The most frequently asked question of the past year was: one or two kittens?
This question also preceded questions about feeding and vaccinations. For this reason, I thought I would write down my professional opinion on whether I recommend buying one or two cats.
And last week, one of my subscribers asked me to convince her son with reason why it’s not a good idea for a novice cat owner to buy two cats at once. Mum’s out of arguments, and of course the kid won’t believe her anyway… 🙂
The short answer is very simple:
Your son is right!
No argument against buying two kittens!
However, there is an argument that is understandable in the case of Birman cats, and I write it at the beginning of the article.
This is the price of a Birman kitten.
The Birman kitten is not cheap, and it is not on sale.
At least not for me. This article is not about price training. Therefore, I would just note that if someone is offering you a quality pedigree pet at a good price, you should be suspicious. At the current cost, this is not feasible.
That concludes the only objection.
Let’s see why buying two kittens is better and why you can safely recommend it:
I am writing about Birman cats first, as I only deal with this breed.
The Birman kitten is a very social creature. He does not like to be alone. He wants human love first and foremost.
Very important: Nothing and no one can replace human love and care!
So the fear that buying two kittens will turn the owner into a “feeding machine” is unfounded, as one of my subscribers put it.
Two kittens get along very well. It is also much easier for them to change families and become completely united in a seamless, harmonious relationship. They also find it more pleasant when the family is away. For the cats it is definitely a positive decision.
I would also recommend adopting a second kitten if the existing kitten is older and or not Birman. In this case, the experience is also incredibly good. Without exception, Birman kittens love and accept other kittens. Unfortunately, in a very small percentage of cases, there were cases where the other cat, byn domestic cat did not accept the Birman cat, or accepted it with great difficulty. This is no more than about 1-5%. According to the owners, it wasn’t the Birman kitten’s fault.
But the truth is that more than half of my customers take two Birman cats. Whereas in the past, people tended to come back for a second kitten within 1-2 years, it is now more common to bring two at the same time.
The choice of two cats can only be beneficial for the owners. After all, the two kittens are more likely to play with each other than to destroy the house or furniture. Some people are a bit too attached to their kittens at first, because when they get a new owner, the owner becomes everything. The host will be mum, bro, host…. Keeping the kitten buddy makes things a little easier for the owner.
I also encountered a quite extreme case last month. I was contacted by a buyer from Austria because the Austrian breeder refused to give him 1 kitten unless he bought another one, and the colleague had no more kittens available…. For me, this is a gross exaggeration, but we are not all the same.
Of course, I am sure that many of our cats live full and happy lives as only cats with their families. No one should feel guilty about having a kitten. In my opinion, this is a very strong exaggeration and misrepresentation of things, and/or just a business gimmick.
Rather, I would just like to confirm and encourage those owners who are thinking about having one or two kittens.
Go for it, two kittens are a better choice than one!
They are good for their cats and themselves, whether they choose to have two cats at the same time or a few years later. 🙂
To sum up my opinion:
My professional and personal opinion is that I highly recommend keeping two kittens together, whether you choose two kittens at the same time, which significantly reduces the stress factor of changing the kittens’ families, or you choose a Birman companion for your kitten later.
The only drawback is the price of the Birman kitten.
I don’t usually refer to other people’s articles, but this is what I’m doing now, and I’m deliberately not referring to a breeder, but to the professional opinion of a shelter: https://www.azenmacskam.hu/elet/6-ok-amiert-erdemes-ket-cicat-tartanod/
