Is it a Bad Idea to Crate Train Kittens?
I've had cats all my life. My mother had one that was 3 when I was born. I got my first kitten when I was 4. I have never crate trained a cat until now.
Cat's are naturally nocturnal. But they are also domesticated.
I have two new kittens that I have had for 3 weeks now. For the last two weeks, I have been crate training them. This is their schedule:
Wake at 6:00AM
Nap at 10:00AM - 2:00PM
Or
Nap at 12:00PM - 4:00PM
Bed at 10:00PM
Food water and potty at 2:00AM
Back to bed in less than 15 minutes
Wake at 6:00AM
They seem to enjoy the routine. They don't cry when I put them to bed. They tell me when they want their nap, and it's consistent. Same time, same actions. They always wake and cry at the same time each night. They wont sleep without the other one ready to sleep as well.
I'm never in bed before 3:00AM and my husband is up at 6:00AM every morning. I'm up before they need a nap.
When the kittens get older they will know what they should and should not be doing. We are no longer going to crate them for naps, only bed. If they do well and aren't freaking out from the change, we plan to stop crating them all together. We hope they will sleep in our room with us at night. Cats are more adaptable than dogs most of the time.
I simply think it will help them sleep at night instead of crashing around like all my other cats have done. It's better than waking up to a ripped up plant or broken glass.
Has anyone else ever crate trained a kitten? Did it work well?
We live in a very small town house. The only extra room we have is a guest room that is carpeted. I keep my clothes in there for now.
My best friends mom and a friend of mine in Chicago both had an extra room set up just for their cats.
I would if I could 
Thanks for the answers!
I had always been taught that they are nocturnal. I was told that they came from the desert.
Every last cat I have had has gotten the fish tanks open and whipped fish out to the floor, knocked over lamps, put long tears or huge holes in screens, ripped plants apart and gotten dirt all on the floor, or pulled hanging plants out of windows by swinging on them. I had two cats that would break into the tupperware bin and chew open the catnip.
I had one cat that would jump on top of the microwave and burrow a hole into the bread. Potato was her favorite. If she heard the crinkle of chips or cheese wrappers, she was all over you. She was blind 
One cat jumped from the loft into the middle of Xmas dinner. He also stole an entire rotisserie chicken and dropped it in the cat box. He stole a steak off the counter and when we tried to take it, he growled at us and covered his food. If there was no meat around, he was the sweetest, cuddliest cat I'd ever had.
Cats are brazen.
Thanks again!
Trackback URI
http://trainkittens.com/train-kittens/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-crate-train-kittens/trackback/
Comments on Is it a Bad Idea to Crate Train Kittens? »
If it’s working for you then stick with it. You have a pretty good schedule too.
I’ll tell you what I did. I didn’t crate my kittens when i got them I put them in a room by them selfs. They played during the day the litter pale was in there they ate and feed in this room only coming out in the day time now they have the run of the house 5 years later.
I wouldn’t fancy doing it, i do the one room and then let them have a little more freedom. However if it’s not stressing them and they seem happy,fine.
However the odd bit of ripped material and broken object is the norm with any pets (toddlers too). Anything of value, or breakable should be kept out of their way.
The only time we have a cat or kitten in a cage is when we are working to tame a feral cat or kitten. Once they are tamed enough to be given the run of the house, we let them out and take down the cage.
I would let your kittens have the run of the house. If they know where the litter box and food and water bowls are, they should do just fine.
We’ve had 26 cats over the last 23 years, and some were under 12 weeks of age – the youngest was 6 weeks old – and we have never had the problems you mention – broken lamps and such except for the Devils (Murphy and Bailey) and they are quite the exception when compared, in any aspect, to other cats.
As to cats being nocturnal – some species of cats are nocturnal but domestic cats are not nocturnal.
It may appear that they are nocturnal but cats can be equally active during the day or night.
It depends upon a lot of things like the human’s schedule, whether there are other cats in the family and others.
A truly nocturnal cat would never be up and active during the day and we all know that cats are active during the day.
If anything, cats are crepuscular, meaning that the are active at dawn and dusk http://www.wisegeek.com/what-do-the-terms-crepuscular-diurnal-and-nocturnal-mean.htm
This may explain the morning and evening crazies that many people see.
Domestic cats are said to have evolved from desert cats and, as far as I know, most cats in desert area are not nocturnal as they need to be out and hunting at almost any time of the day in order to catch different animals, and insects, which may be nocturnal or diurnal (active during the day)