We currently have a 4 mo old silver bengal (Pixel) and a 4 mo old tabby (Iso). We are sort of itching to get a 3rd little one, but we were wondering if 3 kittens was too much.

Do you have any advice or experience with having this many kittens? The current relationship between Iso and Pixel is great, so I'm just worried introducing another little one would disturb the peace between them.

I appreciate any advice or opinions!

We've got 6 cats and 2 dogs and it's a lot (blended fur family). Thankfully most everyone gets along pretty well.

Personally, if Pixel & Iso are getting along well and things are manageable I wouldn't add a 3rd to the mix and risk damaging the existing relationship.

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Dallas, TX USA
Diesel - snow Bengal born 09/01/2013 adopted Feb 2014
Tuck, Chloe, Buddy, Lewis & Tia - rescue kitties
Clyde, Bleu & Coal - Great Danes

[quote/"Personally, if Pixel & Iso are getting along well and things are manageable I wouldn't add a 3rd to the mix and risk damaging the existing relationship.[/quote]

That's my thinking too. Recently I thought about adding a third, but decided not to in the end. Grace can be such a bully to her little sister. The only reason it works is that Blondie is so happy go lucky and takes it in stride. A third might really anger Grace and upset the balance.

A few things to consider:

* Each time you add a cat, you are rolling the dice. You'll never know when you have one too many until after you do it
* In general, kittens get along much better than adults, so just because you manage to get 3 kittens to get along doesn't mean they will when they are adults
* Each individual cat may bond closer to you, which may come at the expense of bonding with the other cats, or with one or more of the other cats, which may come at the expense of their bond with you.

If you do it, (and far be it from me to tell anyone that 3 is too many since that's what I have myself), make sure you have plenty of space, and in particular vertical space in your home.

You know the individual personalities of your existing two cats. What are their attitudes towards other cats as a generality? For example how do they react to each other? And how do they react when they see another cat out the window, or at the vets?

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The little monsters 3

A household with one or two children can be fairly calm. A family with 13 children can be chaotic 99% of the time. It's probably the same way with cats! With one kitty, you don't have to worry how the cat will get along with another kitty! Two kitties -- well, if you get them together, they usually get along pretty good from the start. Adding another cat later -- well, it can go well or it can go horribly bad! When it goes horribly bad, it takes time and lots of patience to bring the balance and harmony back. Are you willing to put in the time? Do you have enough hair to pull out so that nobody can tell?

Seriously -- once you have a happy balance with two cats, I don't know that it's worth it to add a third! You have less time to spend with each cat. You have two kitties who are incredibly close and happy and now you bring in an alien cat -- 2 cats against one. I personally would not chance it, but that's just me! I love it when people can open up their hearts and homes to multiple cats, however .... I definitely prefer rescues rather than breeders who probably already have a long list of potential buyers. I feel as if I rescued Raiden from an owner who didn't really care about him. I would never have paid money for a bengal.

I have an app on my iPad called Neko Atsume and I have 48 virtual cats there that I have to take care of and feed eery few hours. That's plenty of cats for me. They don't want to go outside for a walk, they don't wake me up during the night, they don't cry and cry for no reason! In fact, they make no sound at all. And, best of all, I don't need dozens of litter boxes.

Two is the limit for me.

I also have 1 son, 2 goldfish and 1 husband.

I'm forever running around after all of them.

Personally I don't think I could cope with any more!

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Oscar and Jasper (or one ear and two ears as dh calls them) black rescue mogges

RIP my sweet baby Dexter, Snow Bengal 19/5/14 to 5/3/15 and my lovely dear old friend Muskey, Brown Burmese put to rest aged 15 on 14/11/15.

Debbie

I probably would stick to two simply because whilst I have two litter buddies, as kittens they got on extremely well, really close and totally relied on each other. They are two years old now and we're having issues. Just hope and pray your two still get on as adults and not upset the equilibrium you currently enjoy.

It is such a lottery as to whether another kitten would be a good fit!

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

Everything that everyone else has said above is very true. I’ll just add my opinion, too.

I have 2 cats. When I had one, our bond was very strong. Now that they have each other, our bond is kind of gone as he prefers his new sister. They are always together, playing together, sleeping together, eating together, using the litter box together, etc.

