I live on my own, and I have 3 cats. Personally, I would never just have
one. They all get on very well, and are company for each other when I'm
not here. They also love to play with each other as well as me getting 3
x the love of one cat!

I would say that if you are thinking of getting a siamese, then your
idea of getting a cat from a shelter too is a good one. But I have an
even better idea.... why not contact siamese rescue and get TWO rescue
cats? You'd still have your pure-bred, but you will have also rescued 2
cats. :o)

Helen M (Who realises she has automatically assumed that Brad will get 2
cats <g>)

Well, I've got 4 and each one has their own unique purr-sonality. They
enjoy the company of their cat-family and their human family in
different ways - they wrestle and groom each other, play games etc, and
get their cuddles and different games from us :-)
I would always say it's kinder to have two of the same species living
together, as long as they get along OK.  I have all 4 of mine insured
with pet insurance to cover the unexpected bills, and budget for the
routine ones.

Deb.

i have two - tried having one but he got lonely at night when there were no
humans to play with.

Check here first --  http://www.siameserescue.org/

Yep.

I have three.

L.

IMHO, an older cat who will be content to sleep most of the day and only
have a small amount of human interaction is OK as an "only cat", and
depending on the personality of the cat, some are definatley solo cats as
they won't tolerate another cat in their territory .

However, if you are away for long periods during the day, and want an active
cat or kitten, I'd get two - prefferably litter mates - just so they can
keep each other entertained during the day. A bored cat with energy to burn
can be remarkably destructive when he of she needs to 'entertain'
themselves.

If you go to a rescue organisation, and see two cats who get along together
at the shelter, I'd reccommend you get both. You get twice the loving, have
the joy of watching them interact, the work is not much more, and most of
all, they can keep each other amused when you can't. This is *very*
important when you don't always have time to entertain them whenever *they*
want.

Yowie

I have had single cats, and I have had 2, 3, 4, and many.  One doesn't
seem to be very desirable - singletons just seem to lie around a lot
and require my attention when I can't give it.  Two are good for
several reasons: if they get along well, they will keep each other
amused;  there is a better chance that one of them wants petting when
you want to pet them; if one dies, you are not completely out of
companionship.  What seems to work best is either a pair that have
always been together, or first an adult, then a kitten.

If you aren't home with your cat each and every day it's better to have more
than 1, as an only cat will depend on you totally and will let you know that
too :-)
And 2 or more cats will love you just as much when you're home with them.

Nanny

Two at least. There are cats out there that like being alone, but I would
always have at least two. They keep each other company when you are not
there and they are not much more trouble or expense than one. Usually
shelters have some pair that should go together anyway because they are
friends. They are more fun to watch and yes, they still want individual
attention. I see absolutely NO cons to having two cats and if you have none
and get two that know each other there are no "introducing" problems. What
area are you in? People may know of a Siamese rescue to send you to. Be
aware Siamese are really characters and often are talkers.

More than one. I had one initially, then got another and didn't regret it
at all.

I fully intended to get a siamese both times, too! And actually, if the
breeder I contacted when I adopted the first one was going to have kittens
available soon, I still probably would have fallen for the abandoned
no pedigree tabby cat I adopted second. It isn't an either/or issue; only
pedigreed or only domestic cats.

I have 2, 3 until recently.

My view is that you shouldn't have just one unless you're at home all
day
practically every day. Especially with Asian cats (Siamese/Burmese etc)
who are so companionable.

You'll have no shortage of love & attention with a pair, providing you
treat 'em right!

Best wishes for your rescue (of 2).

Gordon
Bandit
Snowball

  We're currently owned by two kitties - have never had less than
that.  The largest number living with us at one time was seven, each
loved, and loving, equally.  Actually, IMO, the more, the merrier!!

 Jeanne

(snippage)

I have a slightly different take.  I have one cat.  I was 'acquired' by her
and the vet guessed she was two or three years old.  But you see, she's one
of those cats who doesn't get along with other cats.  If she sees one on my
patio she goes ballistic.  She's also old enough to be sedentary and not
require my constant attention (although when she wants it she certainly lets
me know).  So I don't believe I could successfully integrate another cat
into my household without causing her undue stress.  I think it depends a
lot on the personality of the cat as well as the age of the cat.

