# Kitten in a separate bedroom at night



## poppygreen (May 5, 2020)

Hi everyone.
Hope you are all well and safe at home.
I have last week bought a lovely kitten which i was told was 8 weeks old but i believe is at least 6 weeks. He is very tiny and quite inexperienced using the litter box. He can use it, he doesn't poo or pee anywhere else but he doesn't seem to be bother cleaning himself afterwards or not to step in his own poo so basically i have to clean him every time he goes for number two which is fine. 
We are working from home at the moment so we spend all day with him but our house is quite big and is a 1920 house which can hide loads of hidden and dark places where i worry he can get into and i wont be able to get him out. He stays with us form 8 am in the office room while we work and he has all his toys around but he mainly sleeps on our laps all the time. Then in the evening when we finish working he take him with us downstairs to the lounge/dining room where he wonders around, plays with his toys and with us and again he sleeps majority if the time. When it comes to night time the only possible way is to put him in the bedroom next to us. This is a small but not too small room, totally empty from beds, wardrobe, chest of drawers and no cables or electronics at all. There are instead all his toys, 2 comfy soft beds with blankets, his litter box, food (both wet and dry), fresh water, a few of mine and my boyfriend's t shirts, and its a warm room as well. The reason why i do this is because we tried of course the first night to have him with in the bedroom but our bed is quite high and he was in his little bed next to my side so i could reach him with my hand, again everything in the bedroom as well (litter box, food water toys etc etc) but he cried a lot until we put him in our bed but he decided that it was time to play so we didn't sleep much and i was worried he would fall from the bed as there is no carpet in the bedroom. Let him roaming the house is not an option, he cant do stairs just yet and he is not confident with the house yet so i cant just shut my door and let him be. I think he is fine with being in his own room at night. Its only for 7/8 hours and every time we put him there we doenst cry or scratch the door or try to run out, we have time to say good night, little kiss and we will just stay where we leave him. In the morning first thing i will, even before coffee (im Italian, that says it all)i rushed to his bedroom just to find him happly sleeping wrapped in his blanket hugging his stuffed fish. Having said that we really spend all day playing with him, teaching him, guiding him and loads of cuddles and kisses, thats until 11pm/12am when we take him to his bedroom. I need to know he is safe and also i need good night sleeps for my job. This is temporary by the way. I never had cats not sleeping with me in my bed, they always did but at the right time. Next Monday we go to the vet to confirm age and whether he has reached 8 weeks we can do vaccinations. In the meantime i will slowly take him around the house and let him wonder and follow me under my supervision. Once he is ready (hopefully within the next 2 months) to go around the house all by himself and once i know he can tell the danger from what is not dangerous such as cables, and walls (he tried yesterday to climb the brick stone wall we have in the lounge where the fireplace is which of course wasn't on), than i will just let him sleep wherever he wants, including our bed as long as he behaves as sometimes he goes nuts, quite funny but not at 2am. We also tried stairs but he would rather throw himself down the stairs side than try to do actually stair up and down. So i hope im doing the right thing but again, i know in his bedroom he is safe and he has everything he needs, and during the day he is always with us. The first couple of days i have struggled to bond with him as my subconscious i think wasn't ready after a few years ago i had to leave my cats behind, but now i just cant be away from him and he seems to love us to bits as well but after putting him to bed and stay down the stairs for a few seconds to make sure he wont cry and he doesn't. But then i go to bed feeling quite guilty even if i know is just for now and for his own good and then in a couple of months he will be sleeping in between us. I hope this is ok to do. 

Thank you

Francesca


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## MilleD (Feb 15, 2016)

Kittens shouldn't leave their mother until they are least 12 weeks old. 8 weeks is far too young.

I'm having difficulty reading what you've written as it's all one lump, but I think I get the gist that you are keeping the kitten on his own in a room at night?

He will be missing his mom and siblings and you are the only other option for him. Please don't take that away from him too.

Apologies if I've picked up what you are saying wrongly.


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## poppygreen (May 5, 2020)

MilleD said:


> Kittens shouldn't leave their mother until they are least 12 weeks old. 8 weeks is far too young.
> 
> I'm having difficulty reading what you've written as it's all one lump, but I think I get the gist that you are keeping the kitten on his own in a room at night?
> 
> ...


Yes sorry, i wrote a long post to give as many details as i could in order to explain why i'm doing this. He is a very much loved kitten and super taken care of. possibly even too much


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

With paragraphs added:

I have last week bought a lovely kitten which i was told was 8 weeks old but i believe is at least 6 weeks. He is very tiny and quite inexperienced using the litter box. He can use it, he doesn't poo or pee anywhere else but he doesn't seem to be bother cleaning himself afterwards or not to step in his own poo so basically i have to clean him every time he goes for number two which is fine. 

