Need Advice, Want To Get 3 Kittens!!!!!

Hey, everyone 

I'm new on this site and forums so bear with me . I've always wanted to have young kittens since I was around 10, (19 in november now) but my house was always a pet free zone, despite the big sizes of our previous homes. My parents never let me get any type of pet, even a goldfish,until about 3 years ago when I got my mixed coli named Niko, and he has endured so much I'm surprised he's still happy everytime I see him inside or out, but this is not what I came here for.

I've moved from Canada to Poland (europe next to countries like Germany) where my parents where born, and where most of my family lives. I've wanted kittens for such a long time, I watch videos on youtube for countless hours, I'm shocked when I see the time LOL. There's just one big no-no that's preventing this; my mom and possibly my dad. They both love my dog and my dog goes crazy when he see's the car parking or them coming near the door, he evens cries when they live and he's pretty mature and well trained. My mom is I guess what you could say an animal lover, but she's not the one that'd she'd want around her all the time, my dad the same, but they fell for my dog. I've probably asked for kittens 10 times in my life and it's always been "omg no." My mom strongly dislikes cats, not kittens, but cats, and my dad just goes with what my mom says, but he usually is more open to things since I havn't seen him alot in my life (he used to be a truck driver and was always gone for 1week+ for over 25 years so he normally used to get me more things then my mom would. The thing is that even if I do get small kittens and they grow up they will be big and my mom can't stand it... but here's a look at it in a positive way.....

My room is pretty big, I'm the only person that uses it, the only time other people come in are my dad/mom if I don't get up when we need to go somewhere or to ask a question... I clean my own room and everything so if I raised kittens here it'd be like they don't exist to the rest of the family (I have 3 younger siblings... they wouldn't mind kittens but wouldn't want them to bother them). My mom is always at work now from 9am-7pm mondays-fridays and works caturday every other week for a few hours, and my dad usually isn't around the house or outside (which means me and the kittens could explore ). My room has a few countertops, a desk where my laptop is, a walk-in bathroom with a toilet, counter top (sink being installed soon) a roof window and a shower. I have a balcony that is fairly big and is protected by 1metre high railings, and I have a fairly large walk-in closet which for kittens will be nice because I have alot of empty boxes and such and my clothes are kept in a basket, and it has a heater inside, perfect for when winter starts. And my ceiling is pretty high and I am soon getting a large lamp with a fan (don't worry even if the cats grow up it is 6metres from the floor, so it's safe). 

Now, I am jobless/school-less at the moment and probably will be for 2-3months+ until I learn the language a bit better and find a good course for becoming a massagist. So, if I get kittens now at about 8 weeks old I can train them, teach them to behave when they are alone, know they are cared for, what's off-limit and what's fine, etc. 

My dog is extremely friendly to humans, as to other dogs he barks at them but has never bit them or been aggresive to them... for other animals he's pretty mean, especially ducks and chickens, but with cats I have never seen him harm and, he just sits and watches them... hopefully if I get kittens it won't be hard for him to accept them (he knows he's not allowed up the stairs unless my parents are gone ONLY if I call him up if he's crying or whining too much). Here's the thing though, I'm 18 and I've lost all my friends when I moved, any career I could of had and my parents still never apologized... I dont know the language very well here and I struggle to make friends, because here if you're from like America, the uk, Austrailia they treat you like garbage because they think you are a millionaire and all that stupid talk... I still have a fair bit of cash from stuff like birthdays, old christmas cards,etc.. I dont smoke, or drink or have high expense hobbys.. I'm usually the guy that chills with 1 good friend at home, watch some movies, sleepover, all that stuff and go for cool evening walks. Cats are treated badly here, there aren't many indoor cats just stray cats, but there is an animal shelter about 20 minutes from me that I have yet to visit, but checked out their fb page and there are alot of cute little kittens ready for a new home. What should I do? Getting kittens is all I've ever wanted, maybe everyone else in my home will get to like them, I have the money, the perfect room for them, but how can I persuade my parents, especially my mom into letting me get them? She knows I can be responsible, I didn't like my dog at first but then we got along just fine and I walked him everyday and played with him to this day, she doesn't even have to see the kittens because she knows I keep my room clean and am always in the house so they don't cause any trouble. They still said they'd give me a graduation gift from last year, and know I'm not much of a social person, getting these kittens just makes me feel so much better about this whole situation and hey,, if they are too much the shelter will probably take them back :/. It just sucks that cats are so over populated now and are just left to die alone across the world and be abused by thousands of people, and why 3? The love triangle Please! I know 3 sounds like a handful but for the next few months I have all the time in the world, and even if i do go away a kitten all by itself can get lonely and anti-social, 2 kittens sounds better, but 3 just sounds perfect to me, I've wanted this for so long, and sorry this is too long, I appreciate your time if you actually read all this, and please try to reply, would mean so much through all this bs I'm going through now! 

If your dog is the only concern that's keeping you from getting kittens.. you can (hopefully) train your dog to accept the cats and leave them alone! It'll be more work to ensure your dog accepts the cats and a long time, I'm sure, for the collie to be left alone with them. The focus in short is training the dog (and provide lots of verticle space for the cats to get away from the dog if needed)

We do have an article here on introducing cats to dogs if you want to read up on it:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-dogs

Oh, and welcome to TCS!

Thank you very much! This seems very helpful and it could prove to my parents that I am responsible and very careful towards both the kittens and my dog. I have been researching my butt off for the past few weeks about everything, and this is by far one of the best articles, hopefully if I educate my parents with all this info I've gathered they may allow me to try and raise kittens 

Feel free to continue to ask questions. There are several members who has dogs and cats living in harmony and I am sure they'll be glad to offer their experiences!

You may want to rethink getting 3 kittens at once.  Keeping 3 in your room is going to be very messy. Think about just getting 1 to start with, it may be a lot easier to convince your parents that way too. The kitten would bond to you if there isn't another kitten, otherwise they will bond to each other. Cats aren't pack animals and do fine without other cats around.  Don't ever leave the kitten alone with the dog until you are 100% sure the dog will leave him alone. You will need to slowly introduce the kitten to the dog. Good luck!
 

I think only kittens grow up weird (LOL), and one might be lonely when you're out of the house, but I do think 2 would be better than 3. More kittens than hands might be difficult :lol3:. Plus, cats tend to pair up so when there's 3 there's always the odd one out.

But the biggest thing is your parents. For as long as you're living in their home, you have to abide by their wishes. It would be terrible to get kittens and they make you get rid of them later, especially since it doesn't seem like there are a lot of options for unwanted kitties in your area . It would be very unfair to the kitties for them to get attached to you and then you just dump them back at the shelter to be put to sleep, dying alone and scared with strangers (usually only little cute kittens make it out of shelters alive). You NEED to make sure that all members of your family are at least OK with you having cats. As to how to persuade them? Nobody can say; only you know your family members. You need to have a rational adult talk with them.

Plus, have you located a decent vet who can/will work with cats? Unneutered cats are generally awful creatures to live with indoors--spraying and yowling and other behaviors not compatible with human habitation. Not to mention that you would be up to your ears in even more kittens if you got a mixed-gender pair. So you definitely need to get them spayed/neutered in a timely manner, and that requires having a vet.