Getting a new kitty...

[imagirliegirl]

We have been talking about getting a kitten. I think it would be really good for Princess (once she adjusts) to have a brother. Plus, I just love kitties and we are in a position to have another.

I'm just worried that she'll never forgive me! I figure getting a kitten will be best because it will be smaller and less of a shock. When I used to have my rabbit (before he passed:( ) it took her about a week to adjust to him, then she loved him.

So anyway, think I'll have the same luck with a kitten? Is there anything I can do to help her transition easier?

[Tonysweetie]

I have the same question

[ruledbymercury]

We adopted Logan when he was 2 months old back in August of 2004 - the weekend after DH and I got back from our honeymoon. In November of that year, we decided Logan needed a friend to keep him company while DH and I were at work and/or school all day, so we adopted April, who was only a few months younger.

Integrating them was more difficult than I thought it would be. At first it was really really tough. Before April was adopted, Logan had never, EVER been grumpy or annoyed by anything. So seeing him growl and hunch down the second he laid eyes on little April in the cat-carrier was tough. For the first two weeks, anytime he saw her he would stare her down, growl, and sometimes lunge at her.

After the first day, we went out and bought a HUGE puppy crate and put food, water, litter, a small cat-condo, and toys inside. When we were home, April would go in the crate and Logan was allowed to roam freely, so they could get used to each other safely. When we were not home, April would be allowed to roam around the livingroom/kitchen/diningroom area, and Logan would stay in the bedroom, bathroom, and the large walkin closet connecting the two (we live in a small 1bed/1bath apartment). After about a week of that, we would take April out and let them interact a bit with close supervision more often. Usually we would play with them in a way that incorporated both of them. For example, we had the dangly feather on a stick toy...I would dangle it in front of Logan for awhile, then switch it over to April. They were so into the "game" they wouldn't realize that they were actually playing nicely together. Another tip is that we made sure Logan knew he was still our #1 cat. Incorporating a new cat is tough and the old cat needs to know he's still loved. So you have to give them extra special attention when a new cat comes along. Even now we still give him his treats first, and usually he gets first dibs on the best spot on the bed when we go to sleep at night.

It got easier as time went on. Now, even a year later, they still play-fight a lot and sometimes it escalates to real fighting and we have to break it up, but they can still coexist and sometimes even cuddle each other. When April was at the vet all day yesterday for x-rays, Logan was very obviously confused and even went around looking for her. They aren't the best of friends, but I think they do have a certain bond. Just look at this shot of them "spooning"...

http://216.218.248.205/datastore/c3/42/b/c342016e1e6db188ede35e5116a4dbbe.jpg

But there was a time during the initial phase of them getting to know each other that I would have balked at anyone who told me that they would be cuddling like that someday. Of course, all cats are different, so maybe your experience will be different. Good luck!

[greenbunny]

There is a LOT to consider. I highly, highly recommend this book:

Cat Vs. Cat: Keeping the Peace When you have Multiple Cats (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142004758/sr=8-1/qid=1141246438/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4573552-2792154?%5Fencoding=UTF8)

It has helped me with my two girls, despite their numerous problems with each other, including aggression, inappropriate elimination, and nervous vomiting. If you don't want to order online, Petsmart carries it.

Remember that cats adjust to change slowly. We've had our second cat for six months now, and they barely tolerate each other.

[kam]

You could try putting the kitten in one room and bring blankets, etc and share them with your cat. Chances are your cat will be a bit pissed but make sure you spend plenty of time with them both so your cat understands that time with the kitten equals good time.

[maxandmolly]

ARGH! "Server too busy" ate my post.
I brought Max home on a Thursday after work. By Sunday, they were sharing a throw pillow. By the following Sunday, she was slinging a paw over him to hold him down so she could groom him.
Mine is an unusual success story, or so I've learned since being here on cc.
I had only a studio apt., so Max went in the bathroom, Molly had the rest of the apartment. They sniffed each other under the door. I would take him out for small amounts of time, let him inspect things, let her inspect him. She would growl, hiss, spit. And he would stand there, stare at her, lay down, ears flat, and just stare at her til she stopped, then go back about his business. She would let him take a few more steps and repeat the process. When she got TOO pissy, I would put him away for a while. Sunday afternoon I did this, aqnd she came out the kitchen, swinging her head from side to side. Finally I realized she was looking for him. So I let him back out, and rather abruptly, she quit hissing, spitting, and swatting. I left for 5 minutes with him out, came back with no blood, left for 10, left for an hour, etc. Before long they were waking me up in the middle of the night, chasing each other across me like I was just another piece of furniture.
Good luck!

