Guest Room Turned into a "Cat Room" - Feedback, Opinions, & Advice Much Appreciated!

[BEZ]

Hi Everyone,

I have 3 one-year-old cats that were feral when I got them at 12 weeks of age. Unfortunately, they weren't found during the most crucial time to socialize them, which is between 5-9 weeks - something I did not know at the time I took them in.

I've been a cat owner since I was a kid, but never raised feral cats and have found that it seems as though their personalities are quite different than cats that were never feral.

All the cats I've ever owned have been allowed to roam the house freely 24/7 as most cat owners do, but because these cats seem to be so much more active and “wild” (especially during their Zoomies), I've ended up turning my guest room into a “cat room” so that I can get some sleep at night (even took the doors off of the closet for their cat boxes - See attached pics).

I've tried to let them stay out all night, but they literally play and run around so loudly it keeps me awake the whole time.

I've read many stories of people who put their cats in a room at night to get some sleep too, however, the majority let them out as soon as they wake up in the morning and let them roam free all day while they're at work.

This is something I sadly don't feel comfortable with yet, due to their “wildness”, so I leave them in their room from about 11 PM until around 1 PM. Note: I do go in to check on them throughout the night and in the morning to clean their cat boxes, to give them food/water/love, etc.

The reason I'm looking for others' feedback is because I cannot help feeling incredibly guilty for “locking” them up for so many hours a day and am wondering if what I'm doing is cruel or wrong in any way.

My friends (one of whom is a vet tech) and family think this is totally fine to do, especially while they're still in their “kitten/teenage phase” because they have everything they need and they even like being in the room when the door is open. They also never cry or scratch at the door when it's closed, nor do they act stressed in any way while they're in there. I even installed a Nanny-Cam so that I can keep an eye on them when I'm not home (see pic #3 for a screenshot).

But I just can't stop feeling so guilty as I'm used to having totally independent cats that I never had to “lock up”!

I've been told I need to stop putting “human emotion” into this and that it's more than okay to put them in their room even for as long as I do, that the cats don't care or have a sense of time, however, I'm hearing this from people who want to keep me from worrying, hence the reason I'm posting this here.

I'd appreciate everyone's thoughts, opinions, and advice on this as I know this isn't exactly "inhumane", but how long can I keep doing this? For another few months, years, indefinitely? And how long is too long for them to be in their room?

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. For starters, they look fine where they are in the room. You have enrichment and their needs are met. Question. Are your needs being met? Seems to me that you are having problems with this living arrangement, not the cats.

We all do the best we can. When I first got Rusty, I kept him in a room with cat tree big window, etc. when I was working or not at home because my significant other did not have cat experience and I was afraid Rusty would get out. This didn’t last long.

When I got Cheetah, she was four months and very feral. After she lived in a cage for a month she lived in the cat room with Rusty for roughly a year, when I wasn’t home or at work. About 12 hours a day. After roughly a year I felt okay with letting her be in the entire house with Rusty. Cheetah was more of a hider than she was an escapist. I did reinforce the screen in the cat room with chicken wire so I could keep the window open for ventilation.

With three cats in one room, you do need ventilation. An air purifier helps as does an open window, provided you can secure it so the cats don’t get out. Cats can and do easily push out screens and cut screens to escape. Also depending what floor you are on, you don’t want something getting in.

If you want the cats to be out all the time, and still want to sleep, you need to do some things to make that possible and it takes work.You would have to establish a set play time for as long as it takes until they aren’t interested and tired. This should be done with a wand toy. I like “Da Bird”. Then after play you feed them. This mimics hunt and eat and sleep. Depending when you go to sleep, they will probably wake up in the wee hours of the morning, but this does help.

It doesn’t take long to modify cat behavior, but you need to be very consistent. With a cat that wakes you up for food, if you screw up and give in one time, it sets you back further than when you began.

I think the situation you have is fine as long as you interact with them when you are home. By the way, they are of a great age to start trick training.

