Our first ever kitten

[SkyOfficer]

Hi, we've got our first ever pet, a little kitten. Want to make sure am doing the right thing. Our nearest vet is Vet for Pets, luckily they have good reviews. They have a health plan that is £16pm and seems pretty comprehensive so am going to get that.

For ease was looking at their pet insurance too, and I really don't know what kind of cover I should consider. Would appreciate any advice on the below please.

• ongoing care, limited to £4k each year, cost £10.88pm
• ongoing care, limited to £7k per year, cost £12.43pm
• ongoing care, limited to £12k per year, cost £18.27
• short-term cover for 12 months, up to £3k per injury/illness, cost £9.23pm

Each includes £75 excess, dental, and other benefits.

Thank you.

First bit of advice - you’re suppose to get 2 kittens. Other than that I’d say it’s a good deal

Sorry to clarify I’d go option B unless you can afford C

Why two kittens?

It’s better for them. Did you get the kitten from a rescue? They usually explain this

There’s nothing wrong with acquiring a single kitten. We’ve got just the one cat, and he’s as happy a soul as you’re ever likely to meet. Most of the cats I’ve had over the decades have been sole cats and I’ve never for one second thought they needed a second cat in the house. Your cat will be fine, please don’t worry about that.

As for the insurance, I can only offer the observation that it all looks very complicated.

Two are always better.

Am assuming that ongoing care is the same as other companies call lifetime cover? IE - they will continue to cover/payout each year if your cat is diagnosed with an ongoing condition.

If so, I’ve always gone with the “middle” option, which would be the £7k per year one.

Just be aware that most insurers change their policy terms once the cat reaches 10 years. For mine, the insurer then covers 80% of costs and I have to cover the other 20%. This is fairly normal, but worth bearing in mind.

The law is that you have to post a photo of your new kitten
Re insurance, be aware that it increases every year. I've got petplan and it's currently around £25 per month for my perfectly healthy 7 year old cat, who never goes near the vet!

Of course single cats can be happy. Especially once older they often prefer to stay that way. But it is actually better for the cats to get 2, nothing wrong with me letting OP know this while hers is still new and likely small enough to befriend another kitten if she chooses to get one 🙂 most rescues won’t let you adopt a single kitten unless you’ve already got a young cat at home. Plus it’s a great excuse to get another cat!

As kittens they play with each other (constantly) and wear each other out, which does seem to reduce the risk of destructive behaviour and I suspect means they settle more quickly in their new home.
As adults they may or may not be bonded. It's lovely when they are.
We've always had two (or three) kittens at a time 😻.
A photo of your kitten would be greatly appreciated.

It’s a pity this thread has been derailed by the one kitten or two debate but I didn’t like the way OP was receiving negative comments for the blameless act of providing a home for a single kitten. Cats with loving human owners will thrive as the sole cat in the house, they bond with their humans and the notion that they crave a feline companion is anthropomorphic projection. There is an argument that two kittens are less destructive than one but this is not always the case. A friend who acquired two kittens last year felt that, by having a pair, she had experience twice the destructiveness she’d have had with a single kitten. And, as this started as an insurance thread, insuring two cats is going to cost considerably more than it would for one. I’m going to unwatch this thread now as I don’t have anything useful to say about insurance plans, so I’ll just wish OP many happy years with her new kitten and to urge her not to feel bad in any way about getting just one cat.

It’s very hard to give any advice without seeing a picture of the kitten.

As an aside we got our single kitten from Cats Protection as she was getting bullied by her litter mates and they wanted her to go to a quiet adult only household where she would be the focus.

@worrisomeasset
I don't think anyone has criticised the OP for getting one kitten (I certainly hope my post didn't sound like that). Just put the suggestion in place.
I can't comment on insurance either because I don't have it for my cats.

It’s conventional wisdom that in most cases you’re better to get a pair cos they entertain each other and are ostensibly less likely to wreck the place (and are funny AF chasing each other through the house). However, they can lose interest in each other as they reach adulthood - or even appear to dislike and avoid one another - so it’s not like getting two tiny tiggers automatically means they’ll both have a lifelong pal. Also, one cat may die and the survivor may not be of a nature to welcome a new friend. So they end up alone anyway. I wouldn’t worry about it, OP, enjoy your kitten.

We had 4k lifetime cover for our cat having been told that would be plenty for a cat.......it was not (broken leg repair was quoted 4.5k average with emergency vets fees and xrays on top) so I'd recommend at least option B if you can afford it. Fingers crossed you'll never need but we were very glad we did. Plus definitely get ongoing/lifetime care if you get insurance

I knew this thread would be derailed by the two kitten debate - yes, two is generally better but solo kittens are fine too ☺️ we’ve had all sorts of combinations over the years and once they’re adults there was no difference in their behaviour or personality. We currently have three unrelated adult males of varying ages - all came to us as solos.

OP - I would go with the best insurance you can afford, as costs can mount up surprisingly quickly.

When I first got cats £4k a year was plenty, but these days it would be nowhere near enough e.g. an operation for Tobias (too risky really anyway with his FIV) we were recently quoted around £3.5k for the op itself plus a couple of days care at the specialist vet hospital, on top of the amount into 4 figures already spent on the condition, then some follow up appointments.

If you intend to have the cat going outdoors when it's older, I would recommend going for the most cover you can afford. Make sure it's an insurer highly recommended on here too e.g. Tesco & Petplan are both very good and the vet can bill them directly which is a boon for me.

But as people said earlier - we need pics!

@SkyOfficer you really don't need to worry about having got one kitten, instead of two. It doesn't actually matter. Two kittens can entertain each other and be company for each other but single kittens are as equally happy.

Your cat tax is due, though.

I'd go for the most cover & definitely 'ongoing' (assuming that's lifetime, if not look elsewhere).

im sure your solo kitten will be just fine, but I'd need some photos to be absolutely sure.

Eh?

You have to pay cat tax ie post a pic of the kitten x

We have Petplan who are excellent. Our cat developed allergies and we have continuing lifetime care for this - her meds and repeat vet visits for flares and infections are costly but the insurance has paid out without any fuss at all. If your car is going to be outdoors then I’d go for the most comprehensive cover. Ours is outdoor and has had several injuries (mostly inflicted by other cats), her worst one being the leg injury that amounted to almost £1000 following X-rays etc.
now, since I have been more than helpful, I demand payment in the form of photos of your lovely new addition!!

Absolutely agree that we need a pic of the kitten to make an informed choice ☺️
get as many kittens as you can comfortably afford and make you happy. Kittens don’t remain kittens for that long, and two adult cats that love each other and are bonded are joyous, two that don’t bond can be difficult.
id go for option b on the insurance. Does the health plan also cover vaccinations and flea treatment?

Kitten **

Aaah gorgeous 🥰