[kam]

Ooo - never shared my story. While I've heard the advice above, we just introduced them. Sommer hissed for a week when she came into the house and they are best of friends now. With Nala - same thing - she hissed at her for a week and then calmed down.

[ysolde]

I had Reilly for two years when I adopted Nina, a 4-week old kitten. The first 24 hours were rough for Reilly, who then sniffed the new "baby," decided she smelled funny, and began grooming her. This has gone on for the past four years. They are very different cats. Reilly is mellow and loves to sit on a human lap, as long as it is quiet. Nina thrives on activity, lots of humans, and serious play. She has never outgrown the kitten phase. Together, they are like mother and daughter. They cuddle together when we are not home, play fight at times, play the chase and slide game, and each has chosen a human she prefers (I belong to Reilly, DH belongs to Nina).

I realize I got really lucky, but I think it helped that they are both female.

[{b}]

We've had Neo since he was a kitten, a year later we added in Haley who was about the same age, and two years later we added in Mickey who's a year older than both the other two.

We introduced them as graduallyy as possible. The two cat transition was a LOT easier than the three cat transition, but part of that is just th kitty personalities. Mickey doesn't "get" kitty body language and is a long hair, which I think at first really freaked the other two out because they thought he was constantly fluffed up at them.

How old is Princess? An older, less energetic cat might be a better fit, and easier for her to share living space with.

[maxandmolly]

Gotta disagree with the older cat angle. Princess is still just a few years old, right? I'd say kitten/younger cat. Molly TOTALLY took to the momma role with Max. I don't think she would have done that with an older cat. Also, an older cat may not have put up with her crap at first the way Max did.
But, those are my babies, you know Princess best!

[southerner]

Here's (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=9909) one thread you can read that will help.

[vwinkel]

I think a kitten would be a good idea, and it's great to get her a buddy! How fun - I wish I could get a kitten!

In my experience, I would avoid male cats. I have two male and one female. Males have been known to "spray" even after getting fixed. We had to get covered litter boxes because they would stand in the litter box and spray the wall behind it. :eek:

When I originally introduced DH's cats (both males) to my Sassy (female), it was at our old apartment. Nightmare went after Sassy like I have never seen a cat do - he attacked her and was spitting out her fur as he bit her. Needless to say, I was horrified and we tried another method.

When we moved into the house, I put Nightmare and Kenny into a spare bedroom for a week and let Sassy get the lay of the land while being able to smell each other under the door (by "smell", I mean hiss). Then the next week, we did an introduction time in a neutral zone - different spare bedroom. We took Kenny and Sassy and put them together in a room with our supervision, all the while saying each of their names. We did this for an hour each day of the week. At the end of the week, we then allowed Kenny out of the room and free reign of the house with Sassy (it was over a weekend so I could supervise). The next week we repeated this with Nightmare. They are all fine.

Nightmare and Sassy are now buddies and play fight all the time. Kenny tolerates and basically avoids her.

[maxandmolly]

I heard all the spraying horror stories with males, but I've never had that problem with Max, before or after he was fixed. *shrug*

[ruledbymercury]

Same here. No spraying at all yet from my almost two year old male cat.

[Kanga]

I had my first 2 cats (littermates) a year before introducing another. They were royally pissed for about 2 weeks. At first the 2 adult cats would hiss at ME if they smelled the kitten on me so I had to make sure I washed my hands before petting them. Gradually they started tolerating each other. At first they could be on opposite sides of the same room, then the same piece of furniture. The kitten was long haired and the adult cats are short hair. After about 2 months the kitten would half heartedly clean the adult cats (esp. the male) They would try to return the favor but I think they were confused with his long hair and stick out their tongues over and over like they had just eaten something nasty. The adult female got along with the male kitten a lot faster than the adult male. Even now the female gets along a lot better than the adult male. 2 of them are constantly rough housing although the younger male (I guess he's no longer a kitten :( ) is not allowed to win against the older male. He just throws a tempertantrum:rolleyes:

[CindyLouWho]

Our cat was a singleton for 10 years and we didnt even know if he liked other cats. But we bit the bullet 2 years ago. We followed all the suggestions for introducing them and the whole thing took about a week. The first face-to-face meeting had hissy on the part of the resident cat when the new one came up to him. But once he realized she wasn't looking for a power trip, he relaxed. After 2 weeks they were grooming each other!

