Should I get another kitten for my current kitten?

ct970

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Hi. I'm just here to get some general opinions on what I should do. I got an 11 week old kitten with my boyfriend 5 weeks ago from the local shelter, he is now 4 months old. When we got him, he was underweight and suffering with coccidia and wasn't doing very well and was really bad off to the point where neither we nor the vet knew if he was gonna make it. Thankfully after many trips to the vet and some medication/diet changes, he has made a recovery and has been doing well for multiple weeks in a row now. We weren't really sure of his personality because he was so sick, but now turns out he is super playful. He plays by himself quite a bit, but also wants us to play with him, which is not a big deal. We have spent quite a bit in vet bills due to him being so sick and our pet insurance had not kicked in, but now we seem to be spending money on only routine things, plus he has pet insurance now effective.

The thing that my boyfriend and I are concerned about is the energy that he has at night, he gets up on the bed with us and pounces at our legs/feet/hands, you name it. We have tried switching his sleeping schedule from day to night, and we try to play with him an hour before bed and feed him a good sized meal before bed but it never fails at 4-5 am he is back on the bed pouncing and sometimes his claws get us through the comforter. He knows what no means, and if you tell him that he will leave the bed for a short time, but he eventually comes back and does it again until I get up and play with him. The only reason I get up and play with him is because my boyfriend works anywhere from 11-14 hours 5-6 days a week and he values his sleep and gets irritated by this. Over than this, his behavior is perfectly fine, I am home with him 24/7 basically because I am student doing online courses this semester and am not currently working.

From what I've read, it seems that 2 kittens are easier to handle than 1 kitten. However, my boyfriend is opposed to this idea because we paid so much this kitten and then it would be double the vet bills/pet insurance premium, plus double the food (and our kitten is on a specialized wet food that is prescription so we would have to buy 2 wet foods). Plus I am not sure how our current kitten would react to a new kitten (he loved the others in the shelter, but now that he has been alone for 5 weeks, I am not sure how he would react). I guess I am curious about what other people think, is getting another kitten a good idea to wear him out so that he is not climbing on the bed at night and pouncing on our feet or is this just something we need to keep addressing to break the habit? Also would getting another kitten be better for him socially? I am unsure of what to do. Before I do anything, I would obviously get the new kitten checked out at the vet and bring it into the home in a separate room for a while before introducing to my current kitten. I also need to look at budgets and see if it would be feasible, but was just curious about what others thought.

TIA!
 

Pjg8r

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Would you consider fostering a kitten? Expenses belong to the shelter not you and your kitten would have a playmate. If that goes well you could then consider adopting another one.
 

Lulu&Finn

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Just so you know you’ll have two cats jumping around on your bed in the middle of the night. 😂
I have no regrets. We had Lulu for one year and then added Finn two months ago. should’ve done it sooner but I had all the worries you have. ESP the expense. Lulu had a lot of issues too. I used to call her the $1000 cat, then the $1200 cat. Lol. It kept going up. The food is double. I’ve got three litter boxes right now but will be, going down to two, possibly one. Honestly, it’s worth it.

I think she’s really happy to have Finn here. I feel like she was lonely and now she’s not. At least thats my human take on it.
 

ArtNJ

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I don't believe two cats are actually easier than one. Thats bunk. Two cats are maybe 125-150% of the effort of one cat. Although they will tire each other out and individually cause fewer problems, there are still two of them. And there are new issues. Loud three am rumpus runs knocking stuff over are likely even if you exclude from the bedroom. When they are older, inter-cat stress and fighting is possible (not likely, but possible). And for certain problem behaviors like scratching, two cats is twice the scratching. Getting a second cat doesn't make the first cat *any* less likely to scratch your couch up.

All of that said, one worry you can basically cross off your list is how they will get along. Two kittens essentially *always* become friends. While true fighting is always possible later in life, kittens under six months, friendship is basically a sure thing.
 
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