Second cat?

[Giggity]

I've got one cat, going on five years old. She's completely awesome, except for the fact she hates - HATES - everybody other than myself and my girlfriend. She doesn't pick fights, but if anybody tries to pet her, they almost always end up bleeding.

My girlfriend wants another cat. And I'm thinking ours could, in theory, stand to have a friend to play with while we're at work (she's showing some early signs of getting tubby). But I'm worried she's too anti-social and we'll just be looking for a new home for a scratched-up kitten in two weeks. This is my first cat, so I have no idea how multiple cats adapt to each other, much less how much of a factor their personalities are.

Anyways, any advice from the cat lovers?

 

[forever_town]

Is there any way you could have the kitten on a trial basis? If your current cat gets along with the kitten, you can keep it, but if not, you have your answer for your girlfriend.

 

[Barsuk]

We have the same problem. Our guy is 7 years old, and though we would love to get him a little playmate, there's no way he would go for it. The poor little kitten would be dead by the end of the week.

I would tread lightly, Giggity.

 

[BYH]

If your cat is five, my guess is that it's too late to get a second cat. My wife had the exact same reasoning as you--find a play buddy for when we're away--when we got a second cat a little less than two years after we got our first.

Our older cat is exactly like yours--hates EVERYONE except us. Company comes and he hisses and runs off and hides. He spent the first four days we had Maggie hissing and growling at the closed bathroom door, behind which Maggie was cooped up. To this day, he cannot tolerate a closed bathroom door, and every time one of us goes into the bathroom, he follows us, as if he expects to see another cat there. The amazing thing is we've moved and he still does this.

He has grown to tolerate her, though he's lately taken to surprise humping her (they're both fixed, maybe he's just riled up b/c spring is in the air). A few times a week we'll find them sleeping together (hey-o) on the bed, but more often than not they go their own way.

In addition, my childhood cat was five when we rescued a stray, and she responded by hiding under the bed for a week and getting sick.

Good luck. I love having two cats, but my bet is your guy is too old to really tolerate it.

 

[Ace]

Judging from this thread, maybe the question should be why would anyone want even one cat?

 

[BYH]

**** like that is why you aren't landing at the Plain-Dealer, bub.

 

[Ace]

**** like that is why you aren't landing at the Plain-Dealer, bub.

At least I've got it narrowed down. I'll adopt a mountain lion if it will get me in the damn door.

 

[BYH]

**** like that is why you aren't landing at the Plain-Dealer, bub.

At least I've got it narrowed down. I'll adopt a mountain lion if it will get me in the damn door.

that could end up tragic, in a hilarious way. Like when a clown cries.

 

[outofplace]

Giggity, if you get one, it is definitely going to take some patience at first. They probably aren't going to get along at first. I honestly don't know if age makes a difference or not.

Our first cat was about two when we decided to get a second one. She loved me, but wanted absolutely nothing to do with anybody else, including my wife. When she was a kitten, my wife was always scooping her up and hugging her, basically making her feel a bit smothered. I listened to some tremendous advice I got from other cat owners and let the little furball come to me, so I became the only person she trusted. She wouldn't bite or scratch, but she did hiss and run away from everybody else.

Then we rescued a second kitten. We kept them separated (he was locked up in a bathroom) for a few days, with us taking him out to or going in to pay attention to him a much as possible. She would sniff at the door and he would poke his paw out underneath it.

Then we opened the door. This tiny little kitten came out running and took a flying leap onto his "big sister." The first few days were rough, but within a week or two, they were fine. To this day, they get along really well and usually sleep curled up in a ball together.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

Why stop at two.

 

[Twoback]

Judging from this thread, maybe the question should be why would anyone want even one cat?

My cat is the coolest animal on the planet. Loves everybody -- at least those he doesn't fear (mostly young children). Has never hissed in his life. We rescued him as a stray. Still can't believe he survived so long without having the capacity for anger.
My cat will curl up on my lap while I'm writing. He comes up and keeps me company while I run on the treadmill. He has his own language with about 30 different chirps, whines and meows. Not that I know what any of them mean.
He loves being rubbed when we go up the steps to bed for the evening. He knows that turning off the TV means it's time. He's been amazing to have for 13 years.
That's why I have a cat, since you asked.

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

We got a second cat a couple years before the older one died. There was a period of adjustment, but toward the end she was helping him groom himself.

We had a really good vet and when I asked him about it he said, "I think if you could ask any pet whether they'd rather have the undivided attention of their humans, they would say yes, but it's not a big deal."

The surviving cat, though, became more confident after it became just her. We had adopted her from a two-cat household and this is her first time being the lone cat. I think she likes it.