 

[theyremine]

I have 4 former ferals now 8-10 years old. They were trapped and I got them when they were about 7 months old. I started them all out in a room for socialization purposes. To this day they all go back into their respective rooms (2 "sleep" together, the other 2 in 2 other rooms) on their own. They actually sit watching me as I prepare their night wet food, and each one runs to his/her room when I pick the respective dish. ( they know the order) They love/thrive on the routine. After eating each gets a petting session in his/her room and then I close the door when I leave. None complain.
They are let out when I get up in the morning and spend the day in and out of their rooms.
Why do I keep them separate at night? They have many window perches and one night early on
something spooked Rascal and I had a bad case of redirected aggression occur with one of the cats actually bleeding.

They have multiple cat trees, beds, toy boxes and window perches. They are happy and content.

 

[BEZ]

Hi Everyone,

I have 3 one-year-old cats that were feral when I got them at 12 weeks of age. Unfortunately, they weren't found during the most crucial time to socialize them, which is between 5-9 weeks - something I did not know at the time I took them in.

I've been a cat owner since I was a kid, but never raised feral cats and have found that it seems as though their personalities are quite different than cats that were never feral.

All the cats I've ever owned have been allowed to roam the house freely 24/7 as most cat owners do, but because these cats seem to be so much more active and “wild” (especially during their Zoomies), I've ended up turning my guest room into a “cat room” so that I can get some sleep at night (even took the doors off of the closet for their cat boxes - See attached pics).

I've tried to let them stay out all night, but they literally play and run around so loudly it keeps me awake the whole time.

I've read many stories of people who put their cats in a room at night to get some sleep too, however, the majority let them out as soon as they wake up in the morning and let them roam free all day while they're at work.

This is something I sadly don't feel comfortable with yet, due to their “wildness”, so I leave them in their room from about 11 PM until around 1 PM. Note: I do go in to check on them throughout the night and in the morning to clean their cat boxes, to give them food/water/love, etc.

The reason I'm looking for others' feedback is because I cannot help feeling incredibly guilty for “locking” them up for so many hours a day and am wondering if what I'm doing is cruel or wrong in any way.

My friends (one of whom is a vet tech) and family think this is totally fine to do, especially while they're still in their “kitten/teenage phase” because they have everything they need and they even like being in the room when the door is open. They also never cry or scratch at the door when it's closed, nor do they act stressed in any way while they're in there. I even installed a Nanny-Cam so that I can keep an eye on them when I'm not home (see pic #3 for a screenshot).

But I just can't stop feeling so guilty as I'm used to having totally independent cats that I never had to “lock up”!

I've been told I need to stop putting “human emotion” into this and that it's more than okay to put them in their room even for as long as I do, that the cats don't care or have a sense of time, however, I'm hearing this from people who want to keep me from worrying, hence the reason I'm posting this here.

I'd appreciate everyone's thoughts, opinions, and advice on this as I know this isn't exactly "inhumane", but how long can I keep doing this? For another few months, years, indefinitely? And how long is too long for them to be in their room?

Hi. For starters, they look fine where they are in the room. You have enrichment and their needs are met. Question. Are your needs being met? Seems to me that you are having problems with this living arrangement, not the cats.

We all do the best we can. When I first got Rusty, I kept him in a room with cat tree big window, etc. when I was working or not at home because my significant other did not have cat experience and I was afraid Rusty would get out. This didn’t last long.

When I got Cheetah, she was four months and very feral. After she lived in a cage for a month she lived in the cat room with Rusty for roughly a year, when I wasn’t home or at work. About 12 hours a day. After roughly a year I felt okay with letting her be in the entire house with Rusty. Cheetah was more of a hider than she was an escapist. I did reinforce the screen in the cat room with chicken wire so I could keep the window open for ventilation.

With three cats in one room, you do need ventilation. An air purifier helps as does an open window, provided you can secure it so the cats don’t get out. Cats can and do easily push out screens and cut screens to escape. Also depending what floor you are on, you don’t want something getting in.

