Getting to Know Ragdolls
One Kitten or Two?
For most homes it’s a preference. For a few, it’s the difference between a cat who settles and a cat who waits by the door.
Before You Decide
Worth Thinking About Before You Decide
Two kittens isn’t what most people picture when they start looking, and it isn’t necessary for every home.
But there are three situations where a second kitten isn’t an indulgence — it’s the better call for the cat. If any of them describe your house, it’s worth thinking about now rather than a year in.
Already Have a Pet?
You Already Have an Older Cat or Dog
This is the one people are most surprised by — and it’s usually about play, not personalities.
With one kitten
A kitten who spent their early weeks tumbling with littermates arrives expecting the resident animal to play too. A senior cat or an easygoing older dog usually has no interest. The kitten keeps asking. The older animal keeps retreating, and often starts avoiding the rooms the kitten is in.
With two kittens
They wear each other out instead. Your older pet gets to be a bystander rather than a target — which is often better for the animal you already have than it is for the kitten.
Long Days Away
Nobody’s Home During the Day
Ragdolls are unusually people-oriented. That’s why people fall for them, and it’s the same reason long stretches alone are harder on them than on a more independent breed.
Research on separation-related behavior in cats is limited, but what exists points the same direction: cats with no other animal in the house, left alone for long days, are more likely to show signs of distress when their people are gone — vocalizing, destructive behavior, litter box changes.
A second kitten doesn’t replace you. It means they’re not waiting by the door.
A Busy Household
You Have a Full House
If there are four, five, six of you, one cat is going to be very popular. Attention is wonderful, and it’s also a load — a single cat in a busy family gets handled nearly constantly, with no easy way to opt out, and someone is always negotiating over who gets them at bedtime.
A cat who can’t retreat starts avoiding people altogether. It’s one of the more common reasons a friendly kitten turns into a cat who lives under the bed.
Two kittens spread that out. Both get to retreat when they want to, and there’s enough cat to go around.
How We Do It at Aurora
What We’ve Seen
Within the first week of go-home, families text us some version of the same thing: how do we teach them to play by themselves? It’s a wonderful question to receive, because it means the kitten is doing exactly what a Ragdoll does — following you room to room, wanting in on everything. But people also need to shower, and work, and leave the house without feeling guilty.
We can’t promise you a cat who’s never lonely. What we can say is that in our experience, a second kitten is the thing that helps most.
We’ve never had a family take a pair and wish they hadn’t. Several have come back for a third.
Reserving Two
If You Do Decide on Two
Two cats is roughly double for fifteen to twenty years — food, litter, and vet care.
Learn what it’s like to prepare for a lifetime with a Ragdoll →
We don’t discount pairs.
Where You Save
Setup, not doubled. Toys, cat trees, and litter boxes are shared — you buy them once, not twice.
Travel, once. It’s charged per trip, not per kitten — a pair comes home on the same delivery.
Two Deposits
You’d place two deposits of $500, which holds two places in line back to back.
Choose Twice
When your turn comes you’d choose twice in a row, so both kittens would come from the same litter.
Home Together
Kittens who grow up together and go home together settle in far more easily than two who meet as strangers.
Your Next Step
Ready to Meet Your Ragdoll?
The surest way to decide is to see who’s available. One or two, we’ll help you think it through honestly — there’s no pressure either way.
More From the Library