Having said all that, if you decide to adopt 2, as others have suggested try
to get littermates or at least 2 who are already getting along at the
shelter or rescue organization.  And yes, it will double your expenses for
food, litter, shots, etc.

Someone else mentioned pet insurance - you might check that out.  Also check
with the vet you plan to use because not all vets accept pet insurance.

Jill

More than one. Five to be exact - four that live at home with my wife
and one who travels with me in the semi.

My experience has been that more than one cat is best. That allows the
kitties to keep each other company while you are away, and gives you
twice as much (or more) fun when you get home to them.

A few of us have single cats, but there are probably reasons
preventing us from haivng more than one.  I have one, who was
originally one of two-- and definitely the Number Two cat on the totem
pole.  He was a sweet cat, and very submissive.  When Cat No. 1 went
to RB, Stinky was lonely at first, but with all the attention to
himself, his personality really blossomed, and he just kind of grew
into the role of Prince of the House.   He had spent all his life
under the other cat's paw, so to speak.  Now that he is older (14),
and has become used to being a single cat, I am hesitant to bring in
another one, and I also live with someone who probably wouldn't like
it.  

But my naturally preferred state would be to have more than one.  I
just think Stinky is kind of exceptional-- he has really thrived on
being an only cat, and I want him to continue to enjoy all the
attention for as long as he's around.

Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

More than one.
Cats are social.
-L.

Hi Brad,

I have 4 cats and am very fortunate that they get along and enjoy
playing with each other.  There are some cats that prefer to live
as a single cat, although you usually don't know that when they
are kittens.  There is a Siamese Rescue group on-line that has
several locations in the US and has pictures/descriptions of their
cats on line at http://www.siameserescue.org/gallery.html
They have some kittens, but most are adults and some specify that
the cat wants to live as a single cat.  Maybe you can find
one of those who would fit into your household.  Take a look!
You won't get papers and most aren't show quality, but it
is always better to rescue a cat that needs a home than it is
to buy from a breeder when you just want a pet.

Good luck,
Debbie Berry
dberry@mitre.org

I hesitate to post, but ...

I thought that Oscar was bored sitting at home all day, so I went out and got
Eros.  Now, I suspected that Oscar might not be a team player, so I did ask
for assurance that I could bring Eros back if it didn't work out ...

Anyway, it was a disaster.  Oscar had never lived with other cats and hid from
Eros.  She was absolutely miserable.  In the end, we couldn't keep Eros.

Now, I'll admit that I was impatient and didn't follow the rules of cat
introduction; I just kind of plopped Eros down and hoped for the best.  I
might have tried reintroduction from scratch, but my husband was also allergic
to Eros and so it was just better for all concerned to get Eros out of the
house ASAP.

All of that being said, it very much depends on the cat.  If I had it to do
over again, I'd get a second kitten while Oscar was still young and malleable.
If Oscar turns out not to be immortal for some reason, if I got another cat at
all, I'd probably get two at the same time.  Many shelters have cats who
already like each other or at least are known to like other cats.  Why would I
do that?  Because I feel that there's plenty of room in our house and our
hearts for more than one cat, and right now I feel bad that I can't give
another cat a home.  I think the transition from only cat to two cats is much
harder on a cat than the transition from two cats to more cats.

I think the question of whether two cats will be twice as much companionship
very much depends on the cats' personalities.

I ended up buying Oscar a cat tree, some more toys, and reserving more play
time for her, and she likes this setup much better than she liked having Eros
around.

I have two and the first is a Siamese cross.  He absolutely could not
*stand* being the only cat.  Siamese are such sociable involved cats that
they need a friend while you are out of the house.  The idea of the Siamese
Rescue is fantastic.  I used to regularly go online and drool over all the
rescue kitties available.  http://www.siameserescue.org/

Susan M
Otis and Chester
(and I would like another one but my son is allergic)

We have two:

We got Jemima and Jasper as a mother and son pair.  She was about
eighteen months, him about nine - still a kitten, but a kitten who
exploded and grew into a big, strong, handsome cat.  We sadly lost Jem
just over a year later.  She was very affectionate and cuddlesome,
whilst Jasper was a bit more reserved, and much more of an outdoorsy
type of cat.  So we got Carrie to be the resident lap fungus.  At first
the fights weren't pretty, but they've settled down into a regime of
tolerance.

