When to allow Kitten to have free reign in the house?

[franksmom]

Hi everyone, 

I have a 14 week Birman kitten and she has been with us about 2 weeks. I have a basement apartment but I rent from my family and there is easy access between my apartment and the rest of the house and my other cat and dog have free reign to go up and use the other three floors of the house. I have been keeping my new kitten confined in my apartment and when no one is home she is confined to one room. I wanted to know when I should allow her free access to the house?

My concern is she will put anything her in mouth and eat it. The other day she was eating dried pasta that fell on the floor while I was cooking with her in the kitchen- she picked it up the instant it fell on the floor! While I have tried to kitten proof the rest of the house, because it is large there may be something I missed something that she could pick up. She has escaped a few times and hasn't done anything bad, but I am just super paranoid she will find and eat something she shouldn't if I let her have free reign. I am also afraid she will fall or something because we have a lot of stairs and high places for her to try to jump.

 

[eb24]

There really isn't a set time during which you should let your new kitten become fully free roaming. It just depends on how well kitten proofed things are and how mischievous they are. Given her love of eating everything in sight I would probably continue to keep her confined to the apartment for the time being. It's always better to err on the side of giving her too little space as opposed to too much. Because, once you open up the upstairs world to her there is no going back and she will always want to go and explore it. For now she doesn't know that her world gets any bigger than the apartment and so she is content with it. 

The counter argument to this would be kittens need to be exposed to a wide variety of things while they are young and still receptive. While I think this is true of many things (such as handling, different people, dogs, ect) I don't think she will have any problem adjusting to having more space when the time comes. Just make sure that those living upstairs (your family members and the dog) come down and visit with her so she can get used to their scent and their presence. 

If you really want to start taking her up to get her used to it perhaps you try training her with a harness and leash. Most kittens pick it up pretty quickly and it would be a good way for you to take her exploring while making sure she is safe. Here is a good article if you want to look into this option more: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/harness-and-leash-training-for-cats . 

Overall I say until you are more comfortable that she's big enough to not get hurt in the process you keep her confined to the downstairs!