# Thinking about getting a kitty... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 19, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-about-getting-a-kitty/666665 "2013-08-19T21:46:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-about-getting-a-kitty/666665/21 "2013-08-21T12:28:12Z")
My cat was a single cat his whole life, and was very social and well-adjusted, not neurotic. I also met people who got a second cat to keep the first one company, and those two cats hated each other for their entire lives…not a good thing for either of them. I have met other cats in multiple cat households that clearly wanted to be only cats. Cats, like people, have different personalities. Some need more company from their own species than others. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-about-getting-a-kitty/666665/22 "2013-08-21T13:01:43Z")
Some of it depends on how much time you’ll have for the cat. If you work at home, or rarely travel/go out other than to work, one cat should probably be fine. Two is helpful if you work long hours and/or do a lot of travel and social things away from home. I happen to think multiples are more fun all around. That may be why I have 8… ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-about-getting-a-kitty/666665/23 "2013-08-21T21:04:16Z")
> [@amaguri](#): > > So I perused the local shelter. They have signs all over the place that recommend getting two kitties or else your cat will grow up to be an anti-social weirdo. > > I know the shelter’s goal is to find homes for as many animals as possible, but how true is this? I don’t know if I could handle two cats, but I don’t want to provide a home for just one cat if that cat will end up being lonely and sad. > > What say you? Depends on the cat(s) involved. Our previous cat absolutely hated other cats, and would NOT have accepted a sibling. At least not a feline one. He got along fine with our bird when she joined the family, and loved dogs. I’m not sure if our current cat just hates other cats, or simply doesn’t know how to deal with young kittens. We briefly had a roughly 5-week-old houseguest for a few days, until we could find her a foster home via the local shelter, and Allie spent most of that time hiding. The one time she actually met the kitten, LOUD hiss and she bolted. Seemed to actually be afraid of the little one. TL,DR version: some cats like having other cats around, others really don’t and are quite content being only kitties. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-about-getting-a-kitty/666665/24 "2013-08-21T21:48:59Z")
I’ve owned several cats in my life, usually more than one at time. With only a single exception, they’ve all preferred to avoid other feline company as much as possible. As long as you have time to give them the required attention, I’m pretty sure they’re happy solo (on average, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-about-getting-a-kitty/666665/25 "2013-08-21T22:18:49Z")
I have two cats, and they probably spend MAYBE an hour a day together playing. Rest of the time, daughter’s cat hangs with daughter in her room and my cat hangs in the living room during the day and sleeps with me at night. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-about-getting-a-kitty/666665/26 "2013-08-22T12:09:29Z")
> [@amaguri](#): > > So I perused the local shelter. They have signs all over the place that recommend getting two kitties or else your cat will grow up to be an anti-social weirdo. > > I know the shelter’s goal is to find homes for as many animals as possible, but how true is this? I don’t know if I could handle two cats, but I don’t want to provide a home for just one cat if that cat will end up being lonely and sad. > > What say you? If they had _insisted_ (and not just in the case of a pair of cats that had been together and had to be adopted as a package deal) I would have thought they were going overboard, but as a recommendation, I agree with it. I’m not sure why you couldn’t handle two cats if you could handle one; in some ways, two are easier, since you don’t have to be their sole source of play and attention. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-about-getting-a-kitty/666665.md?page=1)