into your pyjamas and fixing your bed can tell your cat that it’s time to go to bed, especially if you’ve been doing all of this for years.

Even if your cat isn’t paying any attention to you, she’ll still hear these sounds and understand that sleep time is approaching.

Putting together a soothing routine for your feline friend can also be done by grooming her, by giving her the same treat every night, or by allowing your cat to cuddle in bed with you. 

4. Set the right mood

If you want your cat to fall asleep almost at the same time you do, keep your bedroom dark and quiet. 

Cats do have excellent vision, so they can be just as active during the night as they are during the day, but they’ll be less likely to do so if you’ve tired them and your sleeping space is calm. 

If you sit and watch Netflix TV shows or listen to loud music until 3 am, you can’t really expect your cat to fall asleep at 10 pm the next evening. 

5. Keep toys in a different room

While it might be ideal for your cat to fall asleep and not wake up until you do, this rarely happens.

Cats are known for sleeping in sessions that can last for anything from minutes to several hours, but they almost never have a full 8 hours of sleep like we, humans, do. 

To prevent your cat from getting bored and seeking out entertainment opportunities when she wakes up in the middle of the night, you should create a special playtime space in a room other than your bedroom.

Your cat should always have access to it. 

A range of toys and food puzzles can keep your cat stimulated and can make her burn off some steam as you continue sleeping.

She’ll be less prone to waking you up. 

6. Use cat calming products

There are many pet calming products available today, but you might need to try several before sticking to one that your feline companion responds to.

Sprays and diffusers containing pheromones can calm down an anxious cat and help her go to sleep faster, but so can treats, supplements, and drops. 

7. Create safe hiding spaces

As you might have noticed, cats love hiding every now and then.

They feel safe when they do it, so filling your home with several hiding spaces can be a nice way of getting your feline buddy to calm down before you go to bed. 

Cats are known for their love of cardboard boxes but they also love play tunnels, cat caves and pretty much anything they can fit into.

Most of them will do their job for a limited amount of time, but keep in mind that pets tend to get bored at one point just like we, humans, do. 

Therefore, it might be a good idea to switch up the hiding spots every 2-3 weeks. 

If your cat is a great lover of warm places (and it’s quite likely that she is), you might want to consider using heat pads or several plastic bottles filled with hot water in and around her cat bed. 

If you use a radiator and it gets nice and toasty in your bedroom, your feline friend has a much higher chance of snoozing through the night. 

8. Introduce familiar objects

A large part of making your cat or kitten go to sleep is creating a comfortable and reassuring environment. 

If you’re a new cat owner and you’ve adopted a kitten from a shelter or a place where she used to be with her mother, brothers, and sisters, it is a good idea to use a blanket from the shelter/their previous home that they are comfortable and familiar with. 

Familiar objects make it easier for cats to feel like they’re at home, safe and sound, and cosy.

More often than not, cats soothe themselves and manage to doze off happily on their favourite blankets or sleeping beds. 

Keeping these items hidden during the day and offering them to your cat at night can help her calm down and go to bed easier and faster. 

9. Make sure they are healthy

Even before you start to change your pet’s sleep schedule, you should make sure that her health is in check.

Geriatric cats can often have underlying health problems whose symptoms you might fail to notice, especially if you are out of the house for more than 10 hours every day. 

Cats can have a variety of conditions that can impact the way they sleep, from urinary tract infections to chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and even hormonal imbalances. 

Senior animals can have a harder time falling asleep for these reasons, and also because of a deprecating sense of hearing (the latter makes it more difficult for them to assess their living environment). 

Take your cat to the vet once or twice a year and even three times a year after she gets older than the age of 8. 

10. Let your cat rest in a cat tree 

If you don’t live in a remote area where there are no lights outside whatsoever, and your cat really has nothing to watch during the night, using a cat tree might solve your problem.

It might not make your cat fall asleep right away, but it will keep her occupied. 

Moreover, most cat trees are located above ground levels, which means that she’ll be able to supervise what’s happening both in your room and outdoors.

Cats love to be on top of every situation, so they’ll enjoy being up a cat tree. 

Conclusion

As you can see, it’s practically impossible to order your cat to go to sleep and see it happening right away.

However, if you use most of the tips that we have described in this post, you have good chances of making your cat calm down and go to bed when you do.