I have thought about a third, too, but that isn’t up for consideration until later on in the future. I feel though, that a third may be too much and he/she may be the odd one out. There’s only space for 2 in their beds, cat tree houses and hammocks. So perhaps the third will therefore form a bond with me instead, or perhaps not.

I would wait and see how your two grow and develop as adults. There is no rush for getting a third. I know cats can be addictive, but just wait it out. Watch them grow together. If in the future you see room for a third, maybe consider it.

But ask yourself, why do I want a third cat? What will a third cat bring to the house? To my already two cats’ relationship? Can I afford it?

Lots of things to think about.

Um... so contrary to the advice of everyone... we sort of adopted a kitten. Oops! We'll see what happens! So far, Iso seems to be indifferent. She hisses when he gets near, but overall tolerates his presence. Pixel on the other hand, is not very happy. However! The silver lining is that she has been curiously more cuddly with us. She is not very fond of him, but they can all at least play together in one room under supervision.

In our defense, when you go to a Mega Pet Adoption Event, it's incredibly hard to have self control.

Meet Macro! (That makes Iso, Pixel and Macro)

Why on earth did you even go to a pet adoption event! It is IMPOSSIBLE to not come home with a new pet! Well, you've done it, so now you're sort of stuck! Macro is adorable! Just know you are going to have to spend a lot of time integrating him into the family. Iso and Pixel may not be happy in the beginning -- and they may not be happy ever, but what's done is done and you make the best of it! We don't want Macro to be the third guy to the party and be left out. So, make sure they ALL play together with you, and post pictures when they are all huddled together sleeping. It may take a while.

I was thinking the same thing. We have Tigerli the cat that's outside all the time,the water turtle,the hamster and the two bengal girls.And my dear husband and son. I was thinking of getting another kitten but I had to say no. Enough is enough. I don't want to take the chance and have Lilith and Phaedra not accepting another cat etc. Also the costs of food,another litter box to clean. Now my grandmother is a total animal lover and she admitted she loves animals more then humans. Before she had a bad stroke my grandparents were taking care of sooo many animals of all kind. It was their entire days work. As i am living in Switzerland atm i must also watch out that when we would move often no pets are aloud.
In South Africa we own property and 3 house's. So my plan will be to go retire there and have all and so many pets as possible!! And maybe even turn one house into a rescue place for pets.
I hope Iso Pixel and Macro will get along!

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~Genevieve~

Thanks for your responses!

Pixel seems to be getting SLIGHTLY better. She doesn't go crazy. But she's still not very content with Macro. But she seems to love me more, so I'll take it. :)

Macro is just so tiny, that it's a strange dynamic. Iso washes him every now and then, so I just think it'll take a couple weeks. They are separated all day, and then when we get home we supervise them while they play in the living room.

Pixel definitely approaches him hesitantly and paws at his head, but is so scared she won't do it if he isn't elevated. I can't tell if they are playing or fighting. But it never gets out of hand. Just pawing at him for a while, then disinterested.

I hope they get along. But Macro is rambunctious and literally does not give an F-word about boundaries.


That's the update!

Macro sounds super adorable! He's saying, "I'm here now, deal with it." Ha ha ha! At least there is no aggression or attacking, so it sounds like things will be perfect in just a couple of weeks. You should see improvement daily! Sweet and Iso wants to groom Macro.

So remember when i posted this, thinking apprehensively about a third cat.

Welllllllll, number 4 is here... It's a good thing we don't do much with our lives besides play with cats :)






Apparently his mother was a charcoal and his father was a snow, so he has some very nice contrast. He is well socialized, and didn't even go hide when we brought him home. Immediately started rubbing his face on us and purring.

We're going to take the introductions slow this time, there has been some hissing under the door, so we're keeping them a full room apart from each other for the first week while we scent swap.

So excited!!! But the kitty fever has to stop

That's a real beauty! His body structure looks really athletic, nice long legs. And that face! How adorable. I love the round eyes and rounded ears. You can even see the start of his mask and cape. Plus he has some beautiful rosettes. I can easily see why you couldn't resist. What did you name him?