My kittens stay in a "play pen" for half the day, is this ok for them?

[linkandzelda]

Hello,

I'll start by saying I have 3 kittens, they are about 4 months old. 2 girls, 1 boy, and they live in the same house as the mother who is now 1.5 years old. They appear to get on well, with the odd fight/scrap here and there.

When the kittens got old enough to explore out of their nesting box I got a play pen for them to be inside at night, and during the day when I'm not in the house. The pen is a hexagon shape, about 1-2 meters wide. I've kept using this pen ever since and am still using it now.

I let them out in the morning until about 1 pm after they have eaten, then I put them back inside the pen and they all go to sleep until about 5:30 when they get fed again, after that i put them back into the pen again and they sleep. If I leave them outside longer than that they go crazy and destroy the house, and don't appear to otherwise be resting on their own. When I put them back in, sometimes they will meow for 5-10 mins after which they settle down. I'm hoping that once they get 1-2 months older I will be able to let them outside like the mother cat and they will get enough exercise to sleep for the rest of the day around the house instead of using the pen.

I'm not sure if what I'm doing is the right thing? Is it ok to keep them in the pen for that long a time, even though they are silent and/or appear to play with each other or just sleep all round? I don't want to make them unhappy, and I don't want to cause any behaviour problems in the future, I just don't want them to destroy the house when I'm not able to watch them. For the record, I give them a lot of love and attention when they are out of the pen.

Thanks in advance.

P.S I'm a new member and I joined to ask this, thanks

 

[Columbine]

1-2 metres wide isn't terribly big for three growing kittens. I understand that you want to keep both the kittens and the house safe, but part of the way they explore and learn is by potentially 'destroying' things (depending on exactly what you mean by destroy, of course ). It would be far better if you were able to create a kitten proof room for them to be in when you're not around. That way they could have more space and have access to cat trees and other safe climbing/jumping places. This would allow them to exhibit more natural behaviours and get ready, physically and mentally, for adult life. They could test their own and each others boundaries in a safe way, too, and be more stimulated and fulfilled.

A note of caution - I'd be very wary of letting any cat have free, unsupervised access outside unless you have a fully secure fenced in garden or catio for them. I grew up with indoor/outdoor cats, but imo there are just too many potential hazards out there for them. Just something to think about

Please get them spayed/neutered and microchipped, whatever you decide. The surgery will make certain you're not at risk of adding to cat overpopulation as well as keeping them safer, and the chipping will make it easier for you to find them if they ever do get lost.

 

[linkandzelda]

1-2 metres wide isn't terribly big for three growing kittens. I understand that you want to keep both the kittens and the house safe, but part of the way they explore and learn is by potentially 'destroying' things (depending on exactly what you mean by destroy, of course

). It would be far better if you were able to create a kitten proof room for them to be in when you're not around. That way they could have more space and have access to cat trees and other safe climbing/jumping places. This would allow them to exhibit more natural behaviours and get ready, physically and mentally, for adult life. They could test their own and each others boundaries in a safe way, too, and be more stimulated and fulfilled.

A note of caution - I'd be very wary of letting any cat have free, unsupervised access outside unless you have a fully secure fenced in garden or catio for them. I grew up with indoor/outdoor cats, but imo there are just too many potential hazards out there for them. Just something to think about

Please get them spayed/neutered and microchipped, whatever you decide. The surgery will make certain you're not at risk of adding to cat overpopulation as well as keeping them safer, and the chipping will make it easier for you to find them if they ever do get lost.

Hello,

Thank you for your reply. To elaborate on destroying they like to climb the curtains and jump onto them, breaking the hooks that support it. They also claw the furniture and rugs leaving threads pulled out etc. Other than that, they will try to bite and eat anything they find, or knock over objects like bottles or cups resulting in them sometimes being damaged, hehe.

The kitten proof room is a good idea, if I had another spare room for them to be in, but I don't.

They will be spayed/neutered in the next few months with a microchip placed on them, so no need to worry about that. However I will still be letting them outside, as I believe the quiet area I live in is quite safe for cats, as other cats are around the place.

Thanks for your insight.

 

[catpack]

I think you are likely seeing an abundance of these behaviors because the kittens are confined for so much of the day. This is actually very typical for kittens that have grown up in crates, etc. When they are allowed freedom, they kinda go crazy with sensory overload and excitement. We see this a lot with kittens that come to our rescue that are sick or injured and require crating, sometimes up to 4+ months. One kitten required strict crate confinement for 6 months due to needing multiple surgeries and also have neurological issues with his legs. It was a lot of work to give him adequate stimulation during that time. But, we were lucky that he tolerated it well and he traveled well, so would go on outings in a large carrier to local pet stores, etc.

Do you have interactive play sessions with the kittens when they are out of the pen? Toys like Da Bird and Neko Flies are great for this.

Also, do you have cat trees or cat shelves for them to climb as an alternative to the curtains? What about scratching posts and cardboard scratchers? What types of toys do they have access to when not in the pen and whe they are confined?

Do you trim the kittens' nails to reduce the amount of damage they do to furniture?

Also, if you are intending on them being outside, have you considered leash training them now to get them accustom to all the sounds and smells outdoors?

 

[pusheen]

Kittens need TONS of room to run around. When I fostered kittens for the local animal rescue (one of them is in my display pic), they would have two stories of a small place to run around. They would barrel up and down the stairs, around all the rooms, over me if I was sitting on the couch, and then go back and do it three hundred more times. That was when they were two months old.  But after that kind of play session, they would also be tuckered out and properly ready to eat to their heart's content and sleep a good long while. 

The most I would confine a kitten to at that age would be a large room, with lots of stimulating activity.

 

[linkandzelda]

I think you are likely seeing an abundance of these behaviors because the kittens are confined for so much of the day. This is actually very typical for kittens that have grown up in crates, etc. When they are allowed freedom, they kinda go crazy with sensory overload and excitement. We see this a lot with kittens that come to our rescue that are sick or injured and require crating, sometimes up to 4+ months. One kitten required strict crate confinement for 6 months due to needing multiple surgeries and also have neurological issues with his legs. It was a lot of work to give him adequate stimulation during that time. But, we were lucky that he tolerated it well and he traveled well, so would go on outings in a large carrier to local pet stores, etc.

Do you have interactive play sessions with the kittens when they are out of the pen? Toys like Da Bird and Neko Flies are great for this.

Also, do you have cat trees or cat shelves for them to climb as an alternative to the curtains? What about scratching posts and cardboard scratchers? What types of toys do they have access to when not in the pen and whe they are confined?

Do you trim the kittens' nails to reduce the amount of damage they do to furniture?

Also, if you are intending on them being outside, have you considered leash training them now to get them accustom to all the sounds and smells outdoors?

In terms of interactive toys, I have a mouse that makes a squeak sound when it's moved and they enjoy playing with that. I also have a small cat tree, though it's not really a tree as it only has 1 platform and a scratch post. I will look into purchasing a bigger and taller tree, I think they will love that. Those are the things they have when they are outside the pen.

Inside the pen they have 2 blankets and a ball with a bell, a wooden mouse and a soft squeaky dog. I've seen them playing with those quite often.

I don't trim their nails, last time I did that was when I had a dog and the dog hated it. I figured they wouldn't like it being done to them either.

I was planning on weaning them outside by cat proofing the garden and letting them go out for a few minutes each day. That's what I did with the mother cat, and eventually she got used to enjoying the outside every day.

 

[Winchester]

A playpen is simply not large enough for three energetic kittens. 

We had five kittens at once and we kept them in the living room during the day. When they were very young, they slept in a clothes basket with their mom in our bedroom. As they got older, they started to sleep wherever they wanted; they usually slept in the bed with us. But kittens need to explore and yes, they will get into trouble and yes, they will probably destroy a few things along the way. They're kittens and they're active and they need to be out into the house. With supervision, of course. That's how they learn.

And the earlier you start trimming their claws, the less they'll fight you about it as they get older. It's something you don't like to do and they don't like having it done, but it's something that you need to do....it really will help with clawing your furniture and such. Some cats are vertical scratchers; some cats are horizontal scratchers. You need both kinds to give everybody the opportunity to scratch as they please. And if they're using scratching posts and such, they are less likely to use your furniture.

Do you play with them? Don't expect them to simply play around on their own. Play with them. Use wands, Da Bird, a laser light and play with them. They need that attention from you. You cannot expect to keep them penned up most of the day and then let them out of the play pen and expect them to not go crazy. They're kittens and that's what they do.

As for putting them outside, I'm not even going there. I don't care how peaceful and quiet a place is.