I’ve adopted a tiny kitten who's two and a half months old, and obviously when I have to head off to work, she’s left on her own.
At the moment, we keep her in the bathroom with her litter tray, some water, food and a whole load of toys ;) But as soon as I get back, she’s like a live wire! She zooms everywhere and gets into all sorts of mischief. We play with her as much as we can once we’re home, but I get the feeling it’s because she hasn’t been able to burn off as much energy as she’d like during the day.
So my question is: do you keep your kitten in one specific room all day or do you let them have the run of the whole house/flat? If you do keep them in one room, at what age do you let them roam everywhere?
We have loads of electrical cables (TV, consoles) so we’re worried that if she’s left alone, she might chew them and, even worse, get an electric shock :(
Thanks for your advice!
Translated from French
The forum content is sometimes translated from another language, and posts may concern countries with different animal laws. Do your research before making any decisions.
Since the forum is translated by AI, the translations may contain errors.
Hi everyone,
Following your advice, I’m trying something new today by giving my little one access to the bathroom, hallway, and kitchen. The hallway is long enough for her to have a good run around and stretch her legs. I’ll see how it’s gone when I get back this evening ;)
Thanks again for the tips ✌
I’ve always given my kitten free run of the whole house and I can’t hide every single wire in my place.
But I’ve noticed that when he’s on his own, he doesn’t muck about as much and doesn’t go for the cables. Try keeping an eye on him from a distance to see how he behaves when you’re not right there with him.
I'm actually here to ask for advice because keeping her shut in the bathroom (which is bigger than a square metre, I promise!) feels a bit wrong to me too, and I'm looking for a solution. For the record, she’s not in the dark, and her sleeping area, food, and litter tray are all properly set up (even if they’re obviously closer together than when she has the run of the whole flat).
Yes, cables can be hidden, but the reason I’m asking how other owners manage is because I definitely can't hide every single one of them. And maybe it’s also because there are plenty of other hidden dangers in an empty flat that you might not even think of when there's no one around to supervise?
So please, stop being so judgemental.
Hi there, a bathroom seems a bit small to me... when ours were kittens we let them have the kitchen and the living room (which are open-plan!) and now they have run of the whole house (except at night when we shut the door, otherwise they come and pester us ^^). We were also worried about electrical cables (especially the computer ones in the lounge) so we put up some wooden boards to block the sides so they couldn't get behind them... okay, it didn't look the best, but at least the cats stayed away, and we took them down once they’d settled down a bit 😉
Thanks for your replies! :)
@Sevv, I love my pets to bits, but I wouldn't go quite that far... Kittens are much more independent, lively, and savvy than human babies... I'd rather she was a bit bored in one room than find her dead with an electrical cable in her mouth 😠
I know it's not ideal to keep her in one room when I'm out (she does have the run of the whole flat when I'm there), but as @Aurore Boréale says, I think I'll take it one step at a time and give her access to more space gradually—the safe areas first—and then see how it goes once she's calmed down a bit. And as you say @SolenneB, I also reckon that the day she has access to everything without me watching her, she’s bound to get up to all sorts of mischief :D
When my kitten was little, we used to give her the bathroom, the kitchen and the whole hallway to run around in; it was plenty of space given how small she was, and most importantly, it was safe.
Then we let her have one bedroom, then two, then the living room, and finally the whole flat once she’d calmed down a bit and stopped being so hyper at around 5 months old.
The thing is, a flat can have all sorts of hidden dangers that you might not even think of for an inquisitive kitten left unsupervised.
I should point out though that she wasn't on her own very often, as we chose to adopt her at a time when we were at home more.
Yeah, give him the run of the house, even if it means hiding the plant pots and anything else he might get into at first! A cat needs several distinct areas (for play, their litter tray, food, and rest), and keeping all of that in a bathroom really isn't ideal.
When you're at home, does he have the run of the house? If so, why not let him have access when you're out too? You should give him some toys and keep an eye on his routine—he probably just sleeps most of the day anyway! It’s definitely worth a try to see how he gets on.
If your cat is house-trained and uses their litter tray, it’s much better to give them the run of the whole flat! The thing is, you need to get them used to being in the whole house now; otherwise, as soon as they finally get access, it’ll be absolute carnage!
