Adopting a new cat/kitten question. Help!

[bubbly1126]

I have a 5 year old female cat (posted pics of her in the fur-babies thread) that FF and I adopted when she was just 6 weeks old. When we lived with his mother, she had taken in 3 stray cats and my cat- Isabel- was NOT happy. One of the 3 strays was a female and the other two male. Isabel would hiss or try to attack the one male and the female but not the other male. She never really bothered with the one but heaven forbid the other two even come remotely close to her she went crazy! I'd like to point out that she was the first cat in that household and had been there since she were a baby. The other 3 came when she was about 3 years old.

Could she have reacted that way b/c she felt it was her territory, especially because she had been the sole cat for so long?

I am planning to go today to adopt another cat or kitten and I am not really quite sure what to get.

A kitten? Will she be a little more adaptable to a little baby?
Or a cat about the same age as her? (My thinking is that this is NOT a good idea, as a cat her age will probably be set in it's own ways, just like Isabel and they'd most likely clash. But I could most definitely be wrong.)
I would like a kitten so he/she could grow up with us but would also like an older cat b/c well, I would like to think that I am saving a little kitty life here... I know that the older they get the more likely they are to be put down if they don't find a home. I know in the end that I am saving some cat's life so it shouldn't make a difference what I get, right?

Now once I figure that out, I have another thing to consider:

A male or female? -I've been told to get another female by some and then to get a male by others. I have no idea!

Help!


ETA: My initial reason for even getting another cat is because most often I feel that my cat gets lonely... at night and during the day when FF and I are both gone at work. I just feel bad that it's only her. Ahh. Or maybe she likes it that way?

ETAA: My cat is fixed. Any other cat I get would also be fixed.

 

[bubbly1126]

Forgot to add that we are now living in our own place where she is the ONLY animal.

 

[Steel]

I would vote for the kitten and suggest you get a boy.

We currently have 2 cats (4, boy and almost 2, girl) when a teeny kitten (boy) walked into our lives a few months ago. There was hissing everywhere (the kitten did all the hissing) and it got a hiss or paw scratch if it ventured too close to either mature cat. Now it is about to be neutered and life is rosy, the younger adult girl cat and the boy kitten play most of the day and the older boy cat is happy to live alongside the new arrival - just as long as it respects his personal space.

I decided to feed the kitten seperately in case the cats got funny but have noticed the older cats eat the kitten's food now so I will let them share once he is fixed.

Best of luck, kittens are the best, but cats are better

.

 

[Haven]

I''d also recommend a boy kitty. Females tend to get more territorial, especially over time. We had two sisters, Boots and Mazi, whom we adopted when they were itty bitty kitties. They were best friends until they became old ladies, at which point they started hissing and cacking at each other. It was the strangest thing. I grew up with cats, as did my DH, and we three boys of our own, now. We''ve both noticed how boys are generally more easy going, and they tend to do better with other kitties than the girls do.

I think a kitten might be easier because he probably will be less set in his ways. However, there are a lot of older cats that need good homes, too, and if you find an adult male who steals your heart, do take him home! Whenever we introduce a new guy to the old regime we keep them in separate rooms for a few days, and then slowly introduce them to each other over time. Our three boys were all from different litters, DH adopted them about a month apart each, and now they sleep together every single day. They''re all tabbies, so sometimes they look like a three headed kitty monster. It took a bit of time, but they really like the company. Cats are not the solitary animals that people often think they are.

Enjoy your new kitty! Thank you so much for adopting.

 

[Steel]

Date: 11/23/2008 11:49:32 AM
Author: Haven
I''d also recommend a boy kitty. Females tend to get more territorial, especially over time. We had two sisters, Boots and Mazi, whom we adopted when they were itty bitty kitties. They were best friends until they became old ladies, at which point they started hissing and cacking at each other. It was the strangest thing. I grew up with cats, as did my DH, and we three boys of our own, now. We''ve both noticed how boys are generally more easy going, and they tend to do better with other kitties than the girls do.

I think a kitten might be easier because he probably will be less set in his ways. However, there are a lot of older cats that need good homes, too, and if you find an adult male who steals your heart, do take him home! Whenever we introduce a new guy to the old regime we keep them in separate rooms for a few days, and then slowly introduce them to each other over time. Our three boys were all from different litters, DH adopted them about a month apart each, and now they sleep together every single day. They''re all tabbies, so sometimes they look like a three headed kitty monster. It took a bit of time, but they really like the company. Cats are not the solitary animals that people often think they are.

Enjoy your new kitty! Thank you so much for adopting.

Too funny Haven, and great advice!

 

[bubbly1126]

Thanks everyone!!

I''m off to pick up my FMIL and then we''re headed to hopefully get Isabel a new friend!!

Yay! I''m excited!

 

[Elmorton]

Ditto to kitten. I agree with Haven in that if it''s possible to adopt an adult cat a person should. I used to volunteer at a shelter and it broke my heart to see the older cats because folks would walk in to see them first, and then walk out of the shelter with a kitten. I would literally get tears in my eyes when I''d walk in to the adult cat room and see that one of the guys had left, since some cats had been in the shelter where I volunteered for years.

However, if you want the cats to get along, you have a much, much better chance having them bond if you get a kitten - DH and I went to the shelter and tried very hard to find an older cat, but in our case, we didn''t find a cat that we bonded with and we couldn''t bear the thought of adopting a cat and having to return it to the shelter. Morty (first cat - at the time he was about year and a half old) has a really fickle personality, and the biggest reason we were looking to get another cat was because Morty had taken to attacking me (I was in grad school and gone for long hours) when he wanted to play. So, knowing that we had a cat who was not going to be even tempered with a new guy made it very difficult for us.

