Caffeine cat

leeence

I just realized today that my cat is stealing my roommate's espresso capsules (the little ones for the nespresso machine) and stashes them everywhere around the apartment. She plays with them and occasionally breaks them and licks the coffee. Apparently this has been going on for a while. Nothing much happened to my cat, some insomnia and sometimes paranoia, but I was wandering if I need to take her to the vet. Dunno if caffeine/coffee is dangerous for cats.
Any experiences?

flaco

Subject: um

you have witnessed insomnia and paranoia in your cat?

jf22561

The cat is probably OK but it's always better to be safe than sorry - I think a vet check up would be a good idea.

brokechick

caffeine can be fatal to cats in too high a dose, and for a cat a "high dose" is a fairly small amount--sometimes one chocolate chip cookie can contain enough caffeine to do a smallish cat in. you've been lucky so far, but you need to start hiding these espresso things someplace where your cat can't reach them. probably any hypertension or paranoia issues will resolve once the caffeine has been cleared from her system, but a checkup isn't a bad idea.

leeence

I have witnessed the insomnia and paranoia in my cat ever since I got her. She's about a year old now, and from the day one she wouldn't sleep more than 3-4hrs a day. She is very hyperactive and I tried different diets but nothing really worked. And now she started stealing coffee.
I'm confused if she is doing it because she is drawn to caffeine of was just playing and happened to break into some capsules every now and then...
Anyhow I moved the coffee to an unreachable place for her (which is not easy to find given her curiosity) and am watching her carefully these couple of days to figure if there are any changes...

brokechick

oh, she's a baby! that's not insomnia, that's just kittenness. i wouldn't expect her to sleep through the night with you until she's at least three.

flaco

none of this would be a problem if they served kittens at starbucks. fucking cat-hating starbucks.

leeence

until she's three?
Jesus... dunno... had various cats and kittens but none of them really was running around the house day and night looking for trouble as this one...

and I agree ...coffee shops should serve decaf lattes for kittens...
(couldn't care less 'bout starbucks to be honest)

homeowner

It took us the better part of a year to get our cats on an almost human schedule. Used to be they were up at 3-4am ripping through the house. Now, they wake up between 6-8am and then the shenanigans start. Their second birthdays are approaching in November, so hopefully they'll continue to settle down.

brooklynpotter

i swear on my life that i did not actually see my cat sleep during her first year

leeence

brooklynpotter wrote: i swear on my life that i did not actually see my cat sleep during her first year

espresso thing or kitteness?

brooklynpotter

kittehness.

sweet tea

agree. you are describing kittehness. even our VERY mellow, sleep-all-day cat was like that until she was 4 or 5. as for the young-un...well, if we really wear him out he'll sleep for a few hours at night, but mostly he sleeps in the day and rockets at night.