Thoughts? “safe Room” Layout For 10-wk Old Kitten

[James W]

Hi all,

I will be a first time pet-owner and will be welcoming a (almost by one day) 10-week old kitten (tortoiseshell) to my one-bedroom apartment. Over the last several days and after being reminded by fellow Cat Site members, I’ve ultimately decided that the best place to start the safe room/sanctuary is my bedroom. The living room is too big and it connects to the kitchen. I’ve started kittenproofing wires and cables at my wire hell behind my home theater / entertainment center, but I could buy some time in having her stick to the bedroom for a couple of days to start. That and I’m thinking I want to get a gate to keep her from entering the kitchen and countertops.

I’ve attached a screenshot of my bedroom layout. Does this seem okay? The blessing in disguise is that my “dresser” is just a bunch of those plastic/cheap Steralite brand drawers. So I can move them around as I please. I moved a set closer to the wall on the right and just next to my bedside table so that clothes or fabrics in drawers are not right by the kitten’s toilet. Eventually I want to move the litter box to the bathroom...

Kitty will be coming home on 12/28, so there is still time to re arrange if need be...

The “heater” is one of those that run along the floor and against the wall. The window starts a few feet above the carpet (3 ft give or take?). I moved some boxes so that she can climb up and look out the window if she wants to. Today I did get a 52” cat tree, however, so that could replace the boxes, too.

Note that this picture obviously isn’t to scale. My bed is not a behemoth - it’s a Full size mattress. I’m just bad at drawing, even diagrams haha!

 

[tabbytom]

Looks pretty good. But just remember that when your new kitty arrives, she needs to be acclimatized and so she might go into hiding in whatever nook or cranny she can find.

Get a cardboard box for her so that she can use it to be her safe room in your safe room.

It’s good that you have her in your bedroom as most Cat parents would want their kitties to sleep with them on the bed. So this is a good way to have her get use to the bedroom and eventually sleep on the bed with you if you would like her to sleep with you. But it all depends on your kitty.

After she is used to the surroundings and start to explore the room, you can slowly move the stuffs around to suit her. Cats have many sleeping places and they keep changing places. So don’t worry about the layout first but importantly is to make her feel at home.

 

[James W]

Looks pretty good. But just remember that when your new kitty arrives, she needs to be acclimatized and so she might go into hiding in whatever nook or cranny she can find.

Get a cardboard box for her so that she can use it to be her safe room in your safe room.

It’s good that you have her in your bedroom as most Cat parents would want their kitties to sleep with them on the bed. So this is a good way to have her get use to the bedroom and eventually sleep on the bed with you if you would like her to sleep with you. But it all depends on your kitty.

After she is used to the surroundings and start to explore the room, you can slowly move the stuffs around to suit her. Cats have many sleeping places and they keep changing places. So don’t worry about the layout first but importantly is to make her feel at home.

Thank you for the tips and the reminder I started collecting a variety of boxes a couple of weeks ago (mostly medium and small ones). And there are places she can hide, under the bed included....

 

[tabbytom]

Less hiding place is best especially under the bed where you can’t reach her. I don’t mean that you pull her out when she’s hiding, which you shouldn’t. I meant it to be like the space is too deep in and it may be a permanent hiding place and it’ll be difficult to get her out.

 

[James W]

Less hiding place is best especially under the bed where you can’t reach her. I don’t mean that you pull her out when she’s hiding, which you shouldn’t. I meant it to be like the space is too deep in and it may be a permanent hiding place and it’ll be difficult to get her out.

Hmm, a good point. I have boxes and containers under the bed - at the very least, I can have it so the center of the space underneath isn’t as “hide-able” as the edges...

 

[tabbytom]

Yes, kittens are very good at hiding. They can squeeze themselves into very small tight spaces. And they can keep very quiet and motionless.

I remember when my boy first came home, he went into hiding and I spent a good half day looking for him

 

[LTS3]

Bathrooms tend to be a good safe room as long as you kitten-proof it. Unless your bathroom is teeny tiny with barely enough room for you to stand in. Or you live in an apartment that has one of those shared bathrooms in the common building hallway that more than one apartment uses

Your bedroom layout is fine. Be aware that kittens are a bundle of energy so you may not get much sleep at night even if you do a good play session before bedtime. How tall do you have the plastic drawers stacked up? They tend to topple over if stacked too high even if stuffed with items. Kittens jumping on top of the drawers can cause the whole thing to fall. If you have a flat screen tv, make sure you secure it to the wall with safety straps. Same with any heavy furniture you have elsewhere in the house.

 

[Elfilou]

IF you can, and this is a big if because not everyone wants/can do this, I would block off access to underneath the bed. You could do this by cutting up cardboard and tucking it under and around the bed strategically. It's much easier to interact with a new cat/kitten when they aren't hiding under the bed and you have to lay on the ground to coax them out. This is especially true if you happen to get a cat with a little bit more of a skittish personality. A cat bed/hiding hole type is much more accessible and would be a better hiding spot.

What is also missing is a scratching post. If you wanna instill good habits right from the start, providing opportunities to scratch (and leave her scent to claim the environment!) is vital to later have her leave your couch alone

I think other than that this is a great safe room and I'm excited to see pictures of her getting used to her new surroundings!