;o) I like your siggy.

OK. I'm with Jill & Theresa in that my view is a little different.
Twenty-six years ago I got Bonnie & Clyde, littermates, as kittens.
They got along tolerably but were not really friends. At least they
were smart enough to curl up toether in cold weather. But Clyde had a
few pounds on Bonnie, & he was dominant. He would sometimes beat her
up, which I hated. Both were very affectionate w/me. Clyde died at age
13, and as somebody else said, Bonnie came into her own. I had told
myself that if one died young, I'd get another, but that if they were
fairly old when the first one died, I wouldn't bring a new upstart in
to upset the older one's life. For her remaining 3 years, Bonnie was a
happy kitty w/all the Mommy time to herself. The only problem w/not
bringing in another one was that it left me alone when Bonnie died. Not
a good thing. :(  Nobody to come home to after that last trip to the
vet.

Then I adopted 3 unrelated adult females all on the same day, w/no
opportunity to find out whether they would get along. I didn't know
then about introduction methods, & would not have been able to separate
the 3 anyway. It worked very badly. Abby turned out to be extremely
dominant. Daisy & Miss Moxie lived under the furniture in order to
avoid her. It was an awful situation. I desperately looked for a new
home for Abby, but couldn't find anybody I trusted.  Then 1 night while
I was at work, Abby died suddenly of unknown causes. Sadly for me &
Abby, happily for D & M, this solved the worst problems. Now little
Moxie is dominant & harasses Daisy several times a day, but it's
nothing like it was with Abby. Daisy is afraid of Moxie, & of other
cats. Moxie hates everybody except me. They would both be better as
only cats.

This time, I don't know what I'll do if Daisy dies first. She's almost
12; Moxie is almost 8. Moxie is not at all affectionate. So honestly, I
wouldn't be very happy if she was my only cat.  I would miss COL (cat
on lap).

So, that was a very long-winded answer to a simple question. Good luck.

katz

Six. Started with two, Baby Eyes and Tubs, but when he was about 9 months
old Tubs decided to move back to his foster mom's down the road (dunno why)
so Baby Eyes was lonely and I got Tommy to keep her company. Then I thought,
what if something happens to one of them, the other will be without a buddy,
so I when my local Abyssinian breeder called about a reject kitten with a
bad eye, Abelard joined the household. A few months later I found little Eli
abandoned near a pawn shop so figured why stop here and adopted him. That
was going to be enough until Sherry posted photos of Billy & Lilly who were
dumped at her farm, and I just had to take them in too.

If I had more space and more money I would probably have more cats. They are
addictive :)

We have more than one.

First we had one, then two, then four.  And we found that with just
Nox, she got really lonely when we weren't home all the time with her.
And the second one was a tom and she didn't like him much.  The 3rd
and 4th were abandoned kittens and now everyone gets along great--the
kittens play with the tom AND keep Nox company, and they don't ignore
us at all--they are happier when they ARE with us.

Some cats don't like company but most are happier with others of their
own kind around.  Particularly if you aren't at home all day every
day.

--Fil

Brad <bjdbrad@gmail.com> had some very interesting things to say about
One cat or double trouble........ your opinion please straw poll:

Currently: have one, wouldn't mind more (but my current cat is an
adamant only. He *hates* other cats. Loves dogs, likes the bird just
fine, hates cats).

In the past, anywhere from one to twenty-one (when I was about eight
or nine, three of our cats had kittens around the same time, for a
combined total of fourteen kittens), and I do prefer a multi-cat
situation, mostly because it offers better odds someone wants to play
or cuddle when I do. :-)

Short answer: more.

Long answer: I have two, soon to be three if all works out. I got Frank
as a five-month-old kitten. At that time, I still had a very busy social
life and was away from home a lot. I soon started noticing that Frank
would often just sit and stare in front of him in some corner. I deduced
that he was bored and maybe getting a bit depressed because he was
lonely. So I got Nikki, an eight-week-old kitten. Frank was almost a
year old then. After about 12 hours, they were the best of friends, and
they have been ever since. Frank is now 17 and Nikki 16 years old. They
don't curl up together as much as they did when they were younger, but
they do get along, groom each other, play-fight, and sometimes still
snooze together.

