Kitten or mother?

[wowfudge]

We have friends who took in a pregnant stray. She had a litter of four and we've said we'd like to give the calico a home when the time is right - our last cat was pts after what the vet thought was a major stroke about three years ago.

We're now considering whether to have mum or another kitten too. I understand a male kitten and mum might not be a good idea, but is there any reason not have mum with a female kitten?

They don't always get on when kitten grows up. My friend had mum and female kitten and they fought like mad.

You'd be brave taking on 2 torties though. I have one and she's a handful as it is! Even the vet calls her a naughty tortie!

There is no reason you shouldn't have the mum plus a boy kitten. The chances are they will get on. Of course you never know, but it is likely they will, and it's awful to take a mum away from all her kittens.

If you have any of these cats please grt them neutered

Boy cats when neutered a lovely softies, mostly! I don’t think you’d have any problems with Mum and a boy. (Both sorted/neutered!) Mum will remind him of his place either way.

We had a mum and kitten (female), got on fine, slept together everyone, one round ball next to another and went everywhere together. The kitten starting spraying all the kids things when they were babies but she didn't seem to fall out with Mum but our kids. We got her rehomed to a friend and the friend got another cat too as she said the kitten was lonely (Mum seemed fine if confused) but we were told often mother / daughter do fall out when mother decides its time daughter left home. We didn't have this at all, more the kitten thought the babies should leave home

Most of the time there isn't any problem keeping either sex of kitten with their mum, but occasionally there can be trouble when the mum tries to run the kitten out of her territory when it reaches maturity. However, I think this is even less likely to happen in your case as they'll both be introduced to their new territory (your house) at the same time, so the mother shouldn't feel as territorial as she would somewhere she lived before having the kittens.

Having said that, I would take the mum and a male kitten, but I'm biased as I have 2 male cats and they are both big, fluffy, soppy, cuddle monsters, especially my ragdoll.

Thanks all. @LEMtheoriginal neutering is top of the list of things to do and one of the reasons I suggested to DP that we have mum. I suspect she's quite young - mainly tabby with a couple of tortie belly patches. Looking forward to having cats again.

Sometimes there is a more natural bonded pair you can see among the kittens, or mum will seem more bonded with one kitten in particular. Then it makes sense to choose based on that.

In general either a mum/kitten pairing or two kittens is great - obviously a mixed sex pairing needs to be neutered as early as possible and all need to be neutered before they go out. Sometimes they won't get along as adults but you can help them by doing what is recommended for multicat households anyway - providing enough resources for both/all cats to prevent territorial disputes over feeding areas, litter boxes, cat trees etc.

Actually, I think if you are concerned that the kittens might not end up in the best homes then it would be better to take a female, as at least that way there will be one less potentially unneutered female out in the world.

We got a Mum and her male kitten from Cats Protection about 18 months ago. She was a year and he was 5 months.

Initially they were very close but as the Boy got older they kind of divided the house up, they still hang out together but both have found different places to sleep and spend the day. They do buddy up if they're threatened by, for example, another Cat in the garden (or when the window cleaner comes - Boy Cat still runs to Mummy then!) or if a pigeon is daft enough to sit on the fence for long enough.

They are really lovely, Boy Cat is definitely a daft softy - Mum a bit more aloof but still seems happy!