 

[sportschick]

When my Siamese was 15, we introduced him another cat for the first time. He was slightly anti-social (didn't really like men from outside the family), but he loved the kitten. I still think that's why he lived to the ripe old age of 21.

I don't think 5 is too old, but you might consider a cat that's close in age. Young kittens can be very annoying for older cats who aren't super playful. Stan annoyed the crap out of my girl cat when I first got him because he wanted to play and she didn't.

 

[BYH]

Judging from this thread, maybe the question should be why would anyone want even one cat?

My cat is the coolest animal on the planet. Loves everybody -- at least those he doesn't fear (mostly young children). Has never hissed in his life. We rescued him as a stray. Still can't believe he survived so long without having the capacity for anger.
My cat will curl up on my lap while I'm writing. He comes up and keeps me company while I run on the treadmill. He has his own language with about 30 different chirps, whines and meows. Not that I know what any of them mean.
He loves being rubbed when we go up the steps to bed for the evening. He knows that turning off the TV means it's time. He's been amazing to have for 13 years.
That's why I have a cat, since you asked.

That's a great post.

Our younger cat has become my cat (the older one is most certainly my wife's cat). She (my cat, not my wife) always jumps up on my lap when I'm writing. When I get up to go to bed, she races ahead of me, jumps on the bed and starts meowing--that great purr/meow sound--before she sprawls out next to me with my hand on her back.

Sometimes, I'll fall asleep in the recliner with her next to me, and I'll wake up and she's still sprawled out in between my leg and the arm of the chair. then, of course, I stay in that position for as long as it takes for her to move, or for my back to spasm out of control.

She does hiss, but mostly when her brother tries to mount her. I think she hissed at me once when I was trying to trim her nails, but I'm sure she was just copying her brother. She's a rescued stray, too, and was born to a cat in our old apartment complex. I've always believed she understood that we rescued her from a life in the wild and was grateful for it, though I always thought it was poignant when she would sit, staring at the front door, as if she smelled her mom.

Of course I could be wrong. But cats are the best, of that I'm sure.

 

[Giggity]

When my Siamese was 15, we introduced him another cat for the first time. He was slightly anti-social (didn't really like men from outside the family), but he loved the kitten. I still think that's why he lived to the ripe old age of 21.

I don't think 5 is too old, but you might consider a cat that's close in age. Young kittens can be very annoying for older cats who aren't super playful. Stan annoyed the crap out of my girl cat when I first got him because he wanted to play and she didn't.

The thing is, she is super-playful. As soon as I walk in the door and feed her, she's all fired up to play a long game of chase. If I'm not up for it, she'll plop between me and the TV and bat one of her toys around until I feel bad and play with her for awhile. That's what got me thinking she needs a buddy around while I'm at work.

 

[sportschick]

When my Siamese was 15, we introduced him another cat for the first time. He was slightly anti-social (didn't really like men from outside the family), but he loved the kitten. I still think that's why he lived to the ripe old age of 21.

I don't think 5 is too old, but you might consider a cat that's close in age. Young kittens can be very annoying for older cats who aren't super playful. Stan annoyed the crap out of my girl cat when I first got him because he wanted to play and she didn't.

The thing is, she is super-playful. As soon as I walk in the door and feed her, she's all fired up to play a long game of chase. If I'm not up for it, she'll plop between me and the TV and bat one of her toys around until I feel bad and play with her for awhile. That's what got me thinking she needs a buddy around while I'm at work.

In that case, a kitten would probably be OK. You just need to make sure you watch them the first coupla days, while they adjust to each other. I swear by having a second cat. The few months between when my old guy died and I got Stan were awful. My girl cat was so lonely and wanted way more attention when I got home than what I had in me to give.

 

[snuffy2]

Cats are spaceships. If frequencies work go for it. I know the war zone having inherited my mother's beautiful arrogant self centered eating machine into a formerly peaceful household occupied by a humble shelter dog. Sometimes athletic mixed marriages work the dementia cells for the better.

 

[BigSleeper]

I guess we were lucky. My wife and I had a cat who was about 3 when we got a kitten. The older one seemed to take the the little one pretty well after a while. Their play gets a little rough sometimes, but after 10 years, it seems the older one still look after her. Kinda cute.

 

[Beaker]

This thread made me go pet my cat. I got him in 1988, when I was six, and now he's almost 20, and he's still going strong.

My cat certainly wouldn't be able to accept another now, but when he was younger, he used to play with some of the other cats in the area. Obviously each cat is different, but I think you could try it out for a while and see if they get along.

 

[forever_town]

Judging from this thread, maybe the question should be why would anyone want even one cat?

Not everyone in the world is a dog person.

Me? I'm beginning to hate dogs.