One Kitten or Two?

[supercarrie]

My DH and I have recently purchased our own home and we are both really looking forward to having a pet again. Both of us grew up in homes with one cat.

We would like to get another cat - my DH wants a kitten, having had some sad experiences with losing older cats - and have been checking all the animal shelters nearby.

However, all of them with kittens have the requirement that they be homed in pairs of siblings, not singly. We weren't planning on getting two cats at once, but would strongly prefer getting one from a shelter instead of buying one.

My main concerns are the extra cost and effort - 2x vet bills, 2x food spend, etc. We can afford it but I wanted everyone's thoughts and advice - how much "extra" is involved with a second kitten as opposed to only one?

 

[kafitty]

honestly...watching 2 kittens play with each other for hours is entertaining/cute enough to make it worth it.

okay i might be exaggerating a little , but honestly i'd suggest getting two. Especially if they're going to be indoor cats - that way they have someone to play with and keep them company.

good luck! i love kitties.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We always get pairs for kittens. My sister has 4. Now is a good time to do it since Christmas is over.

She has 2 older ones she got 2yrs ago and then she got another pair almost a yr ago.

They are full of energy and play together. Oh yea, I have a pic of them.

L-R is (girls) Pepper, Peanut, Cinnamon, and Morgan the boy on the end. The 2 kittens on the end right are brother and sister. The other 2 were strays. She adopted them thru her vet's office. She had lost her cat a month prior and they had cats to adopt so they called her.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I have always felt it is better to have two cats than just one. This way they can play with each other while you are gone. If you go away for a weekend and leave them alone, for example, they still have company.

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

Two. One night, my husband and I fell in love with four from the same litter. Took my daughters to adopt them the next day. I started to panic...four cats? That morning I changed my mind and went in with the idea of finding a cute pair (for my 8 year old twins girls). When we arrived, we learned that one of the four was adopted. We immediately applied for the other three.

Get two to keep each other company; the food costs aren't a huge difference; litter around here, though...

 

[bitohoney]

I have 2 so they can keep each other company but they don't really like each other. At least they have another companion! I love cats!

 

[shortbun]

HOnestly, kittens in pairs is the way to go. I've done it both ways and I'm sure kitties get lonely. They socialize each other, excersize each other, groom each other and it's just healthier for them in the long run. Yes, there is the extra cost in the beginning but it's worth it. I recommend same sex as one would dominate the other and your kittens might have kittens before you get them spade or neutered.

 

[taximomfor4]

I say if you can swing it, get a pair. We have 4 cats, but adopted each one singly. They do NOT all get along. Most of them tolerate each other, but it's not pretty sometimes. The best way to assure that they are friends and not just tolerating each other is to adopt littermates. They have always been close, so may stay that way. The only time I have seen this backfire is when one was the runt. Often, the rest of the litter shuns the runt and that often never ends.

 

[Missytara]

My first pet was a cat; she lived to the ripe old age of 15-1/2, although she was alone most of the time. She did keep to herself a great deal and I always wished I had a second one. By the time, I did, she refused to socialize with another cat.

My second time around, I vowed to have two females. I figured they would love to play with each other all day and be worn out by the time I got home (LOL). My best friend has a horse farm and lo and behold, had adopted a young cat who was pregnant not long after I had to put my first one down.

I asked her for two females, and she said usually first-time moms, especially as young as she was, would only have two. I vowed to take them both, no matter what. Well, she had three - it appeared like they were two girls and a boy. Meanwhile, I also took a liking to the mom and decided to take all four.

So, I have mama, and what has turned out to be two boys and a girl - and I wouldn't trade them for anything.

Go for it!

 

[MouseketeerOvaHere]

Ah, the cat dilemma. HAHA.

My story.
My g/f went to work where someone left a litter of kittens in a box that they didn't want/couldn't have. As if it is the cats fault it got pregnant, instead of the owner who never got the cat neutered/spayed. But anyways, my g/f called to ask me if I wanted one. I told her just one and not a male (I'll explain this later), Well it was 10 hrs later, her shift ended and there was 2 kittens left. She didn't want to leave the one by itself and brought it home too. One female and one male, both 6 weeks old (far too young to be taken from their mama) so we decided to keep both until they reached good health and adopt the male out. Why am I hating on the males? Well, I had always heard that they spray all over and are aggressive. Well, after a few weeks and many nights of loving, we decided to keep both. We had both fixed and have never had a problem with either. They cuddle all the time and they are now 2 yrs old. When they were young, they seemed to almost need one another. They would sleep together, play together, bird watch together, it was the cutest thing.

