Maine Coon kitten and multiple cat home questions

[autumngems]

I currently have a lovely cat that is just at a year old and she is spayed, I am looking to get a Maine Coon kitten and I have some questions and I hope some of you fellow cat owners can answer.

First of all being that my cat is 1 year, would it not work to introduce another cat into the house?
What sex? Would it matter what sex kitten I bring into the house as far as them getting along?
Does anyone know of any good breeders? I am looking for a Maine Coons with the typical European look not the round face?

 

[LAJennifer]

I don't know much specifically about the Maine Coon breed, but I would always recommend never having more than one female as they often compete for dominance. Get her a little brother and make sure to do a slow introduction.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

I personally have always had only one male cat at a time, at one point I had three females and one male and didn't have any problems with fighting or dominance, they were all spayed and neutered. They all got on okay and were all different ages.

Actually I think one is still young enough to enjoy the company of a boisterous kitten. Can't help you in the breeder department though sorry!

 

[ecf8503]

I'm a veterinarian - worked in cat practices for years. Personally I currently have 9 - 3 boys, 6 girls, one of which is a kitten. Makes no difference genderwise IMO. I don't even do slow intros any more - just set the kitten down in the litterbox (so the rest of the house becomes in-relation-to-the-litterbox) and let them explore. The older ones will be curious, will hiss and growl, but never once have I had an aggressive reaction. Our 10 week old kitten has been here a little over a week now, and she's fitting in just fine. I can't help with breeder recs; all I can say is do your homework.

 

[Ally T]

I'm in the UK & growing up we had 4 cats: a pure white tom, who was from the farm across the track, a beautiful Abersynian tom who cost my father £700 in 1989 (!!!) and two Main Coons, male & female. There was no introduction period, the Main Coons were just thrown into the mix when the other two were around 18 months old. They were all fine & I don't ever recall any fighting apart from the odd spit over food or a toy. But I have 3 siblings & there was never any cat squabble about comfy knees to sleep on, as in a family of 6 there was plenty of choice!

 

[Babyblue033]

Another mixed gender household here. 4 boys and 3 girls. From my personal experience, whether they get along or not had more to do with individual personalities of each cat more so than genders. I also never bothered with proper introductions, but I knew my existing cats personalities to know that they would be fine with the new additions, although my new additions were always kittens and easily accepted.

 

[distracts]

If you like the more European look for Maine Coons, that's going to be a bit harder to find. Look at TICA and CFA winners and see which club's style you like more and then email the club to get a list of breeders. I think it is TICA that has the wilder look right now but CFA may be starting to go that direction. You may also want to look into European breeders - either way, you may be on a waitlist and flying the kitten into your nearest airport.

Good luck! I am soon to be getting a 4-month-old Ragdoll kitten (couldn't get him earlier because of my vacation schedule) and introducing him to my 6.5-year-old Ragdoll. I've never had more than one cat before and never had a kitten so I'm a little nervous. Since I have a low-key male, the breeder recommended another male. I always hear that females are more dominant but idk how true that is.

Here is one I just found by googling that has catss that are http://www.metatroneyes.com/

 

[Bron357]

My mum has always had two cats. She’s had two boys, two girls and one of each over the past 50 odd years. When one passed, another one (kitten or rescue) would come on home. Some were better friends than others but there were no real issues ever. Cats seem to sort it out amongst themselves. The older cat will just jump up higher if the little one is being a pest!

 

[missy]

I'm a veterinarian - worked in cat practices for years. Personally I currently have 9 - 3 boys, 6 girls, one of which is a kitten. Makes no difference genderwise IMO. I don't even do slow intros any more - just set the kitten down in the litterbox (so the rest of the house becomes in-relation-to-the-litterbox) and let them explore. The older ones will be curious, will hiss and growl, but never once have I had an aggressive reaction. Our 10 week old kitten has been here a little over a week now, and she's fitting in just fine. I can't help with breeder recs; all I can say is do your homework.

Yes to all of @ecf8503's wise recommendations. We only () have 4 rescues (3 boys and one girl and we noticed no differences with male vs female in how they get along but they are all neutered) but we adopted them all at different times and just introduced them almost immediately when they came into our home. I think we kept them separated like for 2 hours and then just let them loose to explore and after some (sometimes much) hissing etc they all became fast friends. It is heartwarming seeing them all play and groom and love each other and just hang out together. So worth it. And I think it is great to have more than one cat because cats are social animals and love the company. Good luck!!!

 

[dkata]

I have 2 Maine Coons and have had 3 until last November, but unfortunately my orange Beauty-Kitty died.

Originally, 9 years ago I have bought one male, and 3 months later an other male from an other litter. They were best friends, as there was only a small age difference.

Then unfortunately the first one died with 2.5 years. At first I didn’t wanted to have a new cat, but my cat was so alone, he needed company.

So 2 months later I have found the orange kitty. I wanted to pick only him, but my husband really loved his sister, so we took two, one boy and one girl

All of my cats are spayed, but the 2 males never really got along. There were no real fights, just small things, but they never loved eachother.

My old guy and the girl always got along well, and still do, as my orange kitty has died last year with 5.5 years.

So long story short, I would by an opposit sex kitty, because my experience is, after a certain age difference they get along better.