Hello everyone!
I'm a 22 year old PhD student. I've been wanting a cat for over 10 years and I finally convinced my parents, who I am living with! I've been researching this topic for months now and throughout my research, I've understood what I want from a cat...and the qualities that I want can be found in the Bengal breed! I am absolutely fascinated by this breed because they are playful and affectionate and clingy, just like me.
A couple of weeks ago, I visited a breeder and fell in love with two of the female kittens that she had. The mother and her kitties were very kind and beautiful and amazing with kids (the breeder had young children of her own). They're evidently well socialized and well mannered kittens and I absolutely adored them. When I have kids of my own in the next few years, I know that these kitties would get along very well with them. So I decided to put a deposit down for the two female kittens...I was set on getting two because I wanted them to entertain one another while I'm at school (I'm an experimental physics student so I have to spend many hours in the lab on weekdays.) Unfortunately, my mom was very opposed to getting two kittens, and at the time, it seemed that there was absolutely nothing that I could do to change her mind. So I had to end up choosing one kitten last minute (I had to make my decision quick because there was a long waiting list for these kittens and it wouldn't have been fair for me to take too long) =(
I'm gonna be picking up the kitten when she's around 10 weeks old (in a few days). I'm extremely nervous about this because I've heard that "single kitten syndrome" is indeed a thing. I'll be away from home for around 10 hours a day. I have three other members in my household who will be at home at various times throughout the day. Overall, I think the kitten will be alone for around 4 hours a day. I'm very scared because I don't want her to be lonely. I feel as if I have made the wrong decision in getting one kitten. I've gotten a cat tree and toys for her, but I don't know if that's enough. More than wanting to have the kitten, I want to the kitten to be as happy as possible.
Do you have any advice for me in this situation? Is there anything I can do to make my kitten as happy as possible? Or is the best option for me to re-home her?