Cat staying in a separate room at night

[grimezy121]

Hi there,

My name is Sean, I'm new to the forum. I am adopting a 14 week old female kitten over the weekend and have a question about sleeping at night, and my options for the kitten. We are planning to keep the cat in the basement of the house, it is finished and quite large, it is also where I will be spending the majority of my time because thats where my 'home office' is. Giving the cat plenty of stimulation, playtime, cuddling etc.. won't be any issue during the hours of 10AM till 2-3AM. In the basement we have a separate closed off room, it is also finished, that we plan on keeping the cats food, water, bedding (if she chooses to use it). My preference would be to keep the cat in this room while I am asleep. Has anybody kept their cat in a separate room while they were asleep or at other times throughout the day? If so, do you have any suggestions on special kinds of toys or other things to keep the cat stimulated? How about the cat whining or making other noises at night? In addition, if there are any problems with this idea, it certainly isn't a deal breaker, if absolutely necessary the cat can curl up in my bed at night, but it certainly wouldn't be my preference or my girlfriends. 

Furthermore, I was thinking about providing some sort of slight heat source in the room as I have read that sometimes cats will like to sleep with their human companion due to the heat, is there such a thing as a heated bed for the cat? I'd also like to add that the room I'd like to keep the cat in at night is the room I plan to let the cat explore the first time at my house. I'm hoping it will offer her a 'safety zone' for when she first arrives. I rambled a bit and jumped around some but if there are any suggestions please don't hesitate. I guess I should also ask if anybody has suggestions for bringing home a new kitten? I have read a ton of different articles and forum posts so no need to take the time to repeat the standards, just something special that doesn't typically get written about. 

Finally....Thank you in advance for any suggestions you have and for taking the time to read through this and type up your thoughts.

 

[txcatmom]

We have always used an isolation room for new cats and kittens and continue to sleep separately from our cats at night.  (I totally get the appeal of sleeping with cats....just hubby and I decided we would never have a good night of sleep.)  We have never had any of the new cats (ages 4 months - 6 years) wail or complain about being in a room by themselves or about being shut out of our bedroom at night (when they get out of new cat isolation.)  Of course, they get tons of love and attention during the day since we work from home (which it sounds like you might be doing too.)  And they have each other to keep them company at night.  (Have you considered adopting two kittens together?  There are tons of advantages.) 

Of course, I've never adopted a kitten as young as yours.  She may be a little sadder about sleeping alone.  Hopefully not.  Good luck...it sounds like you are very prepared.

 

[riccadawn]

I think your set up sounds perfectly reasonable and very nice for your kitty. The only problem I can possibly see would be if your kitten happens to be the overly friendly, overly attached type. But hopefully you've met her before now and her current owners can probably tell you a lot about her temperment and how well she deals with being alone. There are some kitties who do just fine alone and who would prefer to be alone, and others who just NEED more attention. My husband and I just adopted 13 week old brothers. The shelter had them listed as a "bonded pair" and wouldn't let them go unless they could both go together. They've been here about a month now and it's clear to me they are NOT a bonded pair...it's just that little Leo is *extremely* needy and attached...but not necessarily to his brother. Now that they're here, Leo follows hubby and I around the house and absolutely would not deal well with being locked away at night. Clarkson, however, seems almost happy to be away from his stifling brother and is very much an "alone" cat who values his independence. He would do just fine in his own room overnight.

I guess my point is...not all cats are created equal and making sure you've picked the right cat personality for your situation and needs can be very important to the happiness of all involved.

 

[grimezy121]

Hey there,

Thanks for the quick responses. We certainly plan on giving the kitten plenty of attention and love throughout the day. I'm hoping that it tires it out for night time, instead of expecting all the attention constantly. RiccaDawn, we have thought about adopting two kittens instead of one but absolutely fell in love with the girl we are hoping to get tomorrow. The agency wants her to be in a single pet home for a while because she is on a special diet and they are concerned about her getting into any other pet's food. While on that topic, any insight into why the kitten would need a special diet when the vet could not find anything in the stool? She has been dewormed an additional time (although there were no worms present during testing) and did not have any infections show up during the extensive tests. I have read that sometimes cats can just be picky about food, not unlike humans, and that it shouldn't be anything to really worry about. The additional costs of the special food (some prescription food, 1/4 cup twice a day) is fairly minimal, but we are a bit concerned about this being an indicator of an expensive cat. Not to sound insensitive, but the extra costs aren't something we would be able to comfortably handle. We (me and long-term girlfriend) have money set aside for standard costs, and potential 'emergencies', as well as support from family if needed. But, with that said, family would be less enthused about giving support to us if we went into this knowing there would be additional costs. I have looked through the cat health area, but most of the topics I have read have been able to pinpoint the root cause leading to the special diet. Any insight would be great, again thanks for getting back to my topic and I look forward to getting to the point that I can provide others with help, we just need the experience first!

-Sean Grimes

 

[minka]

It sounds like an okay thing, to have a big room in the basement for her to run around in at night. It would certainly keep her from jumping on you or begging for food at 4am.
That said, I couldn't ever do it. I like sleeping with my cat. He's a big cuddler, most nights he's my pillow; I just couldn't imagine leaving him in the basement. He's also pretty attached to me. He'd be so sad down there all night.

And.. as such a young kitten, she may really dislike being alone so soon. Maybe you can wait till she's older to keep her down there? Idk, =/ I think I might be biased.

 

[daddyincr]

special diet could mean kidney problems, liver problems, weight issues, etc.

ask ask ask.

i can't imagine keeping my cats separated from me on purpose. yes, it cost me

some time sleeping, especially in the morning. wait till you have human babies.

your privacy and sleep will be interrupted. hope you don't keep them locked up

away from you. yes, i'm a b--- buster, but, someone has to stick up for your feline baby.

 

[riccadawn]

I would ASK why she needs a special diet at such a young age. There's no reason for them not to tell you. You seem like such a responsible (soon to be) pet owner and knowing about any current or potential health problems your kitten may have is very important! If you've been browsing the Nutrition forum, you know a lot of the prescriptions foods out there are pretty crappy anyhow. I would never blindly feed my cat a special food when I didn't even know WHY I was doing it. I can't imagine being on a prescription diet just because she's a picky eater?!?!?! I understand it's not about the extra cost - but with any luck, this girl will be with you for the next 15-20 years and what you feed her now plays a big part in those future $$vet bills$$ you were talking about.

edit to say: I just reread your post and saw something about half a cup of food, twice a day. To me that indicates dry food? Any kind of wet food is much healthier for her than dry. Kitties were "made" to eat wet food (think what they'd be eating in the wild). Even if she has some sort of health issue, I'm sure there's a wet food that would work for her. There are some nutritional geniuses in the Nutritional forum (not me!!) who could probably help you out with that after you find out what her specific issue is.

 

[minka]

Just read your food post. Find out what food it is ASAP. Depending on what it is, we can probably work out something so she doesn't have to be on RX food. I don't know if I'd go telling the agency that though. They might not take kindly to you saying you won't feed their food.