Adoped a kitten/ worry about stairs in my house

We have just adopted a two month old kitten. We have not brought her home yet but I am very worried about the stairs in our two story house. In particular, I worry that the kitten may jump from second story (where we are planning to put her upon her arrival). My previous cat was about 5-6 years old when we adopted her and stairs were never an issue.

I am terrified that the kitten will jump  and injure herself (or worse) while I am not home. Do I have to stay home 24/7 and never sleep just to make sure she is not getting into mischief?

By the way, she is the only cat in the house. No dogs.

It's a good idea to set up a 'safe room' or sanctuary for any new cat you bring home. That way the cat/kitten can familiarise itself with the house a bit at a time. It also means you can concentrate on kitten proofing one room to start with, and gradually work on the rest of the house.

I would suggest that you give the kitten it's room, and don't allow it anywhere else in the house unsupervised to begin with. As it grows up you should have a sense of the danger points for that specific kitten (they all have favourite ways of making mischief ) and will be able to act accordingly.

If a safe room really isn't possible, I'd seriously consider getting a large dog crate (the bigger the better) and shutting the kitten in there when you're not with it - at least until it's a bit bigger. I would also shut kitten away at night, no matter which option you choose. Better to be a little over cautious than yo have an accident.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/bringing-home-a-new-cat

I've heard recommendations for child gates across stairways to prevent accidents. I don't know how they work, since it seems to me that most cats could climb over them, but even the SPCA suggests them when introducing new cats. You might try baby-proofing the upstairs while you're at work.

We had our first cat about 30 years ago. She chose a room downstairs for her nursery; our bedroom was upstairs. After a few months with the babies below decks, she decided she'd had enough and wanted to be back in the bed with us. We were absolutely fascinated watching Gloves teach her kittens to climb the stairs. She would go up a couple of steps, then lay down and expose her teats to the kittens. They'd scramble up to her as best they could; she'd climb a few more stairs and make them repeat the process. It was wonderful to see.

With such a conscientious mother, we never worried about her kittens :-)

Have fun with your new furball.

Best regards.