Quarantine Question

[Trishy]

I have been reading through the various threads on quarantine and acclimating a new kitten. WitchyWoman, your advice was so well written and explained a lot to me. I have a resident cat who is playful and very friendly towards any cats who have come to visit. I am going to be getting 2 babies soon and my question is should I quarantine them separately to encourage them to bond with us? They will be travelling together to me and so I wonder if separating them is a good idea. I agree with the two week quarantine from the resident cat but am just not sure about from each other. I see benefits to me from it but after the trauma of travelling to a new home I hate the thought of causing them more trauma. Any thoughts on this from anyone would be appreciated.

 

[WitchyWoman]

There are people here who advocate separating them to ensure both bond to their humans and there are people who have not separated them with no adverse effects. I don't recall any members who left kittens together with a bad outcome but I'm sure many examples exist. Separating them could be a benefit if one of the kittens came down with an illness so both wouldn't have to be treated but with littermates, it's likely both would have to be treated in any event.

I would make a decision based on the personality of the cats. If one of the cats was terribly shy or insecure then I'd leave them together for a week before separating them. There may be a tendency for a shy/insecure cat to bond strongly to a littermate and be less inclined or slow to bond to the new human family. If they are separated, I'd reevaluate if the quarantine should be extended depending on how well the shy/insecure kitten did with the bonding process. And I would bring them together again for a few days before introducing the adult cat.

 

[admin]

I'm not sure separating them is necessary! I sold two kittens together last year and the owners just made sure they spent plenty of time with each one, but they were not separated... They did fine and are very attached to both owners...

Paige
Owner, Savannah Cat Chat
Agato Savannahs
TICA Legislative Committee
SV Breed Section Committee
SV Rescue Coordinator

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I think like Witchy Woman says, it is an individual situation thing...you need to get your kittens and make a call on that. There IS the issue that getting two at once may mean they are more bonded to each other than to the humans.It may just be that you accept that... separating them does increase the bonding to the humans, but it is also very inconvenient!

 

[Trishy]

Thanks! All excellent advise. I have all the time in the world for all 3 of them and just want to do what's best for them to make them happy and comfortable. Just the expectant new mom second guessing herself

 

[DumaLove]

We got 2 litter mates at the same time so they could keep each other company when we were at work. We kept them together for their quarantine, and at first they didn't bond as much with us as they could have. But over time it didn't matter, they are now both bonded to each of us.