I have a 8 year old cat and was thinking of adopting a kitten.?

Question

Was wondering if I need separate litter boxes for each cat or will they share? I clean my box everyday for my current cat. I've never had 2 cats at once.

My 8 yr old is a female, spayed, declawed (all 4 feet - adopted her that way), is very mellow, loving, and cuddly. Has never been exposed to other animal at my home.

Also, would sex of the new kitten matter?

Answer 1

I really believe that if you have two cats, you need two litter boxes. Cats are very particular. Especially when you bring a new cat in on an old established cat. If you have two litter boxes, they will probably use each others. It will just cut down on one getting mad at the other and using the floor. Also, when you bring a new cat home, you really should keep it in a small room, all by its self for a couple of days. New cats (even if you just moved your cat into a new home) will mark areas of the house and have many accidents, until they get the hang of things. If you let them get used to the smell of you, your house, and family, they are less likely to use the floor, when you take them out of the small room. Also, as long as you new cat gets fixed at around 6 months, sex and age will not matter a lot. Although, if it is a young kitten and has too much energy for your older cat, there may be a few disagreements. This is nothing to worry about, they usually work those out pretty quickly and then become friends. I use the scoopable litter. It is so easy to keep clean. You just scoop the waste out of the litter and do not have to change the whole box. It cuts down on litter costs and you can scoop it several times a day, and it's like a new litter box. You would be amazed at what a difference it can make.

Answer 2

i don't think that 2 litter boxes is what you need to be worrying about. is your 8yr old cat the old, calm/mellow gentle kind? is he declawed? and is he neutered???? these are very important! i have tried to get a kitten 2 times now with my 7 yr old cat... he is a gentle, very mellow cat. mainly loves to sleep and be fat all day, lol. but when we brought the kitten into the house, he turned into a mean cat. the two cats always fought and such. i recommend not getting a female kitten if the 8 yr old is a male and not neutered, as he may try to...well, you know. kittens can be rowdy, and if your cat is mellow, he might get aggrivated and start clawing at people...

my mistake was that i just brought the kitten home and expected them to play. what you should do is get a towel and wrap the kitten in it to rub the scent off on it really well. then bring the towel over by the other cat and get him used to it.

keep the kitten in a seperate room for a while (a few days) and bring him out or bring the other cat in to SLOWLY introduce them. it is because cats are very teritorial, especially older cats.
if you got a seperate littler box they would probably end up using each other's.

I do recommed different food dishes though. water is okay to share, but they can get teritorail of their food and such.

Be sure to show them equal amounts of love! the older cat may get jealous because everyone is so excited over the new kitten and everything, we don't have our kitten anymore, things just didn't work out between them. But good luck to you!

Answer 3

The rules are - 2 cat - 3- litter boxes.,but..... Now I have a for cats and they shared 2 boxes, and no problems. Sure- I clean them 2 times a day. But I know some cats starts sprain and peeing outside the box - in this case I would get second one. Just observe . Good luck with baby.

Answer 4

I would get separate litter boxes, because right away your 8 year old cat might not want to share. But after a while, they will act like mother and daughter. Or father and son. Or different assortment of the 4. B)

Answer 5

The rule of thumb is a litter box for each cat plus one. So in this case that would be three litter boxes for you. Three might be a little much, especially in a small space, but I would at least get another litter box. I have three cats, and two litter boxes are working fine for them.

Answer 6

My two cats shared one litterbox, and I have a couple of friends who each have two cats and they also share. That said, sometimes one cat will stop using a litterbox when a new cat is introduced, or the new cat won't use one that another cat is already using. This is because of territorial marking in the pee.

I would keep using just one litterbox when you get your new kitten. You might have to start with cleaning it twice a day instead of just once a day, but there will likely be no need to buy a second litterbox.

Answer 7

Get separate litter boxes trust me! To them another poop in their bowl is like insulting them, they will chase each other all around and will fight constantly. That's what happened to my two cats, the boy chased the girl down and they would fight so much. So avoid that, especially if the other cat's a baby the other cat might really kill it. Well I hoped this helped!!

Answer 8

I would have two litter boxes in the beginning, until the older cat becomes used to the younger one.

Answer 9

A second box is a good idea. While I never had trouble getting my kitties to share a box, some simply won't. And my pair have been together all their little lives, so sharing a pair of boxes doesn't bother them at all.

Answer 10

yeah...they def. need their own liter boxes.

The poop adds up...and they'll feel better doing it..b/c some cats will hold it or eventually use the potty elsewhere if a new cat is introduced and then have to share the same liter or if the liter gets too full.

**That's what happened when we introduced our kitty to our 4yr old cat.**

They share now (a year later....but at 1st the older cat wasn't having it)