AliceQ

We adopted a cat, Charlie, 3 years ago from our local animal rescue center. He's been the best pet! We are considering adopting a second cat. I notice many of you have cat 'helpers' when you show pics of your sewing sessions. If you have more than one did you get them at the same time? Did they get along well from the start? Do they need separate feeding dishes? Litter boxes? Charlie is an indoor cat who loves sitting at our many windows watching the birds and animals outside. The second cat will also be kept inside. Having had Charlie for 3 years now, is it too late to bring another into our home? Thanks in advance for any advice!

Wanabee Quiltin

My friend Linda got a new kitty and it is really mean to her older cat. She did everything you are supposed to do when you bring a new cat into your home, but it didn't work. Usually the cat who lives there first is dominant but not always. I had two cats but they totally ignored each other, very different personalities. One wanted your lap and the other wanted to be outside bringing snakes home to us.

Battle Axe

Is Charlie a male and is he neutered? How does he react to other cats? My best scenario is to get a kitten, preferable female if Charlie is a male, that is the magic age. About 3-4 months. They are old enough to be on their own and yet if Charlie doesn't like them, these slightly older kittens can defend themselves.

I've had a disaster trying to put two grown cats together. Eventually I took the newest one back. She had been an "only cat" in the previous household.

There is a series of U-Tubes for Friskies called " Dear Kitten". That is worth watching.

kittiebug

I had a older cat about 14t years , I adopted 2 kittens they all got along . keep them apart for one week and when they came out of there room , they just sniffed the older cat . and walked around the whole house. what
a joy they where .

Teacup

Might want to look for kitten/young cat that is gentle natured and laid back. That might reduce some of the initial friction. Be sure to neuter as soon as possible. Expect to have some hissy fits and territorial issues for a while but generally it should subside in a few weeks as they work it out. One of the funniest things I ever saw was a few weeks after we brought in a female kitten who loved to play and just pestered our older tom cat. One day he pinned her on her side and just sat on top of her...wouldn't let her up. I couldn't quit laughing. They worked out their relationship and did great.

Separate litter boxes and feeding bowls near each other might be good to start. Our cats always ended up sharing eventually.

canmitch1971

We got a new kitten a year ago hoping that it would get along with our grumpy female but she hates the new cat. He wants to play and she just hisses. I feel sorry for Oliver because she won't play with him at all.

lynnie

Our Zoey, a Russian blue is the bee's knees. We love her and she's smart
and has about a 12 word vocabulary. Suer affectionate. she sleeps under
the quilts with us, and comes to dinner when called. We figured we'd try another
cat. The first was a kitten. WOW, what a negative response, she kept going over
to the ame area with a 'stank' face. A year later, we tried with a cat. same thing.
We love her dearly and don't want to change her personality, so we remain a one cat
house. Just wanted to let you know our experience. good luck, I don't want to tell
anyone what to do, but i let you know our experience.

eimay

We've had a two cat, three cat and one cat experience. The best were the two and three cat experiences. The two cats were adopted as kittens together (not littermates, both male (neutered)). My daughter had to give up a female cat (spayed) because she began bad habits when they adopted a male kitten.(neutered)), so we adopted her. She got along fine with our two males. I really think it all depends on the personalities of the cats. Could be bad, could be good

tlpa

I have a cat & dog of my own, and I foster cats and dogs for a local animal shelter. The cats I foster are usually sick, so I keep them separated, but once the fosters are well, I will test to see if my cat will tolerate them roaming around. Only once in the years I have been fostering did he like another cat. I fostered an orange tabby, and my cat took to him immediately, following him around, and basically couldn't get enough of him. It was so cute. Mine is a cream tabby, and I thought perhaps the foster felt like a long lost sibling. I rescued a stray cat and took her to the animal shelter I foster for to see if they would find her a home. They said she was unadoptable due to age and having only a few teeth, so I took her home. I haven't found her a home, so the two have had to adjust. I would separate them when I wasn't home and would keep a close eye on them when I was. The stray still liked to go outside, and mine doesn't, so that helped. It has taken 2 years, and they are now okay together and will occasionally play together. Since you can never tell about personalities, try to have the two meet before adopting. Animal shelters will allow you to bring your cat to the shelter to see if the two make a good fit.

germanquilter

I have posted this on another thread about multiple cat adoptions on this site: We have had multiple cats for the past 30 years and every time I have introduced a new member to the household, I will put the newbie in a separate room for 7-10 days to get the other cats used to the "intruder". Give it its own litterbox, bed etc in that room. Cats are naturally territorial and seldom will accept a new cat right of the bat unless they are very young kittens. Your cat is still young so I would make sure to get a kitten around 4-6 months old. Since you have a tom cat, I would get a female kitten. Opposite sexes tend to get along better. Make sure they are both neutered though! Go to an adoptive place that fosters cats in homes since the cats will be better socialized. You can also see which cat will be shy, friendly, good with other cats etc in that environment. After separating the cats for 2-3 days, put your original kitty up in your bedroom with its litterbox and let your new cat out of its confinement to roam through the house. Always supervise. Then put the newbie back in its room and let your cat out to roam. You are trying to get them used to their scents. After 6-7 days you can try to introduce them to each other while supervising. This requires some work but we have never had issues with cats hating each other when introducing them this way. Some have become best buds, some have gotten along without getting too cozy. The younger they were, the better they adapted. They tend to want their own food bowls but should be fine with one water dish (I have a fountain). Good luck I have three cats at the moment, all introduced at separate times and all rescues. My 4 year old female and 5 year old male (introduced to each other at 5 weeks and 1 year respectively) are the best of friends. My 12 year old female tolerated them both but gets along better with the other female in the sense that they actually cuddle up at times. Oh, I have two litter boxes for the three cats but have also had two litter boxes for two cats. Good luck