If you want the cats to be out all the time, and still want to sleep, you need to do some things to make that possible and it takes work.You would have to establish a set play time for as long as it takes until they aren’t interested and tired. This should be done with a wand toy. I like “Da Bird”. Then after play you feed them. This mimics hunt and eat and sleep. Depending when you go to sleep, they will probably wake up in the wee hours of the morning, but this does help.

It doesn’t take long to modify cat behavior, but you need to be very consistent. With a cat that wakes you up for food, if you screw up and give in one time, it sets you back further than when you began.

I think the situation you have is fine as long as you interact with them when you are home. By the way, they are of a great age to start trick training.

Thanks so much for your reply silent meowlook!

You are correct, it is me that is having the "issues", not the cats. I've lost so much sleep since I got them it's begun to affect my mental health. As I stated in the post, one of the main things I struggle with is the guilt of "locking them up", even though I know they're absolutely fine and seemingly quite happy. I do play with them with the wand toys as much as I can (sometimes they aren't interested in playing with them at all) and one of the cats even likes to play fetch with those plastic springs. I've watched a lot of Jackson Galaxy in the last several months and have learned a lot from him, which has helped, but the one thing he's never touched on is putting cats away in a room, and as I said, this is something I've never done with any of the cats I've owned.

As for the ventilation, not only do they have a pretty decent-sized window, but I had a ceiling fan installed that runs on medium speed constantly, and when it's not too hot or cold, I keep their window completely open. I also installed a heavy-duty wire screendoor guard (see pic) to keep them from pushing on the screen.

In the future, I'd like to allow them to roam the house freely, but at this time, I'm just not comfortable doing so, especially at night because even after playtime and dinnertime, they really don't settle down much and when they do, it's not for long. These guys sometimes chase eachother all around the house for hours non-stop (they're also quite mischevious if I'm not around or paying attention to them). It's incredibly entertaining, but not when I'm trying to sleep, which recently prompted me to start putting them in their room again before I go to bed. I tried for 2 months to allow them to roam free at night, because I wanted them to not have to be locked in their room for so long, but I was being woken up every 1-2 hours and was beginning to feel like a zombie.

However, now knowing that I'm not the only one who has set up a "cat room" for their cats has already helped me tremendously, so thank you for telling me your story. I guess I'm just looking for something to set my mind at ease and that doing what I'm doing is acceptable. After reading about your "cat rooms" that were in use for a prolonged period of time also gives me some peace of mind as well, which I obviously am in need of, so again, thank you!

 

[BEZ]

I have 4 former ferals now 8-10 years old. They were trapped and I got them when they were about 7 months old. I started them all out in a room for socialization purposes. To this day they all go back into their respective rooms (2 "sleep" together, the other 2 in 2 other rooms) on their own. They actually sit watching me as I prepare their night wet food, and each one runs to his/her room when I pick the respective dish. ( they know the order) They love/thrive on the routine. After eating each gets a petting session in his/her room and then I close the door when I leave. None complain.
They are let out when I get up in the morning and spend the day in and out of their rooms.
Why do I keep them separate at night? They have many window perches and one night early on
something spooked Rascal and I had a bad case of redirected aggression occur with one of the cats actually bleeding.

They have multiple cat trees, beds, toy boxes and window perches. They are happy and content.

That's so cool to hear! Thanks so much for replying and telling me your story! Hearing about these things definitely helps bring some kind of peace of mind knowing it's totally okay to do these things with cats!

 

[fionasmom]

I kept three kittens in a large bathroom for 5 months. Like your room, it was set up for them and the size was proportional to the fact that they were very small kittens. It was either that or probably dead on the streets.

The last one passed away a few weeks ago, at age 18. Her brothers passed on a few years earlier, all of the them living into their teens. It apparently did not hurt them.

 

[BEZ]

Thanks for your input! My condolences on losing your furbaby - I truly understand how hard it is! Interesting you also had 2 males and one female too! Mine were found in a deep window well by a construction worker - the vet I got them from said that if they had been there any longer, they would probably wouldn't have survived.