he's very friendly with people, i'm not sure what hes like with other cats but hes quite laid back generally. i'd like to get a kitten to keep him company. is a male or female best? do u think they will fight?
2006-10-21 11:13:38 · 12 answers · asked by tess 2 in Pets ➔ Cats
he's neutered by the way.
2006-10-21 11:20:46 · update #1
No!! For one, he's male so he'd be agressive, especially with a kitten, and two, he's been there for seven years and the kitten would be intruding his territory. Cats rarely need company unless they're a kitten without its mother or something.
2006-10-21 11:16:09 · answer #1 · answered by Rachel 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Don't get a kitten, get a full grown cat - or at least a kitten of about a year old. Kittens are far too boisterous, and will end up annoying your boy because they will want to play ALL the time! I don't really think that there is a problem with you getting either sex if they are neutered. Try and get a cat who is slightly smaller than your boy though as this is less of a threat. When I went to get a friend for my boy, I did a little experiment at the SPCA. I took the cat that I wanted to adopt and took her out of the cage, and put her on the floor in front of the cage of another cat. The girl I chose, approached the other cat curiously and not aggressively. The other cat I tried it with, turned into a hissing ball of fury. This way, you will at least know that the cat you bring home is pretty laid back also. Be prepared for some inital hissing and swatting, but they should settle down after a month!
2006-10-23 10:47:13 · answer #2 · answered by Karring Kat 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We had the exact same situation at our house. Our neutered male cat was about 8 when we brought home a new kitten. The male cat was so upset he stayed in the back bedroom for 3 weeks and would hardly come out to eat. Eventually, he came around, but since he was so much older, they were never good playmates. The aggression was never a factor since he was neutered. They get along fine now, even play sometimes, but the age difference was the main problem.
2006-10-21 18:25:30 · answer #3 · answered by younggrandma 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes....company for the older cat.
My son had an 8 year old..neutured male. I agreed that he could have another kitten *ONLY" if the older cat had no negative reactions.
My son brought in 3 kittens at different times and the older cat hissed..attacked..and clawed them all, so none of them stayed. I was mentioning to the vet, hoing he might have some idea. He asked asked me 2 very importants questions...
1. Who does Midnight see as his owner? (answer..my son)
2. Who was bringing the kitten in the house? (answer..my son)
See a pattern in the questions and the answers?
We tried again about 3 weeks later, (since my neighbour cat's kittens were ready to leave mom) This time I brought in the kitten and my son was playing with the older cat. I put the kitten on the floor (older cat now sees kitten but is sitting on my son"s lap) and let the older cat sniff her and see his reaction.
Well we ended up with the kitten and the two of them got along great. The problem was the older cat was jealous of the kittens because my son was bringing them in and holding them.
2006-10-22 09:22:01 · answer #4 · answered by tweetybird92457 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In my experience, just letting things develope normally is the best
thing to do. Some cats never appreciate kittens, some love them or at
least tolerate them. Most of the time, they will eventually accept
the kitten but may still be impatient with it. Kitten will adjust
too.
They
may hiss and spit at Kitten, but don't let it bother you unless they
look like they will do the kitten real harm. Locking the kitten
up at night sounds like a good idea if you get one. Cats are nocturnal and
more likely to be in a mood to fight then.
2006-10-21 18:24:19 · answer #5 · answered by The Truth 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think a lot depends on your household. Is someone home all the time? If so, I think it would be OK to try it. If not, almost definitely not.
If you are a teacher, though, and are home all summer, I think it would be OK to try at the beginning of summer break. Then you can try training the cats to stay away from each other if there's a problem. They'll probably be OK when you go back to school if you are successful in training. In any case, be sure you have a back-up home for the kitten if there is a serious problem.
2006-10-21 18:24:04 · answer #6 · answered by Madame M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A kitten is a very poor choice for a cat of that age. Kitten energy is just overwhelming and annoying to an older cat. Get two kittens or an older cat.
2006-10-21 20:04:05 · answer #7 · answered by old cat lady 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I got my 5 year old male cat a playmate. That was 9 years ago and things have been good since. I picked a female. Of course both were spayed or neutered. When she was a kitten she aggrevated him and me both but he was good with her. I don't ever recall them fighting. However, I know my male cat will fight with another male cat (my mom's) who has not been neutered. Good Luck
2006-10-21 18:37:37 · answer #8 · answered by Michelle 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He may be a little hissy and confrontational the first few days, but bear in mind he's going to be setting ground rules for the one that is new. He's top cat right now and will protect his position at first until the ground rules are set. But after that he will probably welcome the company and it may very well bring back out the kitten in the older cat. So yes they may fight at first and it doesn't matter what sex you get, but eventually they'll be best friends and double trouble for you! he he They'll gang up to get into things.
2006-10-21 18:16:54 · answer #9 · answered by Jennifer R 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I disagree with male cats being aggressive! I started out with a male and female, who were brother and sister. My mother had a kittens that needed a home, so I took one, a male, worried about introducing a 3rd cat, but my male cat loved him within a couple of days! They became the best of friends. It was my female who didn't like him! They were about 4 years old when I brought home the 3rd cat. 2 years later, my first male died from a heart problem. My male cat was so lonely, because the female never did like him, and still to this day will not play with him...lol. So I adopted another male cat (8months old) from a shelter. They quickly became the best of friends. That was 2 years ago. My female cat does not like either one of them...lol. She loves people, she does not like male cats...lol. All of my cats are friendly and laid back, as well, and like to be around people, kids,etc....they run to door when someone knocks, to see who it is...so maybe a friendly personality makes a difference? The only fighting is when the males try to play with the female, she gets mad and smacks them in the head...so they mostly ignore her and play with each other, sleep next to each other...she hangs out with me....lol.
My aunt has several cats, as well as my mom and dad...the males get along fine with each other...it's the male and females who usually have problems getting along...
My opinion is get a male. Unless your cat is not nuetered...then no, I would not get a male. And if they don't like each other at first, don't worry, that is normal...it takes anywhere from a week to 2 months for cats to adjusts to each other. When introducing a new cat, it's best to keep the new cat in another room by itself until you see they like each other. This keeps the stress level down for both of them. Let the new cat out when you have time to supervise, for short amount time, say 15-30 minutes to start with with, then do this several times a day. At first they will hiss, be upset another cat is around, but after a while they sniff each other check each other out, then they will be curious. This is when I play toys with each one, in front of the other, so they see the cat does like to play and is not there to attack them...lol. It can take some time, but it's worth it...it's so much fun watching cats interact and play with each other.
The other thing you may want to consider is getting a cat that is a little older than a kitten. If your cat is still active and palyful, he may not mind a kitten, but if he is somewhat lazy and does not like running around, you may want to get a cat that is closer to a year old, if your worried about training the cat, a 1 year old still young enough to train. Or maybe even older, because I did notice that having a kitten is quite annoying for an older cat, because the kitten bites and has sharp claws, constantly wants to play. I remember my 1st male cat would hold down the new kitten with his front paw and look around, waiting for him the kitten to calm down and quit attacking his tail...lol. And then he would hide for a while to get some sleep. But cats seem to know that they are kittens, and don't get mad at them. Either way, I'm sure your cat would love to have a playmate!
2006-10-21 18:58:51 · answer #10 · answered by RogueSheep 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