\My elderly parents share the house my husband and I own, and because
they're in their 80's and quite frail, we've given them the main floor
and we live in the basement suite.  They have an elderly cat named
Ichabod (he's about 17, I think) who is inclined to be a bit cranky,
and so when we acquired a kitten of our own in November, we elected to
keep Maggie, our kitten, sequestered in our suite.

Maggie is a sweetie, typically rambunctious as kittens are, but very
sweet-natured and easily teachable.  We've had to do a little behaviour
modification with a squirt bottle to prevent her chewing on electrical
cords and climbing the front of our big-screen television, and we have
shifted things like my knitting into our bedroom, the door of which we
keep closed.  But she catches on quickly, and we think that she will
calm down enough to be able to sleep with us once she's a little bit
older (and has been spayed).  In the meantime, she has two favoured
sleeping spots:  in our bathroom sink, and on a chair just outside our
bedroom door.

Maggie and Ichabod are aware of each other, and have exchanged toys
under the door of our suite.  However, there have been some yowling
festivals back and forth, and my husband and I are disinclined to allow
Maggie the run of the house, for a variety of reasons, one of which is
that we think Ichabod may do her some harm.  Also among our reasons is
the concern that she will be unreasonably spoiled, which my parents are
inclined to do with pets.  They turned a perfectly nice Pomeranian into
a nasty little creep in under a month.  They have never had an animal
who was not obese, and last night, my father had to get up and sleep in
a reclining chair, because that's what Ichabod wanted to do.

My husband and I both work full-time, and I am taking a class one
evening a week. Six evenings a week, we are at home. When we're home,
Maggie pretty much has our complete attention.  She's inside my desk,
sleeping behind my laptop as I write this.  She has toys galore, has
taught my husband and I to play fetch, and loves to watch nature
programs on television.  She's bright, cheerful and happy.

When we're not home, my mother comes down several times a day to visit
her and play with her.  She keeps telling me (and my father) how
miserable Maggie is, being left alone.  I feel badly having to leave
her, but the reality is, we have jobs and a life, and I don't believe
she's being unreasonably neglected.  I also don't think that having
some rules is going to ruin her life. Am I wrong?  Is there something I
can do to make her life better?