We are working from home at the moment so we spend all day with him but our house is quite big and is a 1920 house which can hide loads of hidden and dark places where i worry he can get into and i wont be able to get him out. He stays with us form 8 am in the office room while we work and he has all his toys around but he mainly sleeps on our laps all the time. Then in the evening when we finish working he take him with us downstairs to the lounge/dining room where he wonders around, plays with his toys and with us and again he sleeps majority if the time. 

When it comes to night time the only possible way is to put him in the bedroom next to us. This is a small but not too small room, totally empty from beds, wardrobe, chest of drawers and no cables or electronics at all. There are instead all his toys, 2 comfy soft beds with blankets, his litter box, food (both wet and dry), fresh water, a few of mine and my boyfriend's t shirts, and its a warm room as well. 

The reason why i do this is because we tried of course the first night to have him with in the bedroom but our bed is quite high and he was in his little bed next to my side so i could reach him with my hand, again everything in the bedroom as well (litter box, food water toys etc etc) but he cried a lot until we put him in our bed but he decided that it was time to play so we didn't sleep much and i was worried he would fall from the bed as there is no carpet in the bedroom. Let him roaming the house is not an option, he cant do stairs just yet and he is not confident with the house yet so i cant just shut my door and let him be. 

I think he is fine with being in his own room at night. Its only for 7/8 hours and every time we put him there we doenst cry or scratch the door or try to run out, we have time to say good night, little kiss and we will just stay where we leave him. In the morning first thing i will, even before coffee (im Italian, that says it all) i rushed to his bedroom just to find him happly sleeping wrapped in his blanket hugging his stuffed fish. Having said that we really spend all day playing with him, teaching him, guiding him and loads of cuddles and kisses, thats until 11pm/12am when we take him to his bedroom. 

I need to know he is safe and also i need good night sleeps for my job. This is temporary by the way. I never had cats not sleeping with me in my bed, they always did but at the right time. Next Monday we go to the vet to confirm age and whether he has reached 8 weeks we can do vaccinations. In the meantime i will slowly take him around the house and let him wonder and follow me under my supervision. 

Once he is ready (hopefully within the next 2 months) to go around the house all by himself and once i know he can tell the danger from what is not dangerous such as cables, and walls (he tried yesterday to climb the brick stone wall we have in the lounge where the fireplace is which of course wasn't on), than i will just let him sleep wherever he wants, including our bed as long as he behaves as sometimes he goes nuts, quite funny but not at 2am. We also tried stairs but he would rather throw himself down the stairs side than try to do actually stair up and down. 

So i hope im doing the right thing but again, i know in his bedroom he is safe and he has everything he needs, and during the day he is always with us. The first couple of days i have struggled to bond with him as my subconscious i think wasn't ready after a few years ago i had to leave my cats behind, but now i just cant be away from him and he seems to love us to bits as well but after putting him to bed and stay down the stairs for a few seconds to make sure he wont cry and he doesn't. But then i go to bed feeling quite guilty even if i know is just for now and for his own good and then in a couple of months he will be sleeping in between us. 

I hope this is ok to do.


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## poppygreen (May 5, 2020)

OrientalSlave said:


> With paragraphs added:
> 
> I have last week bought a lovely kitten which i was told was 8 weeks old but i believe is at least 6 weeks. He is very tiny and quite inexperienced using the litter box. He can use it, he doesn't poo or pee anywhere else but he doesn't seem to be bother cleaning himself afterwards or not to step in his own poo so basically i have to clean him every time he goes for number two which is fine.
> 
> ...


Thank you and apologies, not very expert with forums


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hello @poppygreen - if your kitten is only 6 weeks old as you suspect, then he is far too young to be away from his mum and litter mates, poor little thing! If his eyes are still blue then he won't be more than 6 weeks old.

He will be best being confined to one good-sized safe room with all he needs. He certainly shouldn't have access to stairs if he doesn't know how to climb them safely, or bannisters if he attempts to get through them.

You should spend lots of time with him in his safe room.

As you have a big house he doesn't need access to it all yet. I adopted my last pair of kittens when they were 4 months old and only gradually increased their access to the whole house. They started off in their safe room (a bedroom) for their first week. The 2nd and 3rd weeks they had access to the landing and bathroom, the 4th and 5th week to the stairs, hall and downstairs cloakroom. At the 7th week they were given access to the downstairs rooms. This meant they were ready and confident to explore when the time came.

