Company for kitten

Gregor Samsa

We got a kitten a couple of weeks ago from my girlfriend's aunt. His mother was only semi tame, and the kitten was quite wild and scared when we first got him, but after a day or two settled right down and is now very friendly and adorable.

We had originally planned on getting two kittens, but as soon as we had caught the one we have now, the rest disappeared, so we just had to go home with the one as it got too dark to look for them any more.

Like I say, we've had him for two weeks now (I'd say he'd be about 13 weeks old). How would he react if we were to get another kitten now? I'm not sure if we could get one of his siblings, as they haven't been seen since we took him (it's a big farm with a lot of buildings, etc, and it appears as if the mother moved the whole litter somewhere). Would there be fights? I don't want to disturb the little fella, but if another kitten would be company for him I'd like to get one. I'm just concerned that we should have got the two at the one time.

spank_inferno

We introduced our 2nd kitten at 13weeks to the first cat (then 4 months old)
There was a lot of agression, constant growling/spitting.
This lasted for a week by then you wonder if it will ever stop.

My recomendation is to be very affectionate to your first cat.
Show it that its still no1 and ie: put his food down first that kinda thing.

It doesnt affect the new kitten. He/she is just too busy getting used to its new home too! Once the older kitten feels assured that he is dominant then they will be friends.

You should definetly get 2 though, they are great company for each other.
Especialy if your away at work all day

doctor evil

Get another kitten and you`ll be fine.

Our man in Havana

Get another kitten or 2 & within a few days they will fine!

Themadhouse

The kitten will be fine, it'll be glad of a playmate.
You should expect a bit of hissing while they size each other up but with both of them being so young they will settle in just fine.

Laura~

Themadhouse wrote:

The kitten will be fine, it'll be glad of a playmate.
You should expect a bit of hissing while they size each other up but with both of them being so young they will settle in just fine.

I don't understand all these posters saying get another kitten. Cats are loners, they do not like each other, some even HATE other cats with a vengeance. You may end up with all sorts of behavioural problems. Cats are happiest with a one mile radius to themselves from all other cats, never mind sharing a roof with a stranger, not of the same litter.

If same litter, they would most likely - (not definitely) be fine, but there is a very high likelihood. Otherwise you are inviting trouble, for them and for you.

Trust me, your kitten does not want other feline company, only yours !

Themadhouse

Laura~ wrote:

I don't understand all these posters saying get another kitten. Cats are loners, they do not like each other, some even HATE other cats with a vengeance. You may end up with all sorts of behavioural problems. Cats are happiest with a one mile radius to themselves from all other cats, never mind sharing a roof with a stranger, not of the same litter.

If same litter, they would most likely - (not definitely) be fine, but there is a very high likelihood. Otherwise you are inviting trouble, for them and for you.

Trust me, your kitten does not want other feline company, only yours !

Do you have cats yourself?
We have 7 cats in the house at the minute and believe me they all get on. Every now and again we might have an alpha issue but it never comes to anythhing. your idea that cats are loners is just about as untrue as the idea that cats are independent and can look after them selves.
A kitten has been used to having other cats to play with in its litter and it will love to have a olaymate, from the same litter or not. Can you imagine the boredom of having nothing to do and no one to talk to all day!
My cats live inside, they dont need to be a mile apart, they wash each other, they are not all from the same litter, they sometimes even sleep together.
We also take in foster cats for a local cat rescue and these are some times, feral, semi feral or domestic and we have NEVER had a problem with mixing them.

Laura~

Yeah, I do - and my cat absolutely HATES other cats with a vengeance. The only cat she tolerates anywhere near her is her daughter, although they never lived in the same house, they lived next door to each other for years and our cat made certain that her daughter did not come into our house - she was allowed in the garden, fullstop.

I boarded her from time to time at a fabulous cattery in Naas - they have been going for years and really look after the cats well. The owner there commented to me on just how much our cat hates other cats. And not surprising really as she agreed that its the most common mistake cat owners make, wanting to get a cat for "company" for their cat as what the cat is really thinking about the other cat in its household is "Why don't you go for a nice walk there out on the road, underneath the wheels of that car ?"

Its great that you think it has worked out for you but I would not inflict it on my beautiful baby girl as she has made her wishes crystal clear in the matter.

whisht

Themadhouse wrote:

Do you have cats yourself?
We have 7 cats in the house at the minute and believe me they all get on. Every now and again we might have an alpha issue but it never comes to anythhing. your idea that cats are loners is just about as untrue as the idea that cats are independent and can look after them selves.
A kitten has been used to having other cats to play with in its litter and it will love to have a olaymate, from the same litter or not. Can you imagine the boredom of having nothing to do and no one to talk to all day!
My cats live inside, they dont need to be a mile apart, they wash each other, they are not all from the same litter, they sometimes even sleep together.
We also take in foster cats for a local cat rescue and these are some times, feral, semi feral or domestic and we have NEVER had a problem with mixing them.

Agree 100% with the above.
We have 6 cats and they all get on brilliantly together and always have done. From time to time, very rarely, they will get carried away playing with each other but it never amounts to more than a few minutes of a standoff

Themadhouse

Laura~ wrote:

Its great that you think it has worked out for you but I would not inflict it on my beautiful baby girl as she has made her wishes crystal clear in the matter.

You are doing the right thing for your cat which is great, i dont think she hates other cats at home it's just that she's used to her place just being hers and that is why she will aggressively protect her area. With the cattery, any cat will show signs of disliking other cats as they hate to be taken out off their own eniroment and brought somewhere new. Imagine all the scents of different cats there and your cat arriving to a situation like that where she's used to having her scent everywhere and now she faces not having anything that is hers. Cats can get possessive about their space and somewhere new with anothers scent on it will make them hiss and spit at other cats. Hiss and spit with cats is not as bad as people think, it's a way of communication for cats, it doesn't mean " i hate you".