We now have 3 (another stray that knew how to work the "keep me" mojo). We feed them wellness, which is a little pricey and we have 3 cat boxes that we clean every 2 days. It isn't so much time consuming only when we fully strip down the boxes and soak them in cleaner to disinfect. Takes a couple hours to get them all cleaned while still giving them a box to use. What gets pricey is the vet bills. We have used vaccine clinics to save money though and the love and joy they give us far outweighs the cost they incur.

Best luck to you and enjoy the new furbabies.

 

[SueInBoston]

Get two. We had the same concern when we got our cat 6 years ago...and ever since we've wish that we got two. Through the years we want to get another one to keep her company, but now we're afraid that she is so used to being alone that she wouldn't get along with another cat. We're also afraid that because she's a really mellow cat, the new one will run her over...lol.

 

[MichelleVW]

Get two for sure!! We have 4 but we got the first two as kittens together and they are inseparable. Watching kittens play together is the best!


These two are always together....

We've also adopted two stray females in the past year. The boys (above pictured cats) get along with the female we got last year, but there is still much drama over the newest female we took in. Mostly they just stay away from each other for now.

Here's the newest cat looking down on one of the resident cats....I think they both hissed and ran away after this picture was taken!!

So, get two as babies and they should get along just fine!! I say get boys too, but that's just my preference!

 

[taximomfor4]

So, get two as babies and they should get along just fine!! I say get boys too, but that's just my preference!

LOL.I ALWAYS get females. My sister gets males, and they are very affectionate but our of the 5, 2 (even though neutered) have begun spraying and she (with help of the vet) were unable to stop the behavior.

 

[JESW]

Please get two if you can!

Dh & I have been married 22 years and have had 6 cats during that time. Our first two were sisters adopted at the same time and they lived to be 18 & 20. When the first one passed we adopted two more sisters and they are now 3. Just over a year ago we adopted two more - brother & sister. We have adopted these 4 from our local Humane Society so the money we pay for them helps with the cost to run the shelter so we don't mind. The last two had already been "fixed" and the first two we had a voucher to get $$$ off if we went to a certain vet - which we ended up liking and keeping.

We never thought we would get a male since we had heard about the spraying and such too, but I am telling you, he is the biggest love bug around and the one who usually hangs with us.

Good luck with whatever you choose. We love having 4 cats around as there seems to be a cat wherever you go. They don't ALWAYS get along, but neither do our kids!

Jill

 

[puffkin]

Hmmm, that is a tough call. I definietly believe that you should get 2 cats. My main concern with getting two right away is that they will be so attached to each other that they won't bond as easily with you. I prefer my cats to be very affectionate and I handle them a lot. Both mine are lap kitties and I can do pretty much anything to them.

We have adopted both our girls from a rescue/foster organization. Both were older kittens (7-9 months). That way we got a good idea of their personalities and if they were a good fit for our home. Plus, kittens adopt easily. Older kittens and cats, not so much. So we felt we were really helping out. Our first was 5 when we adopted Riley and we had a tough 6 months or so, but now they get along just fine. Both cats are incredibly affectionate to us though, their foster parents were 100% correct in describing their personalities.

In hindsight, I probably would have gotten our first cat and then a second one within a year. That way they would have been closer in age, but still had some seperation. I think the transition would have gone better/faster for us if we hadn't waited so long and the first got entrenched in her ways. I am glad we didn't start out with 2 kittens right away though, because it was an adjustment getting used to just one (and she wasn't even a small kittie, but older around 7 months).

 

[justhat]

We adopted 2 male kittens in October and they LOVE having each other. They were brothers from the same litter and get along great and play with each other all the time. When they are not playing they sleep together. I'm home a lot during the day, but really don't want to sit and play with cats, so having each other to play with is great.

