# Getting another cat or not



## Kcabrera3 (Jul 27, 2014)

I have been thinking and reading about introducing another cat to the house but I want to know your opinion:

1. It looks very difficult to have a nice pair of friends cats. Is it really that way?

2. I want my cat to have cat company. how did you know if you cat if one of those cat who like to be alone?

3. there is any "easy" or better way to choose a companion?

4. how many cats do you feel is idilic or perfect?


----------



## huckybuck (Jan 17, 2014)

Truthfully, I believe that cats are very happy solitary unless they are related. However I do think they can be company for each other, if not ever really friends. I think it's their temperament that dictates their tolerance more so than age (although that helps too) and in my opinion boys are much more easygoing than girls. They also learn from their own introduction and will copy that behaviour to future arrivals. 

For me the number of cats is dependant on the size of house and run/garden especially as we will only ever have house cats from now on. We've 3 non related and I am pushing for the 4th/5th as we do have quite a big house (having to work on husband though :-( so slow progress)


----------



## Ragdollsfriend (Feb 13, 2014)

I agree with huckybuck ^^ it depends on the "resident" cat's temperament. My Leo is a gentle giant so when his mate passed away last year, we adopted another kitty. The first few weeks were really tough but we managed with some expert help 

Just bear in mind that with 2 cats you can expect more frequent trips to the vets and slightly higher cost of food and cat litter. And twice as much fun and affection


----------



## Britt (May 18, 2014)

Sometimes it helps if they are the same age. I talked to people at the shelter who adopted a kitten while they already had an elderly cat and things were pretty though because the young one was very playful while the other wanted to take long naps. They ended up bringing back one of the cats


----------



## Kcabrera3 (Jul 27, 2014)

Ragdollsfriend said:


> I agree with huckybuck ^^ it depends on the "resident" cat's temperament. My Leo is a gentle giant so when his mate passed away last year, we adopted another kitty. The first few weeks were really tough but we managed with some expert help
> 
> Just bear in mind that with 2 cats you can expect more frequent trips to the vets and slightly higher cost of food and cat litter. And twice as much fun and affection


My cat is very quite and gentle. Don't get me wrong, he has a very strong temperament, but not for jumping. He follow me all the time and when I go to work he is alone... so I was thinking to get him a companionship. Why were they tough? they didn't like each other



Britt said:


> Sometimes it helps if they are the same age. I talked to people at the shelter who adopted a kitten while they already had an elderly cat and things were pretty though because the young one was very playful while the other wanted to take long naps. They ended up bringing back one of the cats


Thanks, I actually was thinking in taking in a kitten, because I thought it was going to be more easy to get used to us... Toby is tree to four yeas but he spend the most of the time sleeping. Perhaps a kitten is not such good idea.:confused5:


----------



## LostSoul (Sep 29, 2012)

My cats are Pea 11, Cookie 5 and 11 weeks old Finn. I've had them all since kittens, My older 2 are female and have been inseperable since the first day they met, i will add that cookie was only brought because Pea was grieving the loss of my older male cat and had become quite sick, my youngest is male and has been here since he was 6 weeks old, they get along great, for me introducing a kitten was easier than an older cat,
i make sure Finn has lots of things to play with so hes not bugging his sisters too much but they do play with him, in fact my 11 year old plays with him more than the 5 year old does.
they do all have their own space and places to go when they want time alone but i usually find the girls curled up together, they are never very far from each other.

It all really depends on the cat, in the past i had a cat Winnie who i brought up with other cats but she never liked them, even though they were here when i got her, she simply didnt like other cats in her space and wasnt affraid to let the cats know exactly how she felt but she loved humans and was a real people cat and a love bug...for 19 years she tolerated sharing her home but im sure she never really liked it...


----------



## Ragdollsfriend (Feb 13, 2014)

Kcabrera3 said:


> My cat is very quite and gentle. Don't get me wrong, he has a very strong temperament, but not for jumping. He follow me all the time and when I go to work he is alone... so I was thinking to get him a companionship. Why were they tough?


My resident cat Leo is 13 yrs old and the girl Daisy was then 7 yrs old. We adopted her as the previous owner needed to rehome her because she didn't get on with their other cats. So when she moved in with us, she was very hostile towards Leo and kept attacking him. We tried to introduce them slowly but had to get a pet behaviour expert involved as the situation wasn't getting better. Now they are fine. Leo is so easy going we knew he would be OK with a new friend. But we didn't expect the new comer to be the trouble maker :blushing:


----------



## sskmick (Feb 4, 2008)

I got two sibling moggies, then I decided I would like a Ragdoll. The siblings were a year old when we introduced Bellini who was about 5 months old. All my cats are neutered males, I have had no issues with them. I also own an entire Staffordshire Bull Terrier too. 