In another week's time (eek, time flies!), I will be getting a new
kitten. I have mixed feelings about this. The poor baby needs a home,
but how will the seniors take to her? Fortunately, I have the option of
returning her if it doesn't work.

<Snip>

I currently have two, but at various times I've had only one.  There
are advantages both ways.  My first cat was an only...  she didn't like
other cats, and even when we did have a second cat for about 3 years,
Tigger didn't want to have anything to do with Patches.  It was like
having two only cats.  After Tig and Patches died, we got littermates-
two sisters (Scamper and Nosey).  They didn't particularly like each
other either- again, they ignored each other, and wanted ME for
companionship. The current duo (Ming and Buttercup) are best buddies-
they play together, sleep together and eat together.  They groom each
other.  They aren't nearly as affectionate with people- Ming demands to
be petted, and Buttercup tolerates it but neither is paticularly a "lap
cat". This may partly be differences in personality- it might be that
Ming and Buttercup wouldn't be any more affectionate if they were only
cats.  I don't really know.  If you're home most nights, and don't go
on long out of town trips, I don't see anything wrong with only one cat.

BTW- in the part of your original post that I snipped, you mentioned
wanting a  Siamese...  do you specifically want a purebred Siamese?  Of
the six cats I've mentioned, 3 have been pointed cats (Siamese
markings). Nosey was a tabby point shorthair, Ming is a dark seal point
(with white feet- he's a shorthair, but marked like a Birman), and
Buttercup is a long haired tabby point.  All three are plain old
moggies. Ming came from the shelter, and there were at least 4 other
point marked cats at that time. If you like the Siamese markings and
aren't specifically set on a purebred, you might look for a Siamese
marked moggie.  I have a soft spot for Siamese markings- something
about those dark faces with the blue eyes....

Katrina

Two cats here.

To make a long story short, I didn't think I wanted a cat. Then a
pregnant stray, Little Bit, showed up during an ice storm. I let her
in out of the cold - she had her babies in the bedroom closet, and by
the time they were weaned she'd convinced me she was home. I ended up
keeping one of her daughters ;-), and found homes for the other three.
Now I can't think of not having them around.

Just my opinion...
I would never have only one cat, particularly a Siamese. They are truly
an entirely separate breed all their own. They want to be the center of
attention, and can be downright needy. If you're gone from home much,
the cat will miss you, and a bored and needy cat can actually become
destructive or develop personality issues.
I *swear* to you, aside from vet expenses, two cats are no more trouble
than one. If you're getting a Siamese, two cats will be *less* trouble
than one, because the second cat will keep the Siamese occupied.

Sherry

My reason for one is the same as yours.   Also, where I live (I own my
condo) pets are not permitted.  However I have had a cat since 1983.
They tell me I am now "grandfathered".

MLB

I only have 1 cat.  When we first got Vino, we lived in a 1 bedroom
condo and never really thought of getting 2.  Vino was bottle fed by
hoomins when he was a kitten and we got him at 6 1/2 weeks.  So he
pretty much grew up as an only cat, which is probably why he hates
other cats now.  He likes hoomins and I think he doesn't mind dogs.
One time we brought in two 7 year old cats but in the 2 months we had
them, Vino got very depressed and we felt it wasn't fair.  So we
re-homed the other cats.  Vino perked right up.  Now we live in a
house and other cats from the neighbourhood come to the windows and
Vino is never really happy about that.
When we move away from here and get our own house, I would like more
cats but don't know how Vino would take it.  I might try to get a
young kitten, hopefully he'd accept that.  Otherwise, I guess I'll
wait until Vino passes away and then get 2 at the same time.  But
since Vino is going to live to be at least 34 years old, that won't
happen for a loooooong time! ;-)
--
Britta
"There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast." -- Unknown
Check out pictures of Vino at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album

-------------------<snip>---------------------

It can be tough to say.  There are such creatures as cats that would
prefer to be the only cat in the family, but most cats do better with
a companion cat.  If I had to guess, I'd say get two.  It's playing
the odds.

Regards and Purrs,
O J