We have decided we need to expand our family. We already have 1 older female cat named Pooch, who at 10 years old is pretty calm if a bit grumpy. We are moving soon and want to get at least one kitten to sweeten the deal for our 7 year old daughter.
Anyway…
We are trying to decide if we should get one kitten or two. I’m leaning towards two; that way the kittens will play with/harrass each other instead of Pooch. On the other hand 2 kittens sounds like a whole lot of mischief.
Thoughts?
Also, for extra credit: I already know that moving isn’t the best time to introduce a new kitten and Pooch will no doubt be royally pissed off, but we can’t go back on our promise to the girl. Do you think should we have the kitten(s) all over the house before we bring Pooch over and put her in one room, or let Pooch establish herself all over the new house first for a few days and then let the kittens out of their one room?
TIA
Get a couple of cellmates so they’re already used to each other. That’s one less feline stress point.
I would give your adult cat the run of the place for a while so he gets settled in and calmed down. Have his food and litter tray and whatnot in one room to start so he’s got a “home base”. Then when you get the kittens, have them start out in a different room so they aren’t intruding on the adult’s space. Introduce them gradually (sniffing under the door, put them into one room for supervised meetings, etc) and eventually let them roam free. I imagine they’ll spend a lot of time playing with each other and less time harassing your other cat that way and eventually they’ll sort out territory between the three of them.
I have always heard two cats are actually less work than one - the kittens will pester each other constantly instead of you and Pooch. You’ll have to let us know how that works out. 
If you are getting one, you may as well get two.
When our old boy died, we got a new kitten. He mercilessly tormented our remaining 10-year-old grumpy old lady. We went back to the shelter and got a second kitten. They tormented each other and left the old lady alone (for the most part).
Harmony and peace restored.
This. I have had, on two occasions, a kitten along with an older cat. The kitten will tease the hell out of the cat . . . like attacking its tail until it’s bald. The kitten will jut be a huge annoyance to the cat, and they’ll never bond.
And let the older cat get used to the new place before bringing in the kittens. It’s all about territory.
Pictures! We need kitty pictures!
Get two. In '08, we got our KidUnit two littermates named Thor and Loki who are still our delight (our one-year-older cat, Queequeg, likes them a lot too). VERY entertaining for the better part of almost two years so far.
Two, it will help prevent dominance issues with the older cat.
We got two kittens in October. They aren’t litter-mates, but they think they are. They play constantly, chase each other and wrestle. They are so cute and so much more fun than getting only one.
Get two!
ONE kitten is a whole lot of mischief. Two kittens are actually less trouble than one kitten, because they will pounce on and wrestle with each other, instead of constantly harassing Pooch and the humans. They WILL try to play with Pooch and the humans, don’t get me wrong, but they will burn off a lot of excess energy by playing with each other.
The very best toy for a kitten is another kitten. After that, the best toy is a cardboard box, preferably with kitten leg sized holes in it. As the kitten gets bigger, the holes will probably get bigger on their own, and if they don’t, you can enlarge them.
One of my old coworkers had 8 adult cats and 3 kittens.
The kittens mostly played with each other or hid in the slippers I had left over there when her boiler broke.
A few of the older cats were way more trouble than the kittens.
Definitely get 2. Or 3:D
Thanks for the replies…two kittens it is!
I’m so excited, it has been a long time since I had a kitten - Pooch was adopted as a young adult.
I will of course share photos, as soon as we get 'em. Now, I’m off to think of names…
YAY! Kittens get a home! Kittens are one of life’s real pleasures, I watch kitties on the youtubes for a boost to the spirit. ( I just WISH I could have two kittens, but they’ll have to wait a bit till I become a weird old Cat Lady.)