We looked for a kitten who was "scrappy" - we wanted a kitten that was small enough that Morty could feel like he was the dominant cat but we also didn''t want to introduce a little defenseless kitten into a situation with a big mean cat. My vet had a bunch of kittens that needed to be adopted, and the second I saw Elmo, I called DH to say I''d found the perfect kitty. When I first saw him, Elmo was jumping all over his litter mates and basically being the litter bully. He''s like the energizer bunny - he was into EVERYTHING when we got him out to play. He was also not too small - probably about 11, 12 weeks?

When we brought Elmo home, we separated the cats for about an hour before letting them see each other (this was in a small, 2 room apartment). Morty ran under the couch and Elmo followed. After about an hour of running away from each other, sniffing each other, then running away, Morty seemed to calm down - but there was some hissing and a lot of "fat tail."

A day later, they were cuddling together to sleep.

Oh - both are males, too. Agreed about less territorial (neutered, of course).

That said, some cats will just never warm up to another cat. My MIL got a kitten for an older cat (about 8 years old) shortly after her other cat died, and the older cat just hissed at the kitten for weeks. She ended up getting a second kitten so the first kitten would have a buddy. The older cat never warmed up to the other two.

 

[LAJennifer]

Date: 11/23/2008 10:15:32 AM
Author:inhisarms17
I have a 5 year old female cat (posted pics of her in the fur-babies thread) that FF and I adopted when she was just 6 weeks old. When we lived with his mother, she had taken in 3 stray cats and my cat- Isabel- was NOT happy. One of the 3 strays was a female and the other two male. Isabel would hiss or try to attack the one male and the female but not the other male. She never really bothered with the one but heaven forbid the other two even come remotely close to her she went crazy! I''d like to point out that she was the first cat in that household and had been there since she were a baby. The other 3 came when she was about 3 years old.

Could she have reacted that way b/c she felt it was her territory, especially because she had been the sole cat for so long?

I am planning to go today to adopt another cat or kitten and I am not really quite sure what to get.

A kitten? Will she be a little more adaptable to a little baby?
Or a cat about the same age as her? (My thinking is that this is NOT a good idea, as a cat her age will probably be set in it''s own ways, just like Isabel and they''d most likely clash. But I could most definitely be wrong.)
I would like a kitten so he/she could grow up with us but would also like an older cat b/c well, I would like to think that I am saving a little kitty life here... I know that the older they get the more likely they are to be put down if they don''t find a home. I know in the end that I am saving some cat''s life so it shouldn''t make a difference what I get, right?

Now once I figure that out, I have another thing to consider:

A male or female? -I''ve been told to get another female by some and then to get a male by others. I have no idea!

Help!


ETA: My initial reason for even getting another cat is because most often I feel that my cat gets lonely... at night and during the day when FF and I are both gone at work. I just feel bad that it''s only her. Ahh. Or maybe she likes it that way?

ETAA: My cat is fixed. Any other cat I get would also be fixed.

Get a male. More than one female in the house will cause them to compete for dominance.

 

[AmberGretchen]

So, a couple of weeks ago I would have said boy kitten.

BUT, I actually just had a fantastic training with the cat behaviorists (who are really cutting-edge experts in their fields) at the shelter where I volunteer on this very issue (as well as others of course) - to help counsel potential adopters like yourself.

Interestingly, they said, it doesn''t really matter so much kitten or adult, male or female, although that is the conventional wisdom. But all of the most recent data and research suggests that two things are far more important:

1. The personalities of the cats involved. This is actually easier to determine with an adult cat, because their personalities are more established. There are different methods of assessing a cat''s personality - the shelter where I volunteer uses a pretty elaborate, color-coded system, but it doesn''t have to be that fancy.

2. How they are introduced. Introducing the kitties slowly and gradually is absolutely crucial in ensuring they get along. There are several threads on PS about this from people who had to do the intro process with their kitties and some great, detailed advice there.

 

[Babyblue033]

Date: 11/23/2008 4:17:50 PM
Author: AmberGretchen
1. The personalities of the cats involved. This is actually easier to determine with an adult cat, because their personalities are more established.

I cannot agree with this more, and I think this is something that is most often overlooked. Most people believes getting a kitten guarantees smooth introduction and bonding, but in my experience a rambunctious fearless kitten can too much for many cats - Just ask my boys!

As much as I love kittens, I always see them as a gamble because you just don''t know what you''re getting. That''s half the fun of course, but not if your other cat doesn''t see the humor in it

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 11/23/2008 5:24:41 PM
Author: Babyblue033

Date: 11/23/2008 4:17:50 PM

Author: AmberGretchen

1. The personalities of the cats involved. This is actually easier to determine with an adult cat, because their personalities are more established.

I cannot agree with this more, and I think this is something that is most often overlooked. Most people believes getting a kitten guarantees smooth introduction and bonding, but in my experience a rambunctious fearless kitten can too much for many cats - Just ask my boys!

As much as I love kittens, I always see them as a gamble because you just don''t know what you''re getting. That''s half the fun of course, but not if your other cat doesn''t see the humor in it

Thanks Babyblue - you say it so well, especially having had recent experience. Our kitten, when we got him, was a little much for our older girls, but they were (and are) fairly well matched in personality, and we were very careful and slow with the introductions.