Cats should go home in pairs!
Two litter mates snuggling
As the adoption coordinator, I love to see our cats go to their forever homes in pairs. This is a great idea for several reasons:
- Many of the cats in our care are litter mates. Siblings are often bonded to each other and make great companions because they play together, comfort each other, etc. This also promotes healthy social development.
- Other cats in our program who are not litter mates have made bonds of friendship and seem to be inseparable.
- Even if the owner is a wonderful person, the best companion for a cat is another cat. The cats can keep each other company when there is no one home, or at night when they are feeling playful. Cats are social creatures and typically do better when there is another cat in the house.
- Cats who get bored can cause trouble and will sometimes be destructive. A friend or sibling to play with them will usually prevent this.
- Adopting two bonded cats is better than trying to adopt a single cat when there is already a cat at home. Chances are that relationship may not work, especially if trying to introduce a young cat to an older cat at home. It is far better to get two cats at the same time who are known to get along.
If you are considering adopting a feline companion, please consider taking two. They will be happier with a companion, and their relationship creates a better environment for the cats and for the owner.
- Happy siblings
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
This is totally true! When I lived at home with my parents, we adopted 2 kittens from the same litter and they got along great and were very social. 2 years later we adopted 2 more kittens, both from their own litter. All of the socialness we saw the original 2 gain those 2 years completely vanished. The original two split off from each other, the new 2 were frightened because the original two would hiss at them and chase them. Now, since I’ve moved out, I took my cat (one of the original two) and she is very happy on her own, but i can tell she is so lonely. however, there’s no easy solution because if i get another cat she will flip out and get mad and be anti-social again….very good advice in this blog post.
This is SO true. We” adopted” a stray two yrs. ago. Found out she was only 5 mos. old.
She was friendly, but still skiddes. A year ago last April. One of our Feral cats had babies. Three. She took Two, left one. So you know what happened. We took it in
bottle fed it, etc. These two cats are buddies. It was the best thing for both of them.
Our first cat, Ki-Ki is so much more happy, and now gets on our laps. Where she
never would before. And our new addition; Jordan is the most love able cat I’ve ever
seen. We are the only ”parents” she knows. They both play, and play together.
Two cats are most definitely better then one.
I agree that it’s best to adopt two (or three!) cats together. I adopted a kitten (Masha) in 1987 and then got another kitten (Misha) in 1993, hoping he could be a playmate for her. Misha adored Masha and spent his entire life trying to win her over, but she wanted nothing to do with him. It was kind of heartbreaking… Eventually she came to tolerate him, but they never played together, let alone snuggled up with each other.
They both died in 2002, and I adopted an adult cat (Lyosha) later that year. Because of issues with my landlord, I couldn’t adopt a playmate for him, but I often took him with me to my parents’ house, where he had a great time playing with their two cats. Like Misha, Lyosha was a pure white cat and extremely sweet and loving. And also like Misha, he contracted heart disease. He passed away on July 7, 2009.
I had already decided I was going to adopt two cats when I was ready, and I asked my angels Lyosha and Misha to choose them for me. I told them I wanted two white males in their honor, and they outdid themselves: they sent me three! Within days of Lyosha’s passing, the owner of the Ohio shelter that rescued him contacted me in Minnesota and told me about 3 newborn white males who’d been found in a parking lot, barely clinging to life. She felt this discovery was more than a coincidence, and 10 weeks later a volunteer drove the kittens, whom I’d named Kisa, Kotya and Sasha (yes, I have a thing for Russian names!) all the way from Columbus to Minneapolis.
Like Misha and Lyosha, Kisa, Kotya and Sasha are exceptionally friendly and good-natured cats, and they absolutely ADORE one another! They play together, wrestling or chasing one another around the apartment, and when they calm down they curl up together and groom one another. It’s the sweetest thing! Sometimes I’ll wake up to find all 3 of them sleeping on my legs; I’m pinned down in a 30-pound sea of white fur! What’s most heartwarming, though, is the way Kisa and Kotya interact with Sasha, who is completely deaf. Kisa, especially, seems to go out of his way to spend time with Sasha and snuggle up with him. Sasha is a very happy, affectionate and absolutely fearless little cat – in large part, I’m sure, because he has his siblings with him. And Kisa and Kotya are just the best of buddies.
I am so thankful for these 3 delightful cats, who can always make me laugh, and I’m so happy that they’re able to spend their lives together. I can’t imagine splitting them up. I definitely encourage everyone who’s considering adopting a kitten or cat to adopt two. And if the entire litter is three, think about taking all of them.