As your little fellow is so much younger than my kittens were, you should take longer to introduce him to the whole house. And as he is so small, avoid rooms until he is bigger (e,g, bathroom and kitchen) where he could get stuck under things or hurt himself.

If he has accepted being on his own at night then it is OK. Ideally it would be nice to spend a bit more time every night settling him at bedtime, i.e. give him a nice tasty wet supper and sit with him quietly while he eats it and then washes himself. Then tiptoe out of the room and close the door. As he is so young and all on his own I would install a baby monitor with the speaker on your bedside table so you can hear him, and go to him, if he cries in the night. It would not be necessary to do this for more than a month or so. Chances are he won't cry at night if he feels settled and content, but it would be nice to know you could hear him if he does, e,g if he were to be unwell.


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## poppygreen (May 5, 2020)

chillminx said:


> Hello @poppygreen - if your kitten is only 6 weeks old as you suspect, then he is far too young to be away from his mum and litter mates, poor little thing! If his eyes are still blue then he won't be more than 6 weeks old.
> 
> He will be best being confined to one good-sized safe room with all he needs. He certainly shouldn't have access to stairs if he doesn't know how to climb them safely, or bannisters if he attempts to get through them.
> 
> ...


I totally agree with you, however concentrating on just one room at the moment is not an option. If i had to leave him in his safe room that would mean leave him alone for hours a day and night with us randomly popping in to have a bit of play. 
He doesn't have regular access to stairs but the other day i was carrying all his toys in my hand plus litter plus him so i have just put him down to go up the stairs by himself with me next to him.

Last night as suggested i have spent half an hour in his room around 11pm when i took him to bed, he had food, washed himself and we had a bit of play and the while he was occupied with his toys i slowly left the room and although i walked around, turned off the light and closed the door he never turned back and didn't cry at all (i have waited a couple of minuted outside). Also this morning when i went to pick him up we spent some time in his bedroom, having good morning kisses, cuddles, food, poo, some playtime and now is sleeping again on my laps on the office room.

i agree that getting him a sister or a brother would help, its just a struggle as being in Luton doenst help, not kittens here around at all. We got Hector form London and were lucky he was "delivered" by previous owner, but i'm looking day and night, hopefully something will come up.

My only worry with getting him a companion is the fact that he appears to be food aggressive. i read about it and im leaving it to him when it comes to food, i step back, don't speak to him, don't stroke him, and always make sure food bowl is full. i have done that for a week now but no change. this morning i was just walking next to his food bowl while he was eating, just to open the window a little (super high window btw he wouldn't reach even if he was an adult) and he went nuts, he grabbed the bowl and started to eat ferociously with his all body shacking and making aggressive noises, so i stepped back again. once is done eating he is absolutely fine, cuddles mood turns on.

When he shakes like that my first instinct would be to cuddle him and reassure him everything is fine but i know this won't help so i hope this will just go away in time, but is this going to get worse if i get to get him a sister or brother?

Thank you

Francesca


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hi Francesca, many kittens are very protective of their food. Your kitten perhaps came from a large litter and needed to fight for his food.

Your kitten was worried you were going to take his food away from him, so it is best if you do not to go near his food bowl when he is eating. Give him his own eating spot and then don't disturb him until he has finished. Opening the window can surely wait for 5 minutes! 

You misunderstood my comment about introducing him to "one room at a time". What I meant was start with kitty in the room where you yourself spend most of your time. Of course you can't put him in a room where he will be on his own most of the time, that would be unkind and pointless. He needs to be with you.

The point I was making was not to allow him to roam the whole house at present, especially when he is on his own, as being so small and young he could get into trouble.

If you decide to get another kitten when the lockdown is over, you should give both kittens their own separate feeding spots, at least 10 ft apart so there is no competition for food. This arrangement should remain permanently. Kittens do not mind sharing feeding spots with their mum or litter mates, but adult cats prefer their own space. Cats are solitary hunters, they would never usually eat their prey alongside another cat. (the exception would be a mother cat and her kittens).

There are a number of good Rescue Shelters in the Luton area, who will be likely to have kittens all through the summer. They are all closed to the public at present because of the need to shield vulnerable Shelter staff from COVID. As you found adoption of cats and kittens is not taking place in the Luton area at present or in many places nearby.. But it will all start again as soon as it is safe for the Shelters to re-open.


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## maywaters80 (6 mo ago)

Recently, I was able to find a resource that explains Everything about kittens sleeping in a separate room from you..


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