Apparently, kittens are such fragile and needy creatures that they must, at all costs, be adopted in pairs.
I’ve been looking to adopt, but most of the shelters I’ve communicated with, and most of the people placing ads in the paper, are insistent on my taking two kittens. Or none at all. This surprises me. Isn’t the point to adopt them so they have homes? I had a cat back home in Montreal. He was the only cat in the home, and he was a happy and well-adjusted beastie. We were gone all day, to work and school, but he either found ways to amuse himself or slept all day. It’s what cats do.
Is this a new thing? A gimmick by the adoption places to try and unload more kittens on people and empty the shelters faster? Or was I a horrible, cruel person to leave my kitten all alone at home while he was growing up? I’m fairly sure he was eating, sleeping, and licking his butt, but maybe he was staring out the window and crying desperately all day.
If I have to, I’ll just get my boyfriend to say he’s the one adopting the kitten, into his already-two-cat home. I feel bad lying to them, but really, I just want one cat!
I had the same problem the last time I wanted to adopt a cat from a shelter (13 years ago now). They were insistent that kittens need attention 24/7, so the only way they would make an exception to the 2-Kitten Rule was if I was going to be home all day to play with it. Ummmm, no, I have to work to feed the kitten, not to mention myself.
I ended up at a pet shop, as much as I hated the idea. You could try the city pound, though - they tend to be much less strict.
ETA: P.S. My kitten grew up into a large, healthy, extremely affectionate, reasonably well-adjusted cat.
Or you could lie to them. When I adopted my dog, the animal shelter insisted I must have an eight-foot fence or they would not allow me to adopt her. I gave the right answer, they gave me the dog. (It’s been six years and my dog has never once tried to jump the four-foot fence.)
The idea is that the cats might play well together, so that they’re not alone. I generally get mine mine in pairs, and they do generally do better when they’ve got convenient targets available 24/7.
The problem is, I can’t get two kittens. I have to add $25 to my rent each month for “pet rent”, and that’s per pet. Also, I may end up moving back home at some point, if things don’t work out here, or moving in with my boyfriend, if things do work out, and I don’t want to have two cats to worry about. One, I can handle.
I’ll probably end up going to the county’s Animal Control to see if I can find a kitten there. I would have preferred to adopt a kitten from foster care, or a smaller shelter, so I can get one who’s grown up with people around. I’m a little worried about getting a cat that’s been neglected or abused, and I feel (possibly wrongly) that a cat from the pound will be less friendly and affectionate.
Anyone in the Baltimore/DC area have a kitten to spare?
Does it have to be a kitten? A lot of the cat rescue organizations have adult to mature cats, and they’ll often specify if the cat needs to be an “only” cat (something that might not be determinable when still a kitten).
In any case, try Petfinder, as they’ll be most likely to have links to local organizations who could help you. They have lots of kittens as well as adult cats.
I’d prefer a kitten. I’m homesick and lonely and spend my evenings at home, and I want a playful ball of fur to make me smile a little. I know it’s probably silly, and I suppose I might take home an adult cat from the shelter if one steals my heart, but my preference right now is for a kitten.
I just got done dealing with rescue agencies for a dog. I did end up with a rescue dog, but my first two contacts convinced me that these people were not interested in finding homes for dogs, they were interested in judging you. There was the fence thing. There was the home all day thing. There was the “we have children” thing. And when I admitted (bad me) that I would return a dog that showed agression around my children, that was the kiss of death. All the reasons I couldn’t adopt a dog, while simultanously telling me via their website how horrible pet store puppies and puppy mills were and how I shouldn’t think about adopting from a cruel kill shelter or adopt a purebred from a breeder when there were all these needy dogs - that needed homes, that had been in foster care for weeks and were oh-so-loveable and ready for a forever home. I adopted a child and I was less judged during the process than I was trying to adopt a DOG.
This is exactly what I thought about the shelter that wanted me to agree to a certain number of unannounced home visits so they could check on the welfare of the dog. Um, no. ISTM that a pet would be better off in a good permanent home, than living in a shelter, or temp family, on the off chance that someone who can provide a fantastic home will show up.
That’s the kind of thing that drives people to pet stores.
Bingo! While each case is certainly unique, my Mom did the two kitten thing in '88. One was a happy, affectionate, playful goofball who liked everyone; the other a sulky asshole, who hated everyone except my Mom. And that hate included his brother.
After the happy one (“Fritz”) died early from that feline leukemia thing, my Mom gave up the asshole (“Sandy”) to my sister, who’s the Dr. Doolittle of our family; she really missed her calling by not becoming a vet or animal trainer, as she was the only one that ever got the asshole cat to behave somewhat civilized towards other animals and people.
