New Kitten Alone In House?

[Jdamon]

Hey everyone!
I was just wondering how long we can leave our 3month old kitten alone in our home? We live in a one bedroom apartment and we've had him for one week. Hes pretty sleepy and can use his litter box alone, and can eat and drink alone. He'll probably just sleep the whole time we're gone, but how long can we safely leave him alone?
We left him alone practically all day yesterday, and he didnt seem to care. Just had the crazies once we got home! Is different from kitten to kitten and their confidence levels?
Thanks!

 

[fionasmom]

If you work, it becomes necessary to leave animals alone, even young ones and I have not had any problem doing this over the years. Some people do object to this; a city shelter near me will not adopt any puppy or kitten to anyone who works or is not home all day.

I always confined the kitten in question to a safe room or space. I have done the same thing with a puppy when necessary as well. Make sure there is nothing in the room that the kitten can hurt himself with, or can do damage to. I usually used a large bathroom or a spare bedroom, but that is not saying you need a lot of space to take care of your kitten. Check the room for electrical cords, and at least unplug them. Make sure there is nothing that the kitten might be able to eat or swallow like strings or tassels, windows shut and locked, leave some food, water, and a litter box and if you can help it, don't put those three things right next to each other. Closet door or cabinet doors shut and check contents of what is in those places if they can be manually opened as kittens often like to find a little space of their own.

The kitten more than likely will sleep or just rest and enjoy himself. As I said, for most people the option is not there; it is wonderful to have given a kitten a home but you have to leave to go to work and do other things. I would not leave it for any extended period of time though, especially at this point, as you do want him or her to be safe and also to be socialized.

 

[Tik cat's mum]

If you work, it becomes necessary to leave animals alone, even young ones and I have not had any problem doing this over the years. Some people do object to this; a city shelter near me will not adopt any puppy or kitten to anyone who works or is not home all day.

I always confined the kitten in question to a safe room or space. I have done the same thing with a puppy when necessary as well. Make sure there is nothing in the room that the kitten can hurt himself with, or can do damage to. I usually used a large bathroom or a spare bedroom, but that is not saying you need a lot of space to take care of your kitten. Check the room for electrical cords, and at least unplug them. Make sure there is nothing that the kitten might be able to eat or swallow like strings or tassels, windows shut and locked, leave some food, water, and a litter box and if you can help it, don't put those three things right next to each other. Closet door or cabinet doors shut and check contents of what is in those places if they can be manually opened as kittens often like to find a little space of their own.

The kitten more than likely will sleep or just rest and enjoy himself. As I said, for most people the option is not there; it is wonderful to have given a kitten a home but you have to leave to go to work and do other things. I would not leave it for any extended period of time though, especially at this point, as you do want him or her to be safe and also to be socialized.

all of the above.

 

[ArtNJ]

I leave our 12 week old kitten (had for 2 weeks) in the furnished basement with the 3 yr old cat at night, and during the day when folks aren't home they are allowed to roam freely. Here is the key fact: there is no magic age where kittens stop doing stupid and dangerous stuff. Not 12, not 14 or 18 weeks. So after they have settled in, you have cat proofed as best you can, and you have observed them around the house long enough for them to show you any problem areas you might have missed, that is all you can do. So if you have been letting the kitten roam when your home for a week, not much point to leaving them in their safe room another two weeks because that won't magically eliminate the risk when you eventually let them roam. You just do the best you can. I'm not saying anyone is wrong if they say wait another week, just saying there is no magic age where the risk goes away entirely, so you do what makes sense to you and the best you can.

Cat proofing is hard. See if you can find a guide to prompt issues you might not have thought of. Dont know if this site has one; it may.

 

[Caspers Human]

Step 1: Cat proof as well as you can.

Step 2: Provide food and clean water.

Step 3: Give lots of love, attention and play when you get home from work.

Step 4: Don't worry.

 

[rubysmama]

As long as the kitten has food, water, litter box, toys, somewhere to sleep, and is in a kitten-proofed room, he will be fine when you're at work, or out doing other things. You weren't talking about leaving him alone over night, though, right.

As for kitten-proofing your home, here's a TCS article that should be helpful:
Kitten Proofing Your Home: 13 Practical Tips | TheCatSite

Plus:
9 Tips That Will Help Your Kitten Adapt To A New Apartment | TheCatSite

Congrats on being new kitten parents, BTW. Got any pics you can share?
How To Add A Picture To Your Forum Post | TheCatSite

 

[Jdamon]

I leave our 12 week old kitten (had for 2 weeks) in the furnished basement with the 3 yr old cat at night, and during the day when folks aren't home they are allowed to roam freely. Here is the key fact: there is no magic age where kittens stop doing stupid and dangerous stuff. Not 12, not 14 or 18 weeks. So after they have settled in, you have cat proofed as best you can, and you have observed them around the house long enough for them to show you any problem areas you might have missed, that is all you can do. So if you have been letting the kitten roam when your home for a week, not much point to leaving them in their safe room another two weeks because that won't magically eliminate the risk when you eventually let them roam. You just do the best you can. I'm not saying anyone is wrong if they say wait another week, just saying there is no magic age where the risk goes away entirely, so you do what makes sense to you and the best you can.

Cat proofing is hard. See if you can find a guide to prompt issues you might not have thought of. Dont know if this site has one; it may.

Cat proofing for him was easy, he doesnt really care about anything! He knows his toys from anything else, hes the perfect cat! We left him free roaming our apartment for almost 7 hours (ALOT longer than we ment too) and he was fine! Didnt do anything wrong, probably slept and played. Now hes just needy lol trying to lay on my boyfriend and me at the same time!

 

[Jdamon]

Step 1: Cat proof as well as you can.

Step 2: Provide food and clean water.

Step 3: Give lots of love, attention and play when you get home from work.

Step 4: Don't worry.

Hes been sick so its sooo hard not to worry but he did a great job alone!! All day and was free roaming. We live in a tiny apartment so theres no use in locking him in our idy bidy bathroom lol.

 

[Jdamon]

As long as the kitten has food, water, litter box, toys, somewhere to sleep, and is in a kitten-proofed room, he will be fine when you're at work, or out doing other things. You weren't talking about leaving him alone over night, though, right.

As for kitten-proofing your home, here's a TCS article that should be helpful:
Kitten Proofing Your Home: 13 Practical Tips | TheCatSite

Plus:
9 Tips That Will Help Your Kitten Adapt To A New Apartment | TheCatSite

Congrats on being new kitten parents, BTW. Got any pics you can share?
How To Add A Picture To Your Forum Post | TheCatSite

Not overnight! We have a two night trip planned in mid December, but he'll be almost 6 months old by then so he should be okay. He did great alone today, we let him roam the whole house and he didnt do any damage! Even used his litter box and ate.

 

[rubysmama]

Not overnight! We have a two night trip planned in mid December, but he'll be almost 6 months old by then so he should be okay. He did great alone today, we let him roam the whole house and he didnt do any damage! Even used his litter box and ate.

During your 2 night trip, someone will be stopping by to check on him right? He'll be bigger and more active by then, and might be more apt to get into mischief if he gets bored.

And do skim the kitten proofing article, just to ensure there's nothing you may have overlooked.

 

[neko2019]

When we got our kitten at 3 months of age, we left him home alone while we go to work. We leave the house around 7AM and get back around 5:30PM, sometimes a bit later. So that's a good 10 hours. He was fine on his own. He hid in the basement for the first week or so when no one is home, but he would eat & drink. After he became more comfortable, I see him walk around the house during the day through web camera. If you are worried, you can get a web camera so you can check on him once in a while. I got one on Amazon for like $40?