Looking for a kitten - only seem to come in 2s

[legophoenix]

Hi, my kids are desperate for a kitten and I had it in my head that we just wanted one, but the local shelter seems to specify that the kittens can only go in pairs or to a home that already has a cat or dog.

Anyway we don't have any pets currently so I guess my question is, are two kittens harder work than one? Or would we manage ok with two?

Both DH and I had cats in the past when we were young but just one and it was a looong time ago!

Thanks 😊

A rescue we spoke to actually said they don't always like rehoming in pairs. Cats won't necessarily be best buddies with their siblings so what happens when they've decided they actually don't want to be around each other?

yep. I rehomed a pair of kittens on advice of a rescue and ended up having to rehome one a few years later.

while they did all the cute cuddling up and playing, they also started with territorial spraying and other behaviours. We tried everything over 2 years and nothing worked. Once we split them they were both so much happier.

I’d never risk getting more than one again.

i do think it depends on your space, we were inner city, small house, and all our neighbours had two cats. There were just too many cats and they couldn’t get any space.

i had to go to a small independent rescue for our last cat as so many would only home in pairs, they refused to rehome a single cat. The cat we’ve got now hates other cats so it was a stipulation he was an only cat.

Well I'm amazed that CP stated that as the reason. As I said, if we were prepared to home singly we would home more kittens more quickly as that is what so many people ask for

so why refuse to home singly then? Yes kittens do better but if cats as adults are fine as singles why “waste” all these good homes insisting on cats going in pairs?

if kittens are going to sit in rescue longer waiting for paired homes, why not rehome them singly when they’re older?

i didn’t want kittens, but was still told it was two cats or none. I chose none. Seems a strange policy to me.

@Notanotherusername4321 I agree. Especially now with the cost of living, many people looking to rehome will only be able to afford one.

I always see people saying you need two. I had a pair of sisters years ago, and they hated each other!

Wouldn’t go near each other. We had to feed separately and everything

But it's not just about what people can or can't afford - rescues also need to take the welfare needs of the cat(s) into account as well. Nobody can predict whether 10 week old siblings will get along in three years time, but as they get along and hate being separated in the present, then it makes logical sense to keep them together.

Yes, it's unfortunate if one then needs to be re-homed in several years time, but solo kittens/cats have behavioural issues and get re-homed too, so it's just the luck of the draw either way.

At the end of the day, rescue centres aren't over-flowing because people don't want two kittens, they're over-flowing because people don't spay and neuter their pets.

Me too. And I've got a cat allergy 😂

We have a very loved elderly boy aged 14.
He needs medicine for arthritis.
He has the best pet insurance that is not capped.
He likes the very best wet food and has always had Hills Dry food on the advice of a vet.

Insurance: £960 per annum, food: £600 per annum, cat sitting £1050 per annum, meds: £600 per annum (get 80% back), vaccs £55 per annum; flea and wormer £150 per annum, annual bloods, health check £300 per annum (get 80% back).

Cost of one well looked after cat is about £3k per annum. We have broken just less than even on insurance: lost a bit of his tail as a kitten £900, ate something very nasty at about 2.5 £2,200, ate lillies aged 7 £1.5k.

Double it for two.

Kittens do best in pairs, occasionally they will have older kittens who for whatever reason do better as singles. Adult cats join the household best as singles unless already in a bonded group. This is "in general", take the refuge advice for specific cats.

You are sensible to consider running cost. If one is affordable but not two then go for a young adult or possibly a lone older kitten.

@RosesAndHellebores sorry was meaning to follow on from your post - not quote it. I must have clicked the wrong dots.

Exactly what @thelobsterquadrille said. Thank you for saving me the trouble of writing the same thing.

@Notanotherusername4321 surely you were given the option of a single adult?

Aww all these kittens and cats sound adorable.

Would love to see some more pics 😊

Hmmm - while I agree animals are expensive, not all of the costs you listed are necessities so I don't really think it's fair to say cats cost 3k per year each.

Insurance - yes, essential. I pay £200/year for three at the moment. Of course that will rise as they get older.
Food - doesn't have to cost £600 per year per cat. I feed three cats for £70 a month (£840 per year) and that includes prescription food for one of them. Before he needed prescription food it was about £40 per month as we buy in bulk.
Mine aren't vacced, flea'd or wormed as they're indoor cats. It's necessary if you're going to use a cattery though.
Why do you need to pay for annual blood tests - is that connected to his arthritis or medication? Never heard of that before.
Pet sitting - family feed our cats when we're away, so again, not something everyone has to consider when wondering if they can afford a cat.

I'm not trying to be awkward here but a fair few of your costs are optional and/or personal choice.

Mine don't cost me anywhere near £3k per year. On top of food and insurance they don't really cost me anything.

You can get multi pet insurance insurance too

Yes - insuring two cats isn't just double the cost of insuring one.

surely you were given the option of a single adult?

nope. Only rehome in pairs.

@thelobsterquadrille yes, I agree, he could be cheaper. The annual bloods are necessary because of the medicine for his arthritis; similar to methotrexate for adults. We don't have anyone to feed him when we are away and have someone visit twice a day (they also keep an eye on the house). He needs fleaing and worming because he is very much an outdoor cat.

I am not defending the fact that he is a little spoilt. OTH we like nice food so why shouldn't he have it too.

@thelobsterquadrille yes of course rescues are overflowing as too many people don't neuter their cats and dogs but that's preventative and a whole other thread, not what's been discussed here.

I foster for a small local rescue. We generally only rehome younger kittens in pairs because, like others have said, they keep each other company, play and sleep together. It's an important part of their development. You only have to watch them all together to see how much they get out of being with at least one sibling.

If you only want one cat, you can get an older kitten (over about 5/6 months old) or a young adult cat.

But your arguments still aren't making sense to me.

Rescues have an obligation, first and foremost, to animal welfare. They're going to do what's best for the cats long-term, even if that means they stay in rescue a little bit longer so they're not split up from their siblings. Much better to have a secure kitten going home solo at 16 weeks than an insecure, under-socialised kitten going home solo at 8-10 weeks.

Ultimately if someone can only afford one cat (which is totally fair enough), they're better off looking at teenage cats or adults who need to live alone. You can't just decide you only want one kitten and expect the rescue to give you one regardless of anything else.

@thelobsterquadrille if that's the case why don't they do that with puppies? It's never mandatory to rehome puppies in pairs? Puppies and most dogs bar a few breed exceptions love been with other dogs as pack animals. Your suggestion that cats need to be rehomed in pairs due to trauma of separating from litter mates/ mother would equally apply to puppies, but it doesn't. Puppies get separated and rehomed individually.

Because puppies raised in pairs often suffer with littermate syndrome.

betternaturedogtraining.com/2013/07/18/littermate-syndrome/

@thelobsterquadrille most of the socialisation takes place before 16 weeks so surely it's better to have a kitten at home where it gets use to domestic life with noisy kids, vacuums, cars, washing machine etc. rather than decline a prospective home to a cat as they don't want a pair.

Kittens can be well-socialised in shelters or in foster homes. They don't need to be with their "forever family" to receive adequate socialisation.