Question on getting a 2nd cat

Hi,

We have one altered male cat, "Pete," in our apartment. His companion
of 2 years had to be recently removed from our apartment due to
medical and behavior problems. Pete is an extremely outgoing, nosey,
vocal, and playful cat of 6 years. He is also lonely for a companion
and playmate on his own. We recently found a cat at a shelter that we
would like to bring home - a 2-3 year old, altered, female tortie cat.
I am told she is an Alpha, but she is very small, especially compared
to Pete who is tall, long and lean.

We are concerned about introducing an alpha female into our household,
as Pete has ruled our roost for several years now. Would this be a bad
idea? I am not too familiar with alpha females, but I suspect that
they vie for pecking order? By fighting??

Do you think we may have better luck with another altered male? Are
adults generally ok to introduce, or would kittens be a better choice.
(I am only concerned that with kittens you never really know the
personality until it could be too late).

Thanks for your help,
amy

"aisleb" wrote in message
m...
Do you think we may have better luck with another altered male? Are
adults generally ok to introduce, or would kittens be a better choice.
(I am only concerned that with kittens you never really know the
personality until it could be too late).

In my family's experience, established cats are more accepting of new cats
of the opposite sex than they are of cats their own sex. Put the new cat in
a closed room for a few days, then perhaps open the door and put a gate up,
and see what happens before allowing it into the rest of the place.

"aisleb" wrote in message
m...
Do you think we may have better luck with another altered male? Are
adults generally ok to introduce, or would kittens be a better choice.
(I am only concerned that with kittens you never really know the
personality until it could be too late).

In my family's experience, established cats are more accepting of new cats
of the opposite sex than they are of cats their own sex. Put the new cat in
a closed room for a few days, then perhaps open the door and put a gate up,
and see what happens before allowing it into the rest of the place.

Do not get a second cat. What if the new cat develops medical or behavioral
problems? The longer you have a cat the more likely these things are to
happen. Both of my older (13 & 14 yrs) cats recently developed medical
problems that had to be dealt with both in the same week and more than $1000
later they are both back on track but I've heard of people spending much
more and dealing with much more severe problems. Your 6 year old cat has
many (hopefully) years ahead of him and I hope you won't need to "remove"
him from your home in his times of need.

--
Barb
Of course I don't look busy,
I did it right the first time.

Do not get a second cat. What if the new cat develops medical or behavioral
problems? The longer you have a cat the more likely these things are to
happen. Both of my older (13 & 14 yrs) cats recently developed medical
problems that had to be dealt with both in the same week and more than $1000
later they are both back on track but I've heard of people spending much
more and dealing with much more severe problems. Your 6 year old cat has
many (hopefully) years ahead of him and I hope you won't need to "remove"
him from your home in his times of need.

--
Barb
Of course I don't look busy,
I did it right the first time.

Your 6 year old cat has many (hopefully) years ahead of him and I hope you
won't need to "remove"
him from your home in his times of need.

Exactly. And who will remove the OP from her home if she develops a medical
problem? Hopefully, whatever happened to the other cat was not as harsh as the
words describing it were.




Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

Your 6 year old cat has many (hopefully) years ahead of him and I hope you
won't need to "remove"
him from your home in his times of need.

Exactly. And who will remove the OP from her home if she develops a medical
problem? Hopefully, whatever happened to the other cat was not as harsh as the
words describing it were.




Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

"MacCandace" wrote in message
...
Your 6 year old cat has many (hopefully) years ahead of him and I hope
you
won't need to "remove"
him from your home in his times of need.

Exactly. And who will remove the OP from her home if she develops a
medical
problem?

I volunteer!

"MacCandace" wrote in message
...
Your 6 year old cat has many (hopefully) years ahead of him and I hope
you
won't need to "remove"
him from your home in his times of need.

Exactly. And who will remove the OP from her home if she develops a
medical
problem?

I volunteer!

I did not mean it too sound harsh. We did everything we could for our
little cat, unfortunately, he had several medical issues that could
not be taken care of due to other medical issues (medications, etc.,
interfered with each other and/or caused different medical issues to
worsen) and behavior problems that caused him to mutilate himself
terribly or attack. Our household turned out not to be best for him,
and this hard decision came only after having numerous house call vets
to our apartment, visitations with cat psychologists/behaviorists,
etc. over the period of about a year. In the end, he needed a VERY
stable and calm homelife where the owners could afford to continue to
treat his many ailments. Because our environment would not continue to
be stable - having a child and moving, the behaviorist and our vet
felt that he would not improve in our household and offered to find a
stable, childless home for him.

This decision was not based on money or us simply not wanting to deal
with his issues. We do not take cats into our household lightly, nor
do we take our responsibilty to them lightly.

-amy
itter (MacCandace) wrote in message ...
Your 6 year old cat has many (hopefully) years ahead of him and I hope you
won't need to "remove"
him from your home in his times of need.

Exactly. And who will remove the OP from her home if she develops a medical
problem? Hopefully, whatever happened to the other cat was not as harsh as the
words describing it were.




Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)