They have incredibly different personalities, but that doesn't affect their relationship at all, nor theirs with us. One kitten likes to be held, sit on laps, sleep near us, etc. He is constantly up for someone to pet him or hold him. He also loves water and likes to drink from the tap and stick his head under the running water. The other cat does not like to be held at all, will allow you to pet him for a brief period before he moves on, likes to sleep alone on a blanket, hates water (like a normal cat), etc. The 'loner' cat is also much easier to groom in terms of trimming his nails, cleaning his ears, etc. The more affectionate cat needs to be restrained in a towel for those activities. So they are truly night and day.


The last cat we had we adopted as a kitten by herself. She was the last kitten left from her litter so we didn't have a choice of a sibling (and we tried her with other kittens in the same shelter but they hissed at each other so we bagged that idea). She was fine, but when we took her to my mom's house, she and my mom's beagle puppy hit it off and played nonstop. So it seemed like she did in fact want a friend as she never stopped playing with that dog but when she was alone in our apt she mostly just slept.


ETA: I wouldn't say the difference in cost between 1 cat and 2 is too significant. The vet bills initially are higher, obviously, as both need vaccinations, dewormings (at least they told us shelter kittens need that), etc. In the beginning we had to take them to the vet frequently for shots, but now that they are 5 months old, we haven't been since they were 4 months and don't need to go back till they are 8 months or so. But the food difference is minimal. Ours share 2 tiny cans of wet kitten food a day and then we fill a bowl with crunchies each day. We have separate bowls for them, but right now they prefer to eat from the same ones so we didn't even need to pay for extra bowls. They also share 1 litter box (which I know can change as they get older, but right now it works) and while we obviously have to clean it more with double the mess, we likely wouldn't leave it more than a couple of days anyway cause it would start to smell.

 

[englishteacha]

We have one kitty. She was a rescue cat, abandoned at a vet's office. My SIL took her in but the other cats in their house did not like her and she was miserable. When DH said I could get a cat (he doesn't like pets much), they offered her to me. She hid for a year, is still afraid of feet (We think she was kicked/stepped on), and now we've had her 7 years she actually will cuddle. In our situation, we won't get another cat because Kitty would NOT tolerate it well. She's finally adjusted here, you know? If we ever get another cat after this one is gone, I'd like a pair of kittens to keep each other company. However, we're gone a lot during the summer, so I don't know if we'd get kitties again. I feel so bad leaving our one cat alone when we're gone, even though we have people to check on her regularly.

 

[kinntj]

Get two. We had the same concern when we got our cat 6 years ago...and ever since we've wish that we got two. Through the years we want to get another one to keep her company, but now we're afraid that she is so used to being alone that she wouldn't get along with another cat. We're also afraid that because she's a really mellow cat, the new one will run her over...lol.

We also started with two. When the older one got cancer, then we were left with our sweet girl. There's no way she would want another cat in the house when she's older. We just had her put down yesterday due to cancer in the mouth. when they were younger they would pounce on each other and play and when they got older, they would lay next to each other. Such a cute sight.

We will be looking for two kittens in the future. We have two dogs who are entering their geriatric years at the same time and the vet bills will get heaftier has they get older.

 

[charming23]

I'd also say get 2 if you can handle it. When our Muffy died 2 years ago we had originally only wanted one but I fell for one at the adoption center and my mom fell for a complete other one. So with them both being females and having been fostered in houses that had more than one cat we got both and they are a joy to have. The love chasing each other and playing. We do get the ocassional drag out fights between the 2 but we also get the rare moments of them curled up together asleep.

 

[torinsmom]

We had always gotten one cat a time until last year. The oldest of our three cats died at the age of 18, we decided to get a kitten. We found one we liked at a local rescue organization(found through petfinder) and went to visit him and his litter mates at the foster home. The foster mommy told us that the 4 kittens were bonded in pairs, and if possible she would love to have them adopted that way. Turns out that the one DS had picked was not the one he liked the most when we got there. So, we ended up with that kitten(Antonio) and the female he was bonded with (Blythe).

I am so glad we got two. They kept each other sane when the other two cats were hissing and smacking them around. They also have more energy than the older cats and keep each other busy. The rescue paid for their first shots and spay/neuter, so that wasn't an expense. I don't do all the vaccines(just rabies) since mine are all indoors and not around other cats who might give them those diseases. Litter isn't that expensive, and neither is food.