The key is getting a cat with the right personality. MOST kittens are going to be more submissive than an older cat because of the size issue but some rare kittens already have the need to be the top cat.

At our shelter they will put a group of cats together to see which roles they take. A friend of mine had 2 cats for the last 3 years. She wanted a 3rd and she added one of the ones that the shelter said was submissive in the group. It's worked out really well with the other two. It's been over a month but she just sent me a photo today of the new guy and one other cat sleeping right next to each other.

With cats, it's all about territory so if you read up on the intro phase and take it SLOW, it should be fine eventually.

[Smurfy]

Hello, I am new here. I just wanted to say that I agree a kitten sounds like the way to go, however an adult cat might work out fine, with time. You never know what will happen. The thing about a kitten is that it might not feel as territorial or threatening to your cat.. Look for a friendly, playful kitten. I think whatever you decide, your current cat will have a more interesting life because of it!

[imagirliegirl]

If you haven't seen my other bragging thread ;) I ended up getting a kitten!

He's so cute and playful. Princess hissed at him a lot the first day but she's a lot better today. She just sort of ignores him. He seems pretty unphased by her. He occasionally goes up to her in an attempt to play but a little growl is all he needs to back away. They've been laying around in the living room though, ignoring each other. So really, it's going a lot better than I thought it would at this point!

When I first brought him home I tried to baby gate him in the bathroom. That lasted about ten seconds and he was up and over it. He's quite the little jumper. So now we just let him run around the house. He's been great and it's good that he really doesn't bother Princess too much. He's been using the litter box like a champ and eating tons.

At night she's been sleeping with me (like always) and he's been sleeping in the other room with my BF. So those arrangements have been going well.

That's the update! I'm probably breaking all the rules by mixing them like this but they seem to be alright.

[Smurfy]

That sounds great, congratulations! But what is his name?

[imagirliegirl]

Griffin.:)

[mb1197]

We've had different experiences with each cat. One of our cats was perfectly fine when we brought a new kitten home, but then two years later we brought another kitten home and the same cat that was fine the first time threw an absolute fit the second time around! I think it just all depends. Be prepared for either reaction.

[imagirliegirl]

They both actually laid in bed with me today! Not near each other, there was one on either side but it was a big step! Princess actually jumped up there once Griffin was already there.

Then she played with him by the scratching post for about 2 seconds.

AND she walked up to him, nose to nose and didn't make a peep.

I think we have progress!! :D

[maxandmolly]

For only a week or so in, I think that's pretty darned good!
mb, my mom has a cat like that. When we got her she hid in the garage from our cocker for the first six months she was with us. We added a second cocker/mix, she walked up, sniffed her nose, that was it. When Rusty, our Golden/Chow moved in, she hid on top of the fridge for two weeks. When Baby moved in, nose sniff, done. Mom took in another cat, she kept the poor frightened thing pinned in the bedroom for six months. Molly was staying there for a brief period at that same time, she kept her pinned on top of the fridge. Bear, Rott/Chow mix, back up to the fridge. Maggie moved in-nothing. Finally, by that time, we had to wonder if it was a gender thing. She was PETRIFIED of the 2 male dogs who have moved in, the 3 girls who have moved in over her lifetime, she barely noticed. Anybody notice that kinda thing?

[greenbunny]

That's after only a week? My two still hate each other after seven months. Dammit.

[imagirliegirl]

We had a hiss today! But I didn't blame her. He decided that since she was warming up to him that meant they were BFF and he lunged at her to play. When she hissed he looked at her with total shock. Then went back to running around like a loon. :rolleyes:

[maxandmolly]

That happens at my house on a daily basis! And mine have lived together for 6 years now almost. That's just their norm.
Psst, hit the myspace. Need further info from you.

[imagirliegirl]

I can't believe how good Princess has been! Griffin was laying with me on the couch and she jumped up and laid with us. I mean right next to him! He started licking her but she jumped down when he nibbled her on her bum.

But hey, I'll take the progress! They've been playing together a little too.