New kitten - how long till they can stay alone for some time?

[longtallsally2]

Haven't got him/her yet! Figured that Easter would be better, so ds2 is getting an IOU one kitten for his Christmas present! I work 4 day/week, so kitten will be alone from 8 - 4 (can pop home at lunchtime for the first week or so and neighbour will pop in).

Is two weeks at Easter long enough to be with him/her all day, before leaving him/her to go to work? DS2 desparate for a youngish kitten, rather than an adult rescue cat, which is what have always had before, so any advice welcome.

Thank you

[thecatneuterer]

You can get rescue kittens as well you know.

It really depends on the age of the kitten. The younger the are, the more clingy they are, and the more distressed they are when left alone. You shouldn't get any kitten younger than 8 weeks, preferably 10, as otherwise they are too young to leave their mother. And really they only start to be ok alone from about 16 weeks I would say.

This is totally different though if you get two. Two litter mates are so much happier than one on its own. They can play together and be a comfort for each other, and would be fine left on their own from as soon as you get them.

I'm with a rescue and we only home small kittens (under 12-14 weeks say) in pairs for this reason. Otherwise they just get too bored and distressed (and destructive).

[RubbishMantra]

I got MKitten at 13 weeks. Even though MCat was there for company, I still got somebody to kitten-sit whenever I wasn't at home. Otherwise they get bored and sad and destructive.

[AngelCauliflower]

I visited our local rescue centre yesterday and there were two gorgeous little kittens there. I think there are often kittens in my local rescue centre.

[isseywithcats]

i foster kittens for a rescue and i work three hours a morning, i usually get them between 8-10 weeks and i leave them while im at work and they seem to have been alright so far