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Latch Key Kitties

post #1 of 4
6/4/09 at 9:54am
Thread Starter 
I just got 2 kittens last Sunday. We've already been to the vet a couple times and other than a little diarrhea which they are on medication for, they are doing very well! My question is, how much time should I spend with them? I am not working right now but seem to have a lot of obligations that keep me away from the house. Yesterday for example I was gone for 5 hours then home for 3 then gone again for 3. During the evening when I was gone for the 3 hours my husband was here with the kittens. When I am home, I spend all my time with them. Right now due to the diarrhea issue they are enclosed in about a 7x7 foot space when I am here and when I am not with all their needs- food, litter box, places to sleep, play room, toys, etc. Yesterday was actually excessive time for me to be gone and the first time I left them. I am just interested in how much time is ok to leave them for. Right now, the entire time I am gone, I am feeling guilty about it. Any suggestions to reprimand or ease this new owners guilt?
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post #2 of 4
6/4/09 at 10:01am
Don't feel guilty! Just that you're concerned about this question says a lot about you! It's perfectly fine to leave them on their own for the few hours a day you are gone. I don't know that there's a specific amount of time you should spend with them. I think at a young age it's frequency rather than duration that affects them the most. What I mean is, if you're home for one hour and can spend 20 minutes of that hour with them, break the 20 minutes up into sections. I frequently work with young cats who've had little to no human exposure and have found that doing the trick above has been a good way to acclimate them to people. While your cats aren't feral, the same psychology works in them and besides, it can't hurt!
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post #3 of 4
6/4/09 at 2:09pm
Awww. I spend some time just playing with the kitties... 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there. Not big chunks of time. Mostly, we're all just hanging out and doing our own thing. (They nap, or play, or look out the windows, or dig around meowmy's things while I'm at the computer, or reading.) Sometimes, my SO and I are both out on a full time schedule and the kitties all seem to be fine. It's probably better that you have a pair of kitties since they can play together.
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post #4 of 4
6/4/09 at 11:44pm
With my new street rescue kitty I had to start with small amounts of playing and petting time.Even though she would be indoors for up to an hour or so,she seemed happy if we were in the same room and small bursts of attention and contact.I always talked to her and I believe it helped her get used to me and also hearing sounds like the tv,music,etc. My kitten lets me know when she wants to play(ok,this gets old sometimes) and generally calms down after 10 mins or so of funtime.I`m more of a newbie than you are but I think you are doing great! What I really cherish is when little Alley curls up by my head or on my pillow for our bedtime.She`ll even take naps with me!
My hope is to get her sleep/wake cycles as close to mine as is possible.Lucky for me I am an early riser! lol

HosMan
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