New kitten for DD

[pippitysqueakity]

Long, sorry
We have a lovely two year old cat. He was a spirited kitten and is now a wonderful purry sleek kitty. He had a friend of the same age who shared our communal garden and they used to play fight but friend has moved away.
DD has had hamsters but has been very unlucky with them and now understandably does not want to gat any more. She wanted different rodents but I am really not keen, not desperate about hamsters TBH but could tolerate them.
So the solution seems to be a new kitten. It will be a kitten, not a grown cat as that is my and DDs preference.
I'm just trying to think of practicalities as I want it to be as least disruptive for established cat as possible. DD has a wall mounted bed so kitten cannot sleep there to start in case it falls off. At the moment EC sleeps on my bed when he is in at night, but often goes off wandering. We have a permanently open window for this. I think kitten should sleep in my room to keep it safe at least at first, but this would mean shutting bedroom door, thus excluding EC. There really is no other room which is safe as only other room which the door shuts securely is room which has other DDs hamster in.(in a walk in cupboard but even so.)
EC could sleep on either DDs beds when not out, but would this effectively make him resent kitten as it will change his habits?

[YesItsMeIDontCare]

I definitely wouldn't oust EC from his current routine - that would be incredibly unfair on him.

Could kitten have a bed on the floor in DD's room?

[pippitysqueakity]

Probably, it's just her door doesn't close properly(v old flat) so would have to then restrict EC's access to open window...

[YesItsMeIDontCare]

Ah - so open window is in DD's bedroom.

Hmm... you might have to introduce them a bit quicker then. To be honest I've introduced cats within 24 hours, but that's 'cause I didn't have a clue what I was doing! They turned out OK 😸.

Is there a sitting room kitten could sleep in?

[pippitysqueakity]

Sorry, open window not in bedroom, but as DDs door doesn't shut, could not be sure kitten could be kept away from it. Kitchen has nooks and crannies, living room has hamster cupboard with one hamster still there. Other DDs bedroom door doesn't shut. I am happy to introduce EC to kitten, but do not want to shut them n my bedroom together at night obviously, especially as EC likes to go in and out. I know there is a solution, am just having trouble getting to it...🙂

[thecatneuterer]

Get the doors fixed first maybe?

[Losingtheplod]

How high up is the open window? Will the kitten be able to get to it? It took a good few months before my kitten could get to a lot of the places that the adult cat can, so it may be that you won't have a problem, even if the kitten did escape DD's room. My concern would be that the kitten is likely to have a mad 5 minutes in the middle of the night, as they do, and DD might get a lot of disturbed sleep. Our kitten spent her first few weeks shut in the bathroom, although that was because she had raging diarrhea, and it was the only wipe clean room in the house.

[pippitysqueakity]

Actually open window is quite high up, about shoulder height.
DD is soundest sleeper in the world! ATM, cost of rehanging doors, which is what it would take is beyond us.

[orangeyellowgreen]

Get a dog crate and put kitten in there to sleep and to keep it safe when you're not around. Don't put litter tray right next to bed. Feed kitten in there so older cat can eat in peace.

[Weedsnseeds1]

Move hamster?

[Potentialmadcatlady]

Get a large dog crate... Litter tray at back..radiator bed clipped up on bars, coop cup clipped on side for water and one of the small scratching posts/ toy ... I have done the same with all my foster kittens and current new kitten.. She goes into crate when I'm out etc to keep her safe and will continue to do so until she a bit bigger

[pippitysqueakity]

Had never thought of dog crate, great idea! Thank you.
Nowhere else to move hamster to, only place with two closable doors so away from any cat!

[pippitysqueakity]

Can I just ask, how big would a large dog crate be?

[pippitysqueakity]

Potential could you post a pic to let me get the idea? Only if you want to obv.🙂🙂

[Costacoffeeplease]

Dog crates come in all sizes, I have a kitten in one at the moment (she's now 16 weeks but I've hand reared her from birth). She's gone from cat box to small crate to big crate.

One tip is to put lots of bedding in it as the lowest part can have quite big gaps and one of our kittens managed to squeeze out, so she now has lots of towels and old sheets stuffed round the edges

[Costacoffeeplease]

This is one of our big crates, complete with puppy

[Costacoffeeplease]

And this is a small one complete with kitten

[pippitysqueakity]

Thank you. This really looks like a great solution. Will chat to DD in morning.

[Potentialmadcatlady]

Sorry Pip wasn't on my iPad so didn't see your request for photo..in bed now! The crate works really well and if you put a fleecy blanket over the top of the whole thing except the front door then the kitten feels nice and safe and secure...

[pippitysqueakity]

Thank you everyone, (and no worries Potential.😀). This really looks the way to go!