Source
r/cats•
Meowpol

Leaving 12 week old kitten at home while I go to work

Discussion

I live by myself in a townhouse. One week ago I adopted an 11 week old kitten (now 12 weeks old) from a shelter, who will be an indoors cat. I have been able to work from home this past week, which has been great as I’ve been able to provide him with company and affection during the day. However, from next week, I am expected to return to work in the office twice a week (the other three days I will continue to WFH). I am anxious about leaving him by himself for 9 hours straight during the day on the days that I am expected to work in the office. Will this be an issue? Please provide advice/recommendations for this situation.

Posted Jan 26, 2023, 10:33 AM UTC

27
BobaCatz•

That is way too long for any cat to be left alone on a regular basis, especially a lonely little kitten. You should have at least gotten two so they can keep each other company. Cats are very social creatures, despite their reputation

2
C00L_HAND•

This is the best course to keep your cat happy and relaxed. You can´t replace a cat friend to play and fight.

I wouldn´t wait for to long because as soon as your kitten has settled in for some months it might see another kitten as intruder.

Best would be similar age and sex. Since male cats usually grow bigger and play rougher than females this might lead up to some problems.

1
MeowpolOP•

Thank you, I will take this into consideration.

1
glorious_sunshine•

A 12 week old kitten should not be alone for 9 hours. If you cannot negotiate with your workplace to continue WFH, then ask friends/family to check in on your kitten.

Unfortunately at that age waking the kitten up for play is not recommended. This means if your cat sitter pops in and the kitten is asleep, there's nothing they can do. If they could stay for a couple hours, that would be ideal.

Whilst you could consider adopting a kitty friend for your kitten, you could end up with two kittens who should not be left alone. Also, you'll need to factor in the time and effort required for a proper introduction.

And at 12 weeks I highly recommend feeding at least 4-5 times throughout the day.

If you absolutely have to leave the kitten alone, try to get someone to stay for a few hours during the day during a feeding. Assuming you are away 9am-6pm, a schedule like this might work:

8am - 20 mins play, feed a meal before you leave

12-2pm - have someone come over and stay during this time. Play and interact with the kitten, or if you know someone who can WFH at yours for a few hours, that would be good too. 20 mins play & feed a meal around 2pm.

6pm - play with the kitten and feed when you get home.

Before bed - play and feed again.

If your kitten is a grazer, you can leave out a measured amount of dry food for them to graze on throughout the day. Just make sure to have at least 2 sources of clean water.

Also, I cannot stress this enough - kitten-proof your place. Restrict your kitten to one kitten-proofed room if you have to. They can chew through live wires, get stuck, or fall from a high place. One of my kittens tried to jump from the top of the door at 15ish weeks and it would not have been pretty if we were home to rescue him.

Of course, there are kittens who can be left alone from a young age, but considering you've had one week with your kitten, it's safe to assume you don't know the kittens personality yet. I would always err on the side of caution in this case.

2
MeowpolOP•

Thank you for taking the time to provide this advice, it is very helpful. I will take all of this into consideration.

1
Tyr_Kukulkan•

1 - get him a friend. 2 - get him a routine.

Ours is generally 0700 breakfast,1800 dinner & 2200 supper. Puzzle ball with dry food left during the day and overnight. They generally go looking for those around 1200 and 0300.

3 - plenty of litter trays. 4 - cat TV

Accessible windows with beds and bird feeders visible outside.

5 - safe self-play toys.

Cat train sets, as I call them, are good. Balls are also good. Nothing with string.

Edit: We also active play with them before dinner and supper to really get them going in hunt mode.

1
MeowpolOP•

Thank you for this advice!

1