diff --git a/config.defaults.yaml b/config.defaults.yaml
index 88b3441f..12b96dc2 100644
--- a/config.defaults.yaml
+++ b/config.defaults.yaml
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ kowalski:
     bootstrap.test.servers: "localhost:9092"
     zookeeper.test: "localhost:2181"
     path: "kafka_2.13-3.4.1"
+    processes_per_topic:
+      ZTF: 2
 
   database:
     max_pool_size: 200
diff --git a/kowalski/alert_brokers/alert_broker_ztf.py b/kowalski/alert_brokers/alert_broker_ztf.py
index e25097fa..465aa4ee 100644
--- a/kowalski/alert_brokers/alert_broker_ztf.py
+++ b/kowalski/alert_brokers/alert_broker_ztf.py
@@ -317,8 +317,6 @@ def make_filter_templates(self, active_filters: Sequence):
                     self.verbose > 1,
                 ):
                     response = self.api_skyportal_get_group(active_filter["group_id"])
-                if self.verbose > 1:
-                    log(response.json())
                 if response.json()["status"] == "success":
                     group_name = (
                         response.json()["data"]["nickname"]
@@ -861,14 +859,46 @@ def watchdog(obs_date: str = None, test: bool = False):
                     for t in topics
                     if (datestr in t)
                     and ("programid" in t)
+                    and ("ztf" in t)
                     and ("zuds" not in t)
                     and ("pgir" not in t)
                 ]
             log(f"Topics: {topics_tonight}")
 
+            processes_per_topic = (
+                config["kafka"].get("processes_per_topic", {}).get("ZTF", 1)
+            )
+
             for t in topics_tonight:
-                if t not in topics_on_watch:
-                    log(f"Starting listener thread for {t}")
+                if t in topics_on_watch and len(topics_on_watch[t]) > 0:
+                    log(f"Performing thread health check for {t}")
+                    try:
+                        for i in range(len(topics_on_watch[t])):
+                            if not topics_on_watch[t][i].is_alive():
+                                log(f"Thread {i} topic {t} died, removing")
+                                topics_on_watch[t].pop(i)
+                            else:
+                                log(f"Thread {i} topic {t} appears normal")
+                        if len(topics_on_watch[t]) == 0:
+                            log(f"Topic {t} has no threads left, removing")
+                            topics_on_watch.pop(t)
+                    except Exception as _e:
+                        log(f"Failed to perform health check: {_e}")
+                        pass
+
+                if (
+                    t not in topics_on_watch
+                    or len(topics_on_watch[t]) < processes_per_topic
+                ):
+                    current_processes = 0
+                    missing_processes = processes_per_topic
+                    if t not in topics_on_watch:
+                        log(f"Starting listener thread(s) for {t}")
+                        topics_on_watch[t] = []
+                    else:
+                        log(f"Restarting missing listener thread(s) for {t}")
+                        current_processes = len(topics_on_watch[t])
+                        missing_processes -= len(topics_on_watch[t])
                     offset_reset = config["kafka"]["default.topic.config"][
                         "auto.offset.reset"
                     ]
@@ -878,32 +908,28 @@ def watchdog(obs_date: str = None, test: bool = False):
                         bootstrap_servers = config["kafka"]["bootstrap.test.servers"]
                     group = config["kafka"]["group"]
 
-                    topics_on_watch[t] = multiprocessing.Process(
-                        target=topic_listener,
-                        args=(t, bootstrap_servers, offset_reset, group, test),
-                    )
-                    topics_on_watch[t].daemon = True
-                    log(f"set daemon to true {topics_on_watch}")
-                    topics_on_watch[t].start()
+                    for _ in range(missing_processes):
+                        topics_on_watch[t].append(
+                            multiprocessing.Process(
+                                target=topic_listener,
+                                args=(t, bootstrap_servers, offset_reset, group, test),
+                            )
+                        )
 
-                else:
-                    log(f"Performing thread health check for {t}")
-                    try:
-                        if not topics_on_watch[t].is_alive():
-                            log(f"Thread {t} died, removing")
-                            # topics_on_watch[t].terminate()
-                            topics_on_watch.pop(t, None)
-                        else:
-                            log(f"Thread {t} appears normal")
-                    except Exception as _e:
-                        log(f"Failed to perform health check: {_e}")
-                        pass
+                    for i in range(current_processes, len(topics_on_watch[t])):
+                        topics_on_watch[t][i].daemon = True
+                        log(
+                            f"set daemon to true for thread {i} topic {topics_on_watch}"
+                        )
+                        topics_on_watch[t][i].start()
 
             if test:
                 time.sleep(120)
                 # when testing, wait for topic listeners to pull all the data, then break
                 for t in topics_on_watch:
-                    topics_on_watch[t].kill()
+                    for i in range(len(topics_on_watch[t])):
+                        topics_on_watch[t][i].kill()
+                        log(f"Test mode: Killed thread {i} - topic {t} after 120s")
                 break
 
         except Exception as e: