My new kitten is 5-6 weeks old...?

Question

... how long is too long to leave her "locked up" in her safe room through out the day.. boyfriend and i both work/school daily...

let me re-phrase...
We "lock" kitty in her bathroom (with a closed toilet, a cuddly bed, toys, lots of water/food and christmas music :o) ) when boyfriend and i are working/schooling... also sometimes throughout the night because otherwise she pounces on our heads while we're sleeping .. haha

-curious to know how long she should be okay in the bathroom during the day while we are out of the house..?

p.s: as soon as she is able to find her little box she'll be roaming the house attended or not.. we dont want her getting into any electrical cords or getting stuck while we are away from home.. thats why we have the safe room...

Answer 1

maybe you should have adopted an older cat with your schedules. a kitten needs time to run around and be a kitten. doesn't sound like you provide that for her if she is locked up 8-10 hrs a day and then 8 hrs at night.

Answer 2

Maybe another week if she is real tiny. Then close all the closets, and bedrooms doors. pick up all the trash and put the garbage pail away. make sure there is nothing around she can eat such as string,rubber bands, hair pins, etc.
put a soft nice blanket on the sofa and chair cause after all she lives there also.
better take a lot of pictures so you will always remember how cute she was as a baby. They grow so fast you won't believe it.
don't forget to leave a nice pillow on the window sill where she will probably roost when the mood strikes. that will come sooner than later.
Has she been to the vet for her shots and check up for worms yet?

Answer 3

Your are doing everything right. Kittens that young need to be confined when they can't be supervised. It would be best to get one of her littermates, but as long as you are letting her out to explore after being in there a few days (adjusting to the sounds and smells of the house, obviosuly visit!), and giving her a lot of play when you are home, she will be fine.

I used the safe room until my kitten was about 4-5 months of age, but my boyfriend and I had opposite schedules, so the kitten did get out of the room quite a bit through out the day. If one of you could pop in for a quick visit and to make sure the kitten isn't hurt about mid-day, that would be perfect, but if you can't, don't worry about it. Just provide safe toys, a bed, water, and food (if you free-feed. I have always done meals).

5-6 weeks is so little, and really too young to be away from its mom, but you are doing it right. They need a lot of supervision, and a "safe" room for when you are not home or able to keep your eye on the kitten is the right way to go until the kitten is older and not as fragile.

Kittens are dare-devils and will attempt dangerous jumps to learn how to judge what can and can't be done. They chew on things, crawl into things, etc. Don't let the kitten out of the safe room when you are not home.

EDIT: Just wanted to add that you should have several litter boxes spread around the house/apartment because kittens are not able to hold it as long and sometimes have trouble finding or making it to the box in time.

Answer 4

My husband and I also adopted a kitten at about 5 weeks old. She was kept in the bathroom for about four weeks for a good part of the day, partially because she needed to be supervised and partially because we were introducing her to our older cat. You are doing the best you can. You can't stay home all day for the kitten and I don't think that is absolutely necessary. As long as you come home as often as possible to play with her and check on her, what you're doing is fine.
As long as kittens are weaned from their mother and eating food, which can happen as early as five weeks, then she isn't too young to be away from her mother.
We started letting her out to roam the house all day at about eight weeks old and she was fine. You just need to be sure to kitten proof your home. Stuff cardboard around the sides of your fridge and anywhere else she could sneak through. Be aware of what she could get into in your home and try and modify as you can.

Answer 5

We have recently got a little kitten who is now 10 weeks old. I am a bit confused as to why you have a kitten that is so young. Normally they are around 8 weeks when they are taken from their mother and littermates.

My husband and I both work and the kitten is at home. She has a big bedroom to herself with plenty of food and water. She also has access to the bathroom and our hallway which has a huge scratching post. Please keep in mind that kittens probably sleep around 15-20 hours a day so during the day, they will be sleeping if they can't hear you at home.

Just make sure to spend lots of time with your kitten when you get home. Lots of cuddles and pats and also playing with their toys with them. It really tires them out and they love the attention. At night, we also lock our little girl in her bedroom only with food, water and litter tray as we didn't want her jumping up on our heads during the night. For the first few nights, we left the light on for her and then when she starting feeling safe with us, we started to turn it off and leave the blind open so she still had a little bit of light, now she sleeps with light off and blind shut and we don't hear a peep from her until we wake up.

Hope it all works out for you and your kitten.

Answer 6

5-6 weeks is too young to be away from her mom. But, as far as keeping her in the bathroom, as long as you are slowly introducing her to the rest of the house while you are home and she's not locked up all the time. This wouldn't be healthy and also, as long as you plan on not keeping her locked up. Dogs are den animals by nature, not cats.

A kitten needs to see a vet for deworming and vaccines. Please call the vet and get her seen ASAP and then, address your concern about how long she should be locked in a small room for.

Good luck.

Answer 7

Your kitten has left it's mother too soon. Should be 8 weeks or older. This kitten needs to be fed 4 times a day and really needs more interaction to become a secure cat. She should not be left in a room by herself when you are at home' including during the night. Let her sleep in the same room as you. She will settle down shortly. It sounds that you really aren't prepared to take care of a kitten. Perhaps you should rethink this and find her a home where she will get the attention that she needs.

Answer 8

Why r u locking the kitten up?..If it is for litter box training, u can slowly enlarge the holding area. and a decent room, like a bedroom, would be substantial for a small kittie for a while given litter box, fresh water and food....Make sure to keep the litter box as far from the food as possible because cats r KNOWN to not defecate were they eat no matter what....give a toy or 2, and presto, entertained kitty...may not be as fun as the rest of the house, but that comes when u get home and spend quality time..:)

Answer 9

you're putting the kittens wellness in jeopardy in case you're taking it from its mom earlier 8 weeks. it could have a sickly existence from no longer getting sufficient antibodies from that's mothers milk. this might value you extra earnings vet charges interior the lengthy run. So your 25 funds will substitute into extra then you definately can for sure arise with the money for in case you basically want to spend 25 funds on the kitten. in case you want a youthful kitten regardless of the indisputable fact that, you may bypass on your animal safeguard volunteer to me a foster confirm. They get yound kittens each and all the time and you may help out and in step with risk undertake one on an identical time.

Answer 10

You are locking your kitten up for too long. If your kitten is strictly a housecat then by letting her be in "her" house will create a sense of ownership and territory for her. She will learn to use the litterbox very quickly and will be very particular about it being clean enough for her.

At night your kitten is only looking for attention, she will soon realize that when you go to bed then if she is on the bed she should sleep, if she wants to play at night, she will leave the bedroom and play. Your kitten is a social animal, don't lock her up all the time.