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Question about solo cats vs multiples
I've had several cats, but they've always been solo cats. I tried once to
add a kitten to the mix, but the addition was unsuccessful and I lost a good sofa in the battles. The kitten went to live with a friend and has had a nice happy life, also as a solo kitten. I have been thinking about getting a second cat. The current feline in the house is a 9 year old domestic shorthair. He has been passed around from home to home, and we rescued him from a grad student of mine a bit over a year ago. He's totally adjusted to his new life and seems happy and content. His issues are few, other than being overweight, and peeing outside his litter box on occasion. That seems to happen in the spring, and when other cats come onto our property. We live on a couple of acres, and he has just recently started to be brave enough to go outside during the daytime. He doesn't stray at all from the house, mostly spending a goodly amount of time under the screened porch watching the world pass by. We don't have a road nearby, and there are no other animals on the property. I'm wondering if it would be fair to him to try and introduce another cat into the mixture. He's always been a solo cat, and he seems quite content being the boss of the humans. I know people add cats to their homes all the time, but I'm wondering if this is the right thing to do to an only of advanced age. Would a kitten be more or less stressful for him? What about a female cat instead of a male? I've read up on introducing new cats into the home, and we do have the perfect setup, as our cat has his own 'room' in our huge downstairs bathroom. His food, litter box, basket and scratching post are all there, so he could be separated from another cat fairly easily, and of course he does the outdoor thing on and off during the day. I'm home all day, so I could supervise. My question is, is it worth the effort? Would he resent the new cat, or would he eventually get used to it? Marjorie |
#2
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"animzmirot" wrote in message ... I've had several cats, but they've always been solo cats. I tried once to add a kitten to the mix, but the addition was unsuccessful and I lost a good sofa in the battles. The kitten went to live with a friend and has had a nice happy life, also as a solo kitten. I have been thinking about getting a second cat. The current feline in the house is a 9 year old domestic shorthair. He has been passed around from home to home, and we rescued him from a grad student of mine a bit over a year ago. He's totally adjusted to his new life and seems happy and content. His issues are few, other than being overweight, and peeing outside his litter box on occasion. That seems to happen in the spring, and when other cats come onto our property. We live on a couple of acres, and he has just recently started to be brave enough to go outside during the daytime. He doesn't stray at all from the house, mostly spending a goodly amount of time under the screened porch watching the world pass by. We don't have a road nearby, and there are no other animals on the property. I'm wondering if it would be fair to him to try and introduce another cat into the mixture. He's always been a solo cat, and he seems quite content being the boss of the humans. I know people add cats to their homes all the time, but I'm wondering if this is the right thing to do to an only of advanced age. Would a kitten be more or less stressful for him? What about a female cat instead of a male? I've read up on introducing new cats into the home, and we do have the perfect setup, as our cat has his own 'room' in our huge downstairs bathroom. His food, litter box, basket and scratching post are all there, so he could be separated from another cat fairly easily, and of course he does the outdoor thing on and off during the day. I'm home all day, so I could supervise. My question is, is it worth the effort? Would he resent the new cat, or would he eventually get used to it? Marjorie You never know until you try I had a solo cat for years and then added two kittens when she was 9 years old. She hissed at them, and then ignored the kittens for the most part. When they grew up, she still never really liked them, but there were no major fights or anything. If you do go the kitten route, I would strongly suggest getting two. Your cat will probably not want to play as much as the kitten and will get annoyed with him. If you do an adult cat, I personally don't think gender matters as much as personality. Get a cat that is known to get along with other cats. You don't want a really aggressive cat who will completely take over. Please go slooow with the introductions. I think rushing the intros kills many cat intergrations. -- -Kelly |
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You never know until you try I had a solo cat for years and then added two kittens when she was 9 years old. She hissed at them, and then ignored the kittens for the most part. When they grew up, she still never really liked them, but there were no major fights or anything. If you do go the kitten route, I would strongly suggest getting two. Your cat will probably not want to play as much as the kitten and will get annoyed with him. If you do an adult cat, I personally don't think gender matters as much as personality. Get a cat that is known to get along with other cats. You don't want a really aggressive cat who will completely take over. Please go slooow with the introductions. I think rushing the intros kills many cat intergrations. -- -Kelly Two kittens is a great idea. Last year, I had Billy & Lily. This year, I've got the Babycat. Babycat is TWICE as much trouble as Billy & Lily were. She pesters the older cats. She follows me around and stays under my feet. Billy & Lily kept each other occupied. They didn't bug the older cats nearly as much as Babycat. Sherry |
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Arjun Ray wrote: On 24 Jun 2005 19:56:41 -0700, wrote: | Two kittens is a great idea. I agree. | Billy & Lily kept each other occupied. They didn't bug the older cats | nearly as much as Babycat. Phoenix wouldn't leave Scruffy alone. Good thing that Scruffy took a shine to him, but he still got annoyed at times. Later, Calvin and Katrina had more cats to bug if they wanted to, but a lot of the time they kept each other occupied instead. Some pictures: http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...751&uid=514878 http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...628&uid=514878 Oh man. I *love* the one of Katrina and Calvin. They look like twins! psst...don't let them see this....but aren't those extra large jumbo sized ears for a cat?? They're cuties!! Sherry |
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in article , Arjun Ray at
wrote on 6/24/05 11:42 PM: On 24 Jun 2005 19:56:41 -0700, wrote: | Two kittens is a great idea. I agree. | Billy & Lily kept each other occupied. They didn't bug the older cats | nearly as much as Babycat. Phoenix wouldn't leave Scruffy alone. Good thing that Scruffy took a shine to him, but he still got annoyed at times. Later, Calvin and Katrina had more cats to bug if they wanted to, but a lot of the time they kept each other occupied instead. Some pictures: http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...751&uid=514878 http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...628&uid=514878 OK, these are just the BEST two pictures ever: http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...751&uid=514878 http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...751&uid=514878 |
#7
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On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 00:02:34 -0500, Karen wrote:
| in article , Arjun Ray at | wrote on 6/24/05 11:42 PM: | http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...751&uid=514878 | http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...628&uid=514878 | | OK, these are just the BEST two pictures ever: | | http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...751&uid=514878 | | http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...751&uid=514878 Hmm, you seem to have run afoul of Netscape's invention, FRAMES. If your browser is Microsoft's piece of crap, it's especially difficult to get the URLs for individual pictures. Try the thumbnail galleries themselves as the starting point: http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...751&uid=514878 http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...628&uid=514878 (The difference is p=1 instead of p=999 in the URL. You can also try p=9.) If your browser recognizes the cheesy Javascript, context menus will still be disabled, but selecting a link will take you to the full size picture by itself, and then you can grab the URL from the Location bar. |
#8
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On 24 Jun 2005 21:49:35 -0700, wrote:
| http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...628&uid=514878 | | Oh man. I *love* the one of Katrina and Calvin. They look like twins! Same litter, and from a colony of grey tiger tabbies all: http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...059&uid=514878 | psst...don't let them see this....but aren't those extra large jumbo | sized ears for a cat?? Seems to run in the family. Check out Greystoke's pictures, e.g. http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...imgid=31367820 I haven't seen Katrina and calvin in a while, but I'm told they've grown into their ears. :-) |
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