1 or 2 kittens as company for older cat?

[Rainyrunway]

We sadly lost our boy cat to an RTA at the weekend. We are all devastated but girl cat seems to be really distressed. She keeps wandering around yowling and is really clingy and following me everywhere. We want to get another kitten for us and for her at the end of the summer but wondered whether it would be better to get 1 or 2 kittens? Thinking that while resident cat will like the company 1 kitten might be a bit annoying for her, wanted to play all the time, jumping on her etc so 2 might keep each other entertained. But is that a bad idea? 3s a crowd? She is 3.5 years old. We could get an adult cat but thought she'd probably find that harder to accept than a kitten (or 2) can I please hear others experiences on this? Or your thoughts? Thank you

Personally I think one. Its very difficult for an established cat to get used to a sudden influx of kittens.
I have a 12 year old cat who just slept all day before I got my kitten but now after a period of adjustment she chases the kitten round all day and they have a great time playing together. She has a total new lease of life.

I'd go for 1. Our girl cat was younger than yours but loves our second cat (was a kitten when got) but I don't think she'd have managed with two!

Definitely just one, if any. Cats are naturally solitary animals. Obviously there are exceptions though!

I'd agree with this!

I’ll go against the grain here and say that we were in a similar situation and got two kittens. It was a bit intense to start with (kittens are FULL ON) but now they’re all best buddies. The fact that there were two of them meant that our older cat wasn’t being relied on for all of the affection and attention and gave him the space to get used to them. Now we regularly find all three of them curled up together (sometimes spooning in size order 🤣) and the older cat is now chief groomer.

We’ve said now that we’d never get a single kitten again.

I’m so sorry that you’ve lost your cat. It must be so upsetting for you.

I would get two, we did similar a year ago. Initially my 3 year old cat was horrified but after a week he was fine. I kept him in for three weeks to make sure he didn’t move out. Now the older cat and one of the kittens are best friends and the other (who is a bit of a knob) is the one left out.

We got one kitten for our older cat and she did drive him pretty mad with the constant playing but it also brought out big cats playful side which was lovely to watch. I’m not sure he could have coped with 2 kittens!

On the contrary, cats aren't actually particularly solitary - which is why they form colonies when left in their feral state.

Most issues come about when cats are kept in small indoor spaces, and are then forced to share that space with others not of their choosing.

OP - it's entirely up to you. We have three unrelated cats who get on fantastically and I'm a big advocate for multi-cat households as long as your have the space and resources for everyone.

Thanks everyone. Even though we're not looking to re-home any cats until after our summer holiday I did just call a rescue centre for advice. Their recommendation was that 2 kittens would be easier for current cat as she can join in with play or not as she likes. Also she can escape them by going outside if they get too much for her (as obviously they can't go out until they've been fixed) Apparently we should make sure 1 or both kittens is male as she would feel less competitive then.

We got two kittens and our older cat loathed them. She finally came to tolerate the other girl cat (after years), but even then wasn't fussed. She'd have much preferred to have been an only cat.

We tried getting a male kitten with our old lady. It rendered her and us miserable, the only thing that would have been worse was returning two kittens to the rescue. I would never disrupt an existing cat again. It was a huge mistake.

Am so sorry for the loss of your cat.

Am going to go slightly against the grain here. Maybe hold fire and see how things are after your holiday before looking to make a decision.

When I lost my boy, his younger brother was out of sorts for a bit. Not necessarily distressed, but he was definitely confused. He has now come into his own, is more content at being snuggled up close to me etc. He has settled into his own pattern/rhythm.

I REALLY miss having two cats. But my remaining boy is so settled and content, so have made the decision that I don’t want to risk disrupting his life. He’s adjusted, he’s happy and he deserves to stay like that for the remainder.

Luckily, he has no idea that I live vicariously through threads on here re new kittens etc!