Is the bathroom and ok "safe room"?

I just got a pair of 12 week old siblings from my friend's cat's litter last night. at the moment they are engaged in an epic battle for supremacy of a cardboard box. i'm
my question is about leaving them unsupervised. because of my job (Armed guard for a defense contractor.....) i have to work nights. i've been off for a couple days so i was able to stay home with the kittens last night however i do work tonight. to be honest i'm not crazy about letting them roam my two-floor apartment for eight hours while i'm gone, i'm concerned about accidents (one has alreday thrown up on the rug following an incident where he was chasing his tail around in circles right after eating, and the other has succeeded in tracking "stuff" from the litter box around the kitchen) and them getting into things or stuck somewhere. i think i'd rest easier at work tonight knowing they are confined for their own safety.
i'm wondering if i put them in the bathroom overnight with their food, water, litterbox, and some stuff to keep them busy like boxes and blankets if that would be an ok alternative. ( i'll leave the toilet seat down of course)
the bathroom is about 5ftx10ft (including the bathtub)
however there is no direct heat source in the bathroom so i'm concerned it might get cold in there if i leave the door shut overnight. i was going to put an old blanket down on the floor to at least stop them from getting chilled from the tile floor but i'm wondering if it will be enough.
i don't really have a lot of options in here as far as rooms where they could be confined go.
any suggestions or recommendations?

It should be fine so long as you take a couple of precautions:

1) Lock any cabinet doors/drawers so they cannot get them open. (Walmart sells nifty child-proofing devices for this)
2) Place several thick layers of old newspaper under their blanket on the floor to prevent the cold from seeping through
3) Take everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING) off of your counters and put it in drawers/cabinets - then lock them.
4) Stainless steel or plastic bowls only - absolutely NO glass. Presume anything you place in there with them will be knocked over and emptied onto the floor.
5) Expect a huge mess when you return in the morning and do not be mad about it.
6) Block off any openings - even the ones you think are too small for a kitten to access - with sturdy materials. A kitten will get into any place they can find which will allow their head to pass through. If there are nooks and crannys, they WILL find them.
7) Buy a box of electrical outlet covers and use them in ALL outlets.

Best of luck!

~gf~

thanks for the advice. sounds like my bathroom may not be too bad a place after all since i don't have much in there for them to knock over/get into in the first place and i'm pretty sure there aren't any openings they could get stuck in. (i'll be double checking this thoroughly of course) i don't have any newspapers but i have a lot of cardboard around.
would a night light be a good idea also?
i hate the idea of shutting them alone in a room for eight hours though. but i think they'll be safer, well i'll feel better anyway....

Originally Posted by Kazanlak

thanks for the advice. sounds like my bathroom may not be too bad a place after all since i don't have much in there for them to knock over/get into in the first place and i'm pretty sure there aren't any openings they could get stuck in. (i'll be double checking this thoroughly of course) i don't have any newspapers but i have a lot of cardboard around.
would a night light be a good idea also?
i hate the idea of shutting them alone in a room for eight hours though. but i think they'll be safer, well i'll feel better anyway....

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Cats don't need a nightlight because they can see very well in the dark. You may want to provide them with some toys and cat tree so that they have things to play with and climb on. Slow introductions to your home is preferred in the first few weeks. Also, they need to be taken to a vet to get their first shots and you should schedule their spays at that time.

Does your friend plan to have her cat fixed? If she needs assistance with finding a clinic, let us know and we will try to help her.

Katie

The bathroom is one of the safest places. Just be sure there are no chemicals/cleaning stuff that the kittens could get into. Worse they will do is to unroll the TP

I put my cats in my bathroom all the time. Following the above safety precautions. They seem to be happy where ever they are as long as they are together.
You mentioned you didnt have a heat source...you can put a 12 inch grill in the bottom section of your bathroom door. It will allow heat to enter.

not grill as in cooking *hahhahaha

Put the toilet cover down.

well i have to work tonight so i'll get them all set up in the bathroom before i leave. i've been monitoring the temperature of the bathroom, and with the door closed it seems to hover around 70 degrees, which is better then i thought. i guess i just keep the rest of my place warmer is all.
i found some foam "egg crate" pads i can put down on the floor under the blankets too.
hopefully moving the litterbox won't throw them off. i'm thinking i'm going to get a second, larger litter box anyway. they need more room then what they have. i'll pick up another one in the next day or two.
i took them to the vet today to have them checked out. they had their test/ vaccination for feline leukemia and something called FIP i think. also they had a slight flea problem because my friend had dogs that went outside, so they got a flea/ worm treatment today also. they are due to go back for rabies and leukemia booster shots in a month. they are going to be indoor cats, all the other cats i've had have been indoor/outdoor but i live too close to a major roadway to risk letting them out. plus this state is full of coyotes.
today's total $162........i'm lucky that the armed guard business pays fairly decently.....

I had a kitten crawl totally under a vanity once. Make sure there isn't an opening where the toe kick would be.

make sure the faucets are turned off tightly!
you dont want them filling up the tub....that could be very very bad.

Good luck with your kitties!

Hi!

Yes, your kittens would normally be fine, with all the advice given above. However, the heater functioning while you are not there is NOT advisable and a fire hazard, including if you have a power outage and power is back, the 'rebounce' could cause a surge, sparkles and fire.

One more thing you have to be careful about : chairs or table chairs or anything else that has a V shape, in which a kitten can get caught. Mine did last year, and severed his leg trying to free himself. The injury was so bad he had to be put to sleep.

You are very wise to show so much concern for your little ones. Not all people are like you!

Best of lucks with your new fur friends, and have a merry Christmas!

N

Late response, but one other thing I thought of is if you have an older tub (with a rubber stopper) make sure that is in. If its a metal stopper attached w/ a lever it should be fine.

And funny story...kittens will get into ANY opening. When we brought our first 2 kittens home Hubby was working on the upstairs bathroom and put a board up to block the opening. Our babies were at the age where they could get upstairs by climbing up the carpeting on the steps. Hubby only propped up the board and there was a 2" opening at the bottom. We thought the kittens were just playing on the stairs but next thing we knew we were in the kitchen and heard the pitter patter of little feet in the dropped ceiling above us! At first we thought...rat? Then we both went kittens!!! They squeezed into that little space and were having a field day in the pipes and electrical wires!! Out came the ladder and out came ceiling tiles and we spent 10 minutes bribing them out of the ceiling. They were fine...we were a wreck! Gotta love the little monsters!

thanks for all the advice everyone.
i spent some time scouring my apt. for anything "V" shaped. luckily i don't
seem to have anything.
the kittens have done well in the bathroom for two nights so far. i figure a couple more nights and i'll start letting them stay out while i am at work.
i leave them out while i'm sleeping and when going on quick trips out and everything has been ok. they seem to already be getting into a routine.
i bought one of those big rectangular plastic totes and put some litter in it and left it next to their other box just to try and give them more space to do their business in should they want it (since the male likes to dig alot), but at the moment they seem to be more interested in playing in the new one. the sides are clear so now they bat at each other on either side of the plastic, one in the box, one out......hopefully i didn't throw them off so they'll start playing in both boxes now instead of using them for their intended purpose...i may put the new one away and just stick with the first box if it appears that they are going to be too distracted by the new box.

I would only let them out when you can supervise till they can be trusted while at work. For their own safety

BTW I just read about not using another litter pan or similar looking bed for the kitten(s) to sleep in, as they could be confused to which is bed, which is litter pan.

When we bring Charlie home, I'll let him use the carrier for sleeping with the soft round bed inside and the small normal litter pan for elimination.