Leaving new kitten

Owain_Moneysaver

IvyFlood wrote: »

Only thing is we both work full time, 8 hours a day. I just worry about leaving him alone all day.

8 cat hours is about 100 human hours (cats take about 2 years to reach human 25 years).

At that age he will need feeding and toileting every few hours. He may not even be fully weaned yet.

SensibleSarah

When I got my most recent kitten (she's now 5 years old) I already had 3 adult cats and a dog who had free access to the garden when I was at work - so the kitten needed to be kept separate from them whilst I was out anyway until she was bigger. I was out for up to 12 hours on weekdays with my long commute at the time.

She had the run of my large spare room whilst I was at work until she was old enough to have been spayed and allowed outside - then she had the run of the house and garden like the rest of my pets.

Next time (and I'm not planning anything until some of my older cats have passed away), I absolutely won't adopt a single kitten again. I feel that she massively missed out by being left alone so much at a young age - she became a bit of a tyrant, was quite destructive etc. Of course, there is a chance she would have been that way anyway - but none of my other cats have ever done that - I was around for much more of their kittenhoods and I think that made a big difference.

If I'm still working full time, I'll absolutely only adopt a pair of kitten siblings next time - so they have each other at least whilst I'm out before they can be integrated with the rest of the pet gang I have then. It's just not appropriate to leave a kitten that young for so long at that age.

Mojisola

IvyFlood wrote: »

We are going to view him tonight so not made any formal commitment yet but we have wanted to get a cat for a long time.

It would probably have been better to have rehomed an adult cat from a shelter - you could have found a cat that you knew would be happy on its own for hours at a time.

He will get nothing but attention once we are home.

So hours and hours alone and then massive amounts of attention - poor kitten.

TripleH

I agree 8 weeks is too young for a kitten to be left alone on their own. When we got our youngest one we were having our bathroom done at the time he was due to come to live with us. We left him at the breeder for another couple of weeks after his siblings left and he was happy (there were 2 older cats to play with plus his mum) and he was fine.

What is the setup of where you live? Do you have a house or flat? Is it on a busy or quiet road?

Our oldest cat went from outdoor cat MIL's country garden to an indoor cat in a Central London flat (1960's, very spacious & busy road). She was happy as it was warm, she was retiring from her 'pest control' business and there was lots of traffic for her to watch out of the window or warm beds to sleep on in the day.

We then moved out of London and rented a ground floor flat with only a courtyard view. She hated it, there was nothing for her to do, we'd get home from work and she'd be all over us wanting attention. Hence why we got a kitten to keep her company.

She was happy, but the kitten wasn't as she had no-one to play with all day or cuddle when she wanted. (Cat was nocturnal, kitten wasn't). Hence why we got another kitten.

I think even with all the toys in the world is isn't fair to keep a kitten on their own all day. What may well happen is that when you get home, they will wake up and expect you to be awake to play with them, be that evening, early morning or middle of the night.

Fire_Fox

IvyFlood wrote: »

We are going to view him tonight so not made any formal commitment yet but we have wanted to get a cat for a long time. We will speak to them and see what can be done. He is a tabby.

We do have some time off in October but not straight away unfortunately. Though my partner could pop back during his lunch break to check on him. He will get nothing but attention once we are home.

I’ve read mixed things some saying it’s fine, others saying it isn’t.

IvyFlood wrote: »

No but then I’m not a cat. Ultimately I want to do the right thing of course and like I said I have read condescending information so I am unsure. By having a large window to look out of I’m hoping he wouldn’t find it that strange and alone. I will speak to the current owner and see if it’s possible for us to take him early October when he’d be 11/12 weeks.

For your (really common) situation of working full-time, pet rescues/ experienced fosterers/ veterinarians/ cat 'experts' widely recommend either an adult cat or two kittens adopted together (~12 weeks).

A third option/ great compromise is a young adult cat/ older kitten: they are playful for years, especially if you use interactive 'prey' type toys (check out Purrsinourhearts shop). Young adult meaning one to two years old.

My little girl is now nine-ish and has early arthritis. Flings herself all over the flat, bunny-kicks the edges of the rug to death daily, steals and fetches anything toy-like quite shamelessly. :rotfl: She only stopped scaling the curtains when I chucked and replaced them eighteen months ago. Thermal lining FTW!

HTH.

TripleH

Our oldest is 14 and has her moments of play. She is just as enthusiastic when the laser dot or toy on a string come out as our 3 year old (albeit for a shorter period a day).

At times you'd think our 3 and 4 year olds were still kittens, they have plenty of time for play, sometimes when we're trying to sleep.

IvyFlood

TripleH wrote: »

I agree 8 weeks is too young for a kitten to be left alone on their own. When we got our youngest one we were having our bathroom done at the time he was due to come to live with us. We left him at the breeder for another couple of weeks after his siblings left and he was happy (there were 2 older cats to play with plus his mum) and he was fine.

What is the setup of where you live? Do you have a house or flat? Is it on a busy or quiet road?

Our oldest cat went from outdoor cat MIL's country garden to an indoor cat in a Central London flat (1960's, very spacious & busy road). She was happy as it was warm, she was retiring from her 'pest control' business and there was lots of traffic for her to watch out of the window or warm beds to sleep on in the day.

We then moved out of London and rented a ground floor flat with only a courtyard view. She hated it, there was nothing for her to do, we'd get home from work and she'd be all over us wanting attention. Hence why we got a kitten to keep her company.

She was happy, but the kitten wasn't as she had no-one to play with all day or cuddle when she wanted. (Cat was nocturnal, kitten wasn't). Hence why we got another kitten.

I think even with all the toys in the world is isn't fair to keep a kitten on their own all day. What may well happen is that when you get home, they will wake up and expect you to be awake to play with them, be that evening, early morning or middle of the night.

We live in a 3 bed semi in a quiet cul-de-sac. As I said, the room we plan to give him looks out onto the garden and we have a bird house so he might appreciate watching outside.

IvyFlood

Mojisola wrote: »

So hours and hours alone and then massive amounts of attention - poor kitten.

No, my partner can drop in during lunch for a bit and I meant as much attention as he wants once we are home.

IvyFlood

Thanks all for the replies. We went to see him and we are in love! The current owners are happy for us to pick him up on Friday 4th October which by then he'll be 11 almost 12 weeks. We plan to spend all weekend with him then the two weeks following that my partner can visit him at lunch time for an hour and then we are off the last 2 weeks of October. Hopefully he will be ok.

sheramber

Don't lavish too much attention on him when you are at home all the time or he will feel abandoned when you return to full time working.

Try to establish a routine that you can keep to.