Of course, asshole had to learn to get along in a house with two other cats, a dog, a rat, and a hedgehog.
The best toy for a kitten is another kitten. In all my years of cat keeping, cats DO seem to do a lot better in pairs. Even a cat who has adjusted to being an only cat (when one of a pair dies, for instance) will perk up and be much happier when another cat comes into the household.
I second the notion of checking around for an adult cat. I adore kittens, but my current cat is one I adopted as a young adult, only a year old. She still had quite a bit of kitten playfulness, and she’s the most loving cat ever. An adult cat has the advantage of usually having a bit more sense than a kitten, and probably being less destructive. Adult cats can be very playful, just not as manic as kittens. My cat does share the household with a couple of other cats, and she enjoys their company.
Nunavut Girl and I adopted a kitten last summer who, after the first 4 months, turned out to be an asshole. Also, because I was at home for two months with a broken foot (don’t ask) while he was a kitten, he only likes me. As he was growing up, he would do crazy shit like hide under the couch and swipe at people’s feet, swipe at people who picked him up, bite you when you’re sleeping, etc, etc. Later, when Nunavut Girl realized this cat would never like her, she wanted another kitten who would. We got another kitten (this time, a girl) who has a much better temperament. The other cat is also much better behaved now; I think he was bored before. He no longer swipes at anyone and doesn’t mind when people pick him up and squish him. They chase each other around all night and then sleep all over each other, like 5 times a day. Getting another cat has made the jerk cat much more tolerable to everyone (except me, he always liked me).
I really think that a kitten should not be alone all day.
So yes, I agree with the shelter.
An adult cat can do fine by itself, but a growing kitten needs to have company.
Someone I know has one cat. She used to have two, littermates, adopted as kittens, neutered as kittens. And then one day, when the cats were about two years old, the boy cat got “March Madness” or “Spring Fever” and decided he needed to mate with the girl cat. She lived on top of the kitchen cabinets for a few weeks, and then recieved a new home with someone’s mom.
In general, I think there are advantages to having two kittens at once, but I’m not sure that the advantages outway the disadvantages.
Coincidentally, I was looking last night at the Anne Arundel County SPCA’s website, and noticed the same thing. For cats under a year old, the vast majority are paired, some with “I would like to go home with my sister/friend cat also on the page,” and some “I must go home with this other cat.” That comment started disappearing as the cats got to be one and two years old, but I too would like a kitten and really don’t have the space for more than one (small townhouse where, it so happens, I do often work from home).
My old cat was adopted alone as a kitten. He was a happy, very social, and playful cat. Since he was raised with humans only, he had no interest in other animals, he loved, loved, LOVED humans and my friends loved him because he would hug you.
He had lots of toys to keep him busy dring the day, and certainly didn’t seem to suffer at all from growing up and “only child”.
Ther personality differences between Lenny and Squiggy are the same. Lenny, was brought into my home as an only kitten. He loves, loves, LOVES humans, and generally behaves like a dog. He fetches a ball, learned stupid tricks like “beg” and “speak” and is generally a laugh-riot who loves to perform for visitors (he will spontaneously start doing his stupid tricks when guests are over).
Squiggy was a feral cat, rasied in the company of his siblings. He is your typical, aloof cat. He’s very sweet and likes to be a lap cat, but he considers himself a “cat”, and you are the “human”. The social order of cats is what he knows and understands. You are not his family. Other cats = family or foe, humans = friend and food source.
BUT Squiggy is half of Lenny’s age. Once I got Squiggy, Lenny’s had quite a life change. He
is generally a lot more active and you’d swear he was a much younger animal than he is. It’s like Squiggy keeps him young because he has to keep up.
IMO, a lot depends on how much time the kitten/cat will be spending alone. If you are at work all day and go out at night, the kitten will be lonely. Lonely kitten can equal destructive kitten.
Have you checked around with local veterinarians? A lot of them will have kittens for adoption. If you can get a bottle-raised kitten go for it! They are weird - my vet says it’s because they don’t know they are cats - but wonderfully sweet and very imprinted on humans.
Also check the local newpaper - it’s going into “kitten season” and the idiots who haven’t spayed their females will be looking to give away kittens. If you get a newpaper kitten take him/her to the vet immediately - they will have worms and may have other illnesses. Owners who don’t spay aren’t usually worried about pre-natal care for the queen.
SCL - who has 4 bottle raised cats in her herd of 9 cats.
I’m not exactly in the Baltimore/DC area, but if you’re interested in making a little road trip to western Maryland, I have a friend who’s looking to get rid of some kittens. She found them, and didn’t have the heart to just leave them outside to fend for themselves, so she took them home. But she has no interest in keeping them! (I’d take one of them myself if I could be sure of getting one I’m not allergic to).
