How long should I restrict kitten to one room?

[beetlebrain]

Stella moved in yesterday. We don't know her exact age as she was found on a building site, but she appears healthy and lively and is eating well. Vet check booked. We are used to cats but not had a tiny kitten for 25 years. Any suggestions?

Are there any other animals in the home or is she the only one? What about young children?

We've had multiple kittens over the years and they were only ever confined in one room overnight or when we were out of the house. Otherwise they had free reign of downstairs (which is where we spend our time during the day) to socialise and explore as much (or as little) as they wanted.

Our current kitten came to us at 6 weeks (rejected by his mum) and after 48 hours he was playing with our resident cats and sleeping with them during the day. We kept them apart overnight etc. for a few more weeks but from about 8-9 weeks of age he had the run of downstairs 24/7 just as they did :)

He's 16 weeks now and has free run of the house while we're awake and home. At night/while we're out all the cats are confined to downstairs (bathroom, kitchen, living room) with food, water and litter. Never had any issues!

My 12 week old was happy to be exploring after 24 hours!

@cinnamonfrenchtoast There's an adult female cat. We showed them to each other this afternoon. Daphne (adult) very huffy!

With a resident cat I wouldn't let the kitten out unattended but I've always let mine out to explore straight away and we've never had an issue with fights or anything.

Our resident cats have maybe hissed a few times and thrown the kittens (and us!) a few dirty looks but honestly it's always been fine after 2-3 days.

Here is our 3yo and 16 week old enjoying a cuddle 🥰

Aww Stella is beautiful.
That little face 😻

I would wait until you've had the kitten seen by the vet. You don't want your older cat to catch any illnesses from the kitten.

We got a dkitten and just put her and an extra tray and bowls in the room dcat slept in and left them to it!
After 2 weeks...

After 2 years..

Stella is ridiculously adorable.