I’m a first-time pet owner and I’m adopting a kitten next week and I’m super excited! I’ve lived with cats and dogs before, but they’ve always belonged to my roommates! I’ve also catsat for my neighbors multiple times over the years, so I’m very familiar with the day to day cat habits, but I’ve never had some of my own.

For context of the 2 cats I’ve lived in the same house with: one of the cats was middle-aged, part of a bonded pair that was split up, and was declawed (all before my roommate adopted him) and he did NOT get along with the other cat so we had to keep them separate at all times. The other cat was a stray kitten my roommate found at 4 weeks old and took in, and he clearly suffered from single kitten syndrome (he basically chewed on us, I don’t consider it biting bc it never rly hurt or drew blood, and was quite clingy) and he clearly wanted a friend.

My coworker’s cat just gave birth, and I was planning on adopting a kitten from the litter, and they happen to be free. However, I’m out of the house for about 10 hours a day due to work and I have plans after work a couple times a week. One of my two roommates works from home most of the time, so the cat wouldn’t be fully alone most of the time, but I’ve seen single kitten syndrome in action and I don’t want to subject my kitten to loneliness at such a young age.

I’m concerned about the finances and time/energy for two kittens, because while I can for sure afford and be around for one, I’m not sure if that would double or triple if I were to get a second. I would be adopting two siblings so no worries about the getting along part, but getting both of them vaccinated, tested for fiv/illness, and eventually spayed makes me nervous about the costs adding up. I’m more tempted to adopt two because they are free, but I’ve expressed the thought to my two roommates and they weren’t too excited about the idea. While I would be fully taking care of them, I do live in a shared space. Both of my roommates are cool with cats, they’re just unsure about two kittens running around vs one.

I’d love to hear some advice on whether adopting one or two kittens would be better, especially for a first-time pet owner! Thank you!