Irish-Lass

Laura~ wrote:

I don't understand all these posters saying get another kitten. Cats are loners, they do not like each other, some even HATE other cats with a vengeance. You may end up with all sorts of behavioural problems. Cats are happiest with a one mile radius to themselves from all other cats, never mind sharing a roof with a stranger, not of the same litter.

Have to disagree with this totally......we have a brother and sister both are coming up to 6 years old.....we had them 3 years when we got another female.....we then got a male last September (ex-feral) and my cats will all sleep on the bed together I have picture of them literally wrapped around each other for company, they actively seek each other out so that they can interact. We are also fostering a mammy and her 4 kittens she came to us before she had her kittens and she intergrated into the house perfectly we rescued a kitten on Sunday and he is now playing with all the other cats, add to that 3 dogs.

One of our cats can be a little funny around cats especailly other females but I don't agree with your statement that all cats are loners.....thats like saying all people are loners, each cat has a different personality and its only when you have 2 or more cats you realises how different they are.

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

spank_inferno wrote:

You should definetly get 2 though, they are great company for each other.
Especialy if your away at work all day

i didnt think cats needed that much company? unlike dogs!!!

spank_inferno

well the cat may not need company like it needs food and water.
But it is still nice for the cat to have company.

Outdoor cats it may not be an issue, but think of appartment dwelling cats looking at the same walls every single day....

twh

I have 3 cats who have all come to me at different times. Initially there are a few alpha issues, but I also occasionally have foster cats in too and they have all been fine. My guys chat to each other and love to sleep in a big fur ball. One of my favorite things is to watch them wash and groom each other. Having started with 1 cat and introduced another I can really see their individual qualities and character quirks emerge. They love to play with each other. This is a pic from when mine were tiny

Laura~

Themadhouse wrote:

Hiss and spit with cats is not as bad as people think, it's a way of communication for cats, it doesn't mean " i hate you".

You clearly haven't met my cat !!!

Laura~

Laura~ wrote:

You clearly haven't met my cat !!!

By the way she (female) has done a lot worse than hiss and spit, chasing every male except for the one (dominant male in the area who proceeded to attack her) out of our garden at our old house. Males do not generally challenge females, but there you go - my cat means business.

On one visit to the cattery, she was put into her own regular garden. They have a wire mesh between each of the gardens. In the garden next to her were a family of three cats, two beautiful pedigree cats and one small black kitten who was really taken by my (also black) cat. The black kitten, who obviously spent her life looking at these two beautifully manicured "twins" may have been attracted because my cat looked like herself (black). In a very friendly gesture she came right over to the wire mesh to get a better look at my cat and say hello.

For her trouble, my cat punched her in the face - and no, I did not see it coming !!! Mortification. Funny story as in how do you teach your cat some manners, but that's the cat world for you. She was in a bad humour at being taken to the cattery and she didn't care what cute little thing felt the brunt of her anger.

mjffey

Laura,

Your cat behaves like that because she is an only cat in your household and gets all the attention. If you would have had another cat you wouldn't have this problem.

At the max we had 12 cats, the oldest 24, the youngest a few months and they all got on very well.

We also have a boarding kennel for cats where all cats can walk free 24/7. If they are new to the kennels they spend the first day seperate to see how they react to other cats. If that is ok, we open the door and they can go in and out as they like.
We never have fights. Reason: As the cats are out of their own environment they don't have to defend anything.

Laura~

wow, that sounds really interesting - I haven't heard of a cattery that dared to do that before. Would love to see it in action. It's amazing.


Unfortunately, my cat's daughter was around her all the time at our old house, the only cat she would tolerate and they played together in the garden and defended the territory together. However, competition between them resulted in our cat developing cystitis - the cat prevented her from going to the toilet in our garden and she far preferred that to her indoor kitty litters. So, I have had the vet bills and other problems associated with a second cat even though it wasn't mine. Even took her daughter with us when we moved as both owners feared they would be "lonely" without each other. It didn't work out for either of them. Other cat was outdoors cat all the time and hid all day under a bed and cried all night at our new house for two weeks before we brought it back to its own environment. We had to keep them in with at new house, for reasons I won't go into - but for their own safety, with access to a large cage. Unfortunately other cat was determind to scale the cage, mission impossible style, despite many interventions, whereas my own cat has tested it and accepted that she can no longer get out of it now as she is both an indoors/outdoors cat. Been there, done that.

Laura~

I should add that at our old house, a regular scene was the other cat sitting minding her own business on top of 6 ft wall between both our garden and next door's garden (ther other cat's owners' house) . Our cat would regularly come up behind her and just bat her off the wall, sending her flying to the ground. "This is my space, ok, gettit ?" So, they both created problems for each other.

mjffey

Laura~ wrote:

wow, that sounds really interesting - I haven't heard of a cattery that dared to do that before. Would love to see it in action. It's amazing.

www.catsonly.eu

We are from The Netherlands and there it's normal to have open plan catteries. 99 out of 100 kennels will be open plan.
If all the cats are vaccinated, you have enough fresch air going through the kennels and your cleaning and desinfecting is good, then there is no problem doing it our way.

As we also have a lot of long term guests (4 weeks+) we want to make them as comfortable as possible.

JasperMcEwan

If anyone is interested in company for their cats we have two kittens looking for a good home. They are used to the company of other cats, we have 5 at the moment. They are 9 weeks old and we are willing to deliver within reason to the greater Dublin, Louth, Meath area. Check them out. If interested PM me.

alexdenby6

my cat doesnt like other cats, or dogs, but my cousins have two sisters that suckled a male cat that they already had and they regularly sleep together and clean each other, all 3 of them.