Hi all!

My husband and I are still quite a few weeks away from bringing our little girl home, but we've obviously been doing a lot of thinking, planning, and prepping for her arrival.

My dilemma at the moment lies in where to set up her initial "home base" when we bring her home. The plan was to have her in the bathroom, as this is where the litterbox will be in the future. My problem is that the bathroom is so... well, it's quite small! I'd like to give her more space. There is a second bedroom we could use, but I do not plan to keep a litterbox in that room permanently and I'm concerned about getting her used to having the box in one spot and then moving it!

Any advice? There is the option of "extending" the bathroom a bit by leaving the door open but putting up a baby gate in the hall way covered in a towel to offer some extra room while still blocking off the rest of the house, but I don't know if that will feel secure enough for her. Any input is more than welcome and appreciated!

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Guardian of Zelda - Brown Spotted Bengal

We started out in a tiny house with a tiny bathroom. It was less than 5 x 6 feet total, including the shower stall, toilet and cabinetry.

We put the litterbox in the shower and fed him outside on the floor. He had a tall, narrow cat tree, which he loved.

We tried the child gate on the door to allow an illusion of space and so he could see us outside the room. He jumped that gate within the first hour he was home. We kept the gate, even after he had been fully introduced to our household, including the dog. It gave him a safe space to retreat and a place we could feed him where the dog couldn't get his food.

We kept him in the bathroom at night and when we weren't home, with the door closed, and let him roam the upper floor of our house, with supervision, when we were home.

Therefore, I would say that a bathroom is not too small, if kitty still has lots of opportunity to interact with you, at his pace.
Also, know that a child gate will not contain him when he wants out. Quasar was only 2 lbs and tiny and he had no problem getting out, or in, at will.

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~ Kyenta

First of all, welcome to the forum and congratulations on your upcoming arrival. Like prospective new parents, you are worrying about a lot of things. Yes, your kitty needs to be put into a smaller area of your home. Getting taken away from your mom and siblings and going to a new home with complete strangers and a house with all new smells -- well, it can be overwhelming for a kitten, especially if it roams through a big house and gets lost! A bathroom seems to be perfect in many ways, especially since you plan to keep the litter box there. You will be spending time with the kitten and you will obviously take her out of the room to hold her and play with her. She will feel much safer in a smaller space for a couple of weeks.

Know that moving a litter box is not a huge deal. As long as your kitty knows where the litter box is, they will use it! Be prepared for accidents in the beginning as stressed out kitties tend to just go ... wherever! Much easier to clean from the bathroom. A lot of people use a bedroom because the bathroom gets used. You need a room that is not used frequently.

Hopefully, you will only need the arrangement for a short period of time. Then you can let your baby investigate every nook and cranny of your home. Just know our members are here for you if you have any questions.

The bedroom would be the much preferred place to get her acclimated. One of the most important aspects of the "saferoom" is that she have a good place to hide, and also a place to come out and explore and feel safe. So the bedroom with the door kept closed is much better.

As far as where you will keep the litterbox going forward, I wouldn't put those plans in stone. It's all well and good to brainstorm places that are the least intrusive to you to keep the box (only one box?). But the truth is that you need to keep it/them in a place(s) that your new kitty will use, and learn excellent litterbox habits, so the place that is best for you may not be the place that is best for her. And failure to accommodate her will lead to pee stained carpets and bedding and iffy litterbox habits that may be difficult to re-train.

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The little monsters 3

Thank you for the replies and input, everyone.

I just wanted to note that we know we'll need to be flexible on box arrangements - I just meant that, at the moment, we weren't necessarily planning to locate a box there. That doesn't mean we wouldn't be willing to try that if we needed to. I also wasn't intending to imply we will be limiting ourselves to one box, although I can see how the original post might be read that way. The question was more related to the potential issue of putting a box in one spot initially, and eventually relocating it.

In general, it seems there are different opinions on bedroom versus bathroom! We will give everyone's input consideration, we have plenty of time to decide. If anyone else wants to give their two cents, please do.

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Guardian of Zelda - Brown Spotted Bengal

We set up our saferoom in a bedroom with a litterbox - thought it would be overall more comfortable than the bathroom for our kitten. No problem moving the box later - our kitten quickly figured out where it was! Of course, truth be known, the use of the safe room lasted all of a few hours - we couldn't stand hearing her cry and she seemed much happier being with us then she was in the saferoom - but all kittens are different.

Obviously, you spend time with the kitty in the safe room or you bring the cat out into the house and hold it and play with it. I don't want anyone to think you lock the cat away and let it cry and cry! Some cats adjust immediately ... and that's great. Some want to sleep with you the first night. You just need to be prepared for anything and everything that can pop up.