How long can kittens be left alone for during the day?

[why100000]

If they are 9 to 10 weeks old?

Thank you .

Depends largely on how much you love your soft furnishings..

Sorry - I meant one kitten on its own.

Not that fussed about soft furnishings...

Well imo/e another kitten is what you need.

Yes I would but two are too expensive.

Ideally not too long at first as it will be lonely. It's better if you can build up the time it's left. Make sure it has a nice warm fleecy bed with hot water bottle. Shutting in s small cosy room would be better than giving it the run of the house. Be prepared to spend lots of time playing and cuddling when you return!

I used to leave mine for about 4 hours to go to work (DH and I worked overlapping shifts).
The first week or so he was very happy to see me when I got in but after a little while he just carried on snoozing/playing/climbing the curtains as though I'd never left.

I thought the advice was that they are best staying with their mother until 12 weeks.

They are still quite dependent on their litter mates for play, socialisation and stimulation until they are about 3 months old. If you want to leave a kitten alone before that, you could try taking a pair from the same litter.

Yes I think they are so small then. We are going to wait until the summer when we are home for several weeks, and try to get a not too small kitten then.

Thanks for the advice.

Once our kitten had been with us for two or thee weeks she was left for the whole day while I was at work (part time so 2 or 3 days per week).

She was about 11 weeks at this point. We left her in the kitchen and conservatory (with cat bed, toys, comfy chair & blanket, litter box, food & water. She was fine.

A few weeks after that we let her have the roam of the house while we were out. She's now an outdoor cat and comes and goes as she likes coming up to a year old next month!

Would you consider an older cat, op? Our boy is a rescue and we love him to bits. He just sleeps, eats and plods around the garden. We adore him and aren't bothered that we missed the cute destructive kitten stage

We were going to adopt two four month old kittens, and got as far as their cat volunteer visiting our house, but then got refused on the basis that they both had health issues and it would have been too much for us.

We should maybe adopt an older cat, it’s true.

I really would recommend adopting an older cat if you only want one.

The rescue I foster for will only rehome kittens under about 5-6 months in pairs, but we always have plenty of 6 month plus cats that are still quite young and playful, but more independent and self sufficient.

They can leave their mothers from about 6-7 weeks and TBH the mothers are sick of the sight of them by then. I've had a few nursing mothers and when the kittens start to wean and get a bit older the mothers will just hide from the kittens or get up and walk away if they start to feed.

But the kittens want to play with each other, which is an important part of their development, and they will keep each other company and warm, which is why they shouldn't really be alone when very young.

Once older, they will probably get into a routine of sleeping most of the day if you are out all day, so I just leave water and dry food out for them and they're fine.