The key is the introducing/integration process, for me its a question of time and patience, keeping the new arrival safe until the resident cat(s) have settled down. I used an extra large dog crate for Bellini initially to introduce all resident pets one at a time safely, gradually increasing the number of pets until all resident pets were walking comfortably and freely around the crate, and no reaction from Bellini either.

Bellini had plenty of time out of the crate but the other pets were kept separated from him until such a time as I felt it safe to introduce one pet at a time outside the crate and again gradually increasing the number of pets until he was fully integrated.

Every owner will have their own methods of introducing a new cat to a resident cat(s)/dog(s). I don't believe there is a right or wrong way to integrate a new arrival, provided it works.

Don't expect them to be best mates within days, it may happen but it could take a long time. I think it was about two to three weeks before I felt able to leave them unsupervised together. 

All my cats are indoor cats, so to me it is important to have at least two cats, as they provide each other with stimulation and exercise in play. I did have two cats that were allowed to roam outside but before those two I only had one cat.

I have found with being a multi-cat home, they need to have enough room to have their own space to chill out, from time to time.


----------



## Saral (Aug 30, 2014)

I have 7 cats all are indoor cats and a range of ages Rena 18; Benson 10; Misty 7; Bella 5; Arco 5 months; Winnie & Bayton 3 months, half of which are rescue cats and found that they don't have to be related to be friends. The 2 youngest we're from different places and get along great. It took about 3 - 4 weeks for the others to accept them totally but all is well. As long as they have their own space they are happy to share the communal areas together.


----------



## huckybuck (Jan 17, 2014)

Kcabrera, I think the fact that Toby is male and still quite young will go in your favour. I do think if he is alone a lot a companion could be a good idea and actually a kitten/ younger cat might bring out the kitten again in him. They may not ever be great friends but purely just company. 

I'd probably bring a female in although I don't think it really matters, Toby would establish himself as top cat either way. 

If you do go ahead try to take some time off work for the intros. When we got Grace, I was astounded that Huck tolerated her within 24hrs, Holly still doesn't 6 months later lol but I trusted her enough to leave them alone after 3 days.

We tend to do the intros quite quickly which some PFs wouldn't agree with but it has worked for us. We would rather a couple of days of hissyfits then acceptance than a few weeks/months of grumpiness. We always make sure the original cats have space to get away from the newbie if they want it.

Hope this helps.


----------



## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

If your cat has been an only cat since he was a kitten, I would think very carefully before introducing another cat or kitten. Your cat will be used to having the home to himself and could find it hard to have to share it suddenly with another feline.

If you did decide to go ahead, I am not at all sure a kitten would be a good idea, as he/she will want to play a lot, and if your cat likes to sleep a lot he could get very irritated with a kitten bothering him. You would be better to get 2 kittens so they can play with each other whilst they are young, and leave your adult cat in peace.

Or go for a young adult female, e.g. from a Rescue. If you explain to the staff at the Shelter you are looking for a friendly laid back confident female who gets on well with other cats, they will direct you to suitable cats. Choose one on the basis of temperament, not looks.

Personally I am not one for quick introductions, when it comes to integrating new cats into the household. I do not like my cats to be stressed, and have found the best way to avoid this is by slow & gradual introductions. My two young females were not fully integrated with my adult boys for 3 or 4 months, and even now both social groups have their own parts of the house for sleeping, and are also fed there too.

During the integration process there was some initial hissing from the boys
but other than that no 'grumpiness' as such. If there had been grumpiness I would have known immediately that I was going at too fast pace, and would have thus gone back a step and moved forward again at a slower pace. At all times I was guided by my cats' reactions.


----------



## Kcabrera3 (Jul 27, 2014)

Saral said:


> I have 7 cats all are indoor cats and a range of ages Rena 18; Benson 10; Misty 7; Bella 5; Arco 5 months; Winnie & Bayton 3 months, half of which are rescue cats and found that they don't have to be related to be friends. The 2 youngest we're from different places and get along great. It took about 3 - 4 weeks for the others to accept them totally but all is well. As long as they have their own space they are happy to share the communal areas together.


What do you mean by their own space? Do you mean a room or just a bead and a litter trade?


----------



## huckybuck (Jan 17, 2014)

For us, just the ability to go to another room for some peace and quiet was enough. We would distract the kitten with play so it didn't follow. Most of ours actually preferred to keep an eye on what was going on though.

When we went from only cat to multi cat house our sole boy was 3. He didn't like us bringing another cat in and for the first few days hissed and growled every time the kitten came near. She learned to steer clear of him and eventually he gave up. After a few days he would eat next to her and after a few weeks would sleep on our bed while she was there. Apart from eating, for the first few weeks he would leave the room if she was in it. 

In my experience once the newcomer has fully taken on the home scent that's when they are accepted.


----------

