Keeping Kitten Entertained While I'm Gone

Hi everyone!

I have a 7 week (almost 8 week) old kitten that I recently rescued quite unexpectedly. She was separated from her family and feral (as far as I know) and was being dragged under a car — I had to run into traffic to save her. There would have been no other situation in which I would have gotten a kitten at this point of my life, since my apartment is rather small and I work full time, other than a desperate need to be rescued: you might say she found me!

I was worried about her as she had a rough few days and was slightly injured, but a few vet visits, some food, water, warm bedding and some cuddles later she is doing great. She has all of the normal mischievous kitten behaviors; climbing into places she shouldn’t, running around late at night, scratching at things, running after anything that moves (or doesn’t move), and now she’s graduated to playing in her litter box (much to my exasperation 😆 ) She is also incredibly sweet and we have lots of cuddle time.

I work during the day full time, and leave the apartment around 7am and don’t return until about 6pm. When I am home she gets lots and lots of attention, but I do have to leave her alone for a while. I live with my girlfriend who also works the same hours. The first week I brought her home I was able to get away with working from home in order to nurse her back to health, but now that I’ve gone back to work, I’ve had to leave her alone. We shut her in the bedroom (which we have kitten proofed by unplugging any wires, closing the closet and removing anything she could harm herself with) during the day with lots of food (which I believe she eats right away; she has a huge appetite), water, her litter box, her bed, her carrier (she likes playing in it), a few toys, and a scratching post / cat hammock that she also enjoys climbing and playing with. I also have been leaving the radio on for her so she doesn’t feel completely alone. But I do worry that she gets bored. Does anyone have any advice?

Unfortunately I absolutely cannot get another cat; my apartment is too small, and our hands are already full with her. We are planning on moving into a bigger place within a few years and then we can consider that, but right now it’s not an option, so any other suggestions are welcome.

I was looking into getting one of those Petcams in which you can play with them using a laser during the day — does anyone here have those, and, if so, how do you like them?