Getting a second cat

sparkle_23

My boyf and I are considering adopting a little buddy for Pepper. We live in a 1 bed apartment but there are people in our building with multiple cats and dogs in the same size apartment! Pepper is 10 months old and female, if we were to get another cat should we get a male or female? Kitten or maybe older? We have been thinking about this for a while and probably will be another couple of months before we get a kitty but I'm just looking for some advice!

sawdoubters

http://www.perfectpaws.com/intro.html

SillyMangoX

It really depends on the cat, like Peach absolutely hates other females, but she will tolerate males. Cream gets on great with females but gets bullied by males. Dude gets on with males but females hate him (he does try to be friends!) so maybe the best thing would be to contact a rescue that will allow you to foster a kitty, see how they get on with pepper and if they don't get on you can keep fostering till you find he perfect friend! She is young enough that she should accept another cat in her life! Has she met any other cath before?

boomerang

As a general rule, it is harder to get a female to accept a newcomer in the home than it is were your existing cat a male.

There are ways to ensure that the introductions are managed for the best chance of success. This might be tricky in an apartment where you mightn't have enough space to provide a "safe room" for the new kitty for the first weeks while your cat adjusts. Bear in mind that cats don't generally form social bonds with other cats unless they are raised together from kittenhood or they have adapted to live in a colony situation as ferals do. Most cats don't have a need for company outside of what their owners provide and will at best tolerate the addition of another cat to the household. Your cat may not want or need a kitty companion.

Being realistic, consider what backup you would have from the rescue or whoever you adopt from, should things not work out and think about how you would feel about having to hand the new cat back.

sparkle_23

She has been around my boyfs moms cats.. she wants to play and they are like grumpy old men!

I knew we should have got 2 kittens when we adopted her.. too bad her sister was already taken.

The humane society here are good are taking back a cat if it doesn't work out... but I don't know if I could do that. We are hoping to move to a bigger in place in August so maybe we could wait until then when we could use the second bedroom as a safe room. We are crazy about our little Pepper and wouldn't want to upset her

sparkle_23

Fostering is definitely something I will do when we have a bigger place! I'd help the shelter and perhaps we would find a nice kitty that would get on with Pep

morgana

Introducing a new cat is a tricky business, we did it last year and it was a nerve-wracking three months before things settled down finally.
A safe room or space is essential for either cat so they have somewhere to go without being hassled by the other. Keep them apart for at least a few days, maybe putting things with the other cats' scent next to the sleeping spot of the other. There are a few tricks and it will take time.
If pepper is playful, she might like a kitten, they are fearless until they learn cat etiquette.

rannerap

I adopted a second kitten (Umi) to give my first kitten (Blue) a companion. I adopted Blue when she was about 9 weeks old and I had her about 3 months before I got Umi. Umi is a month younger. It took a while for them to get along, and they still arent really friends. Occasionally I see Umi grooming Blue but have never seen Blue grooming Umi. They tend to fight a bit with Blue being more of a bully, although I have to say that a lot of the time Umi brings it on herself. I have seen her bite Blues leg or attack her tail when shes relaxing. Very very rarely I will find them cuddled up together. I think its Blue thats the problem. She doesnt really gel with other cats. When the visiting cats come around Umi tries to play and is very curious, Blue is just hostile. I think she would have preferred being an only cat if I'm honest. She is far less affectionate now that when we just had her!

Pumpkinseeds

I would wait until you've moved to a bigger place to be honest. It's really important to have a safe room, just for the new arrival, it really does make a huge difference. Our adult males accepted an adult female and a female foster kitten without much trouble, but cats are matriarchal anyway.

Our female cat isn't too thrilled about her. We have 4 adult cats and a lot of friction between 2 of them. If you have a safe room it gives you a way of keeping them apart as well if there are any problems. Definitely do the slow introductions if you do get another cat.

Nody

Beyond all advice given about bigger place I'd go for male kitten (but only after you've neutered your current one is not) around 3 to 6 months old but there may be older cats that are suitable as well (the shelter should be able to advise on this depending on your cat's attitude at the time to playing etc.). Young cats can be somewhat molded to your cat but an adult cat with already developed attitude can be a perfect fit instead; so don't lock yourself one way or the other.

Fostering is your best bet for starters as it will let you go through and learn the standard routines for introduction and don't worry to much over some hissing and growling; that's all par for each cat telling the other it's limits but it should stop over time until you find a good match.