Only answers if you have had experience please.?

Question

I am thinking about getting another cat in my apartment. I have had the one I have now since Feb. He has been introduced to a few other animals and seems intreged by them but has not yet interacted with them. The kitten I am thinking about getting is the same age as mine now they will be 9 months. At this age will it be easier to introduce them as it would two older cats or an older cat to a younger one? Thanks

Answer 1

I am a single cat owner but work with a humane society. I think the younger the introduction the better. Older cats are often less tolerant of changes to the household. Two the same age sounds ideal.

Answer 2

I am going through this right now - except with a 3 1/2 yr old and a 10 week old. My suggestions:
1. get two that are different sexes (less threatening).
2. it would be best if the new one was younger (again, less threatening.)
3. give your attention mostly to old cat when new one is introduced. (new cat is joining your home not taking old kitten's spot).
4. keep them apart in different, but adjacent, rooms for a bit. It will allow them to get used to each others smell and spark a good kind of curiousity.

If it doesn't work right away, don't panic. My big cat is my baby and was very jealous when little Jasper arrived - but it has only been 6 days and my big cat is learning to tolerate the little guy. I also live in an apt. so I understand the close quarters. If I can make it work with these extremes, you should be fine! Go give that little kitten a good home :-)

Answer 3

I have a 9 month old kitty along with 3 "senoir citizens" and a 2 month old kitten. So I have had quite a bit of varying introduction experiences.

I have found that older cats do not bond very well with the newcomers though they do accept them fairly well after a while.

My 9 month old however bonds very quickly with new members and treats my little 2 month old like his brother. So I think that you will have little problem with a new kitty, especially since they are young and the same age. It will go alot smoother if they are both neutered, too. Good luck and enjoy the fun you are about to have!

Answer 4

They should be ok, just introduce them slow if you can, like thru a carrier or something. They are young enough that they most likely still have kitten mentality and will welcome the new friend. Expect a little hissing and "I'm the boss" stuff at first, but they most likely will adjust quickly. It's always easier to introduce kittens than older cats. The younger the better, but these two should be fine. Good luck and enjoy your new furbaby!

Answer 5

My black (male) kitty was about 9 mos old when I decided he needed a playmate. I fell in love with a white kitty, approx. 18 mos old, that had been rescued & was living at the vets office. He was neutered & front declawed before he came into my house. (My black kitty had already been neutered & front declawed.) White kitty stayed in a carrier in the living room that evening while black kitty did his territorial thing. White kitty spent the night in my bedroom with me the first night. First day, while I was at work, he stayed in the bedroom. In the evening, supervised interaction betweeen the two. Second night I took white kitty to bed w/me again. Only this time they sat on opposite sides of the door and cried. After listening to it for quite awhile, I opened the door, telling them. "Kill each other if you're going to do it, just let me get some sleep!!" They have been inseperable ever since and that was 9 yrs ago.
IMO, close to same age is easier. We have a "kitten" (less than 1 yo) who has adotped us. He is quite playful and has so much energy he annoys the 2 older cats. Technically he doesn't belong to us (he has a home across the street) and since he hasn't been neutered or front declawed, he isn't allowed to stay in our house.
One recommendation I would make though, no matter what age cat you get as a playmate for your existing cat - treat the existing cat as the dominent, give him food, treats & attention first.

Answer 6

I agree with Bozema.
It seems as if older cats are already set in their ways and are very, very particular about changes around them.

My older house cat, Boots, has been puffing smoke for the last week and 1/2 when I brought an injured kitten inside to care for after surgery. She wants nothing to do with me and will go out of her way to *not be in the same room.

I think a kitten around the same age should be no problem for you! Good luck!

Answer 7

We've done both and it totally depends on the cats. The smoothest was with a handicapped cat who couldn't move fast. Our guys all stood back 8' and swore at him in cat language and he ignored them. He found the couch after looking around, and was sleeping within 3 hours. The others ignored him too, but they were completely comfortable in about 2 weeks.

Youngsters like kittens want full body contact with adult cats, so will barrel up to them in play and run the risk of an adult cat getting too irritated. The adult cats in this case may NOT like the newcomer for a far longer time than they'd hold their nose out of joint with an adult cat.

Answer 8

Cats are very territorial, so you need to choose a cat that is younger, smaller and the opposite sex for the best match. (They will be seen as less of a threat by your existing cat). You will need to give your cat a lot of reassurance so that he understands that the new cat is to be his friend and not his replacement.

Introductions need to be done slowly and the you have to start off by confining the new cat to a separate room. This way the cats get to "meet" each other by smell first, which will make the face to face introductions go a lot smoother. The web article below will give you step by step advice on how to do this.

http://www.tulsa-animalshelter.org/tips/intro%20cat.htm

Be patient. Depending on your cat's personality, it can take anywhere from a week to a couple of months for your cat to fully accept a newcomer.

Good luck.

Answer 9

All cat introductions are "iffy" and many go very smoothly, some take a long time to work out. I am assuming that both the cats are neutered and the fact they are close in age will be a plus for you.

Go to http://www.littlebigcat.com and read Dr.Jean Hovfe's article titled "Cat to Cat Introductions" for tips on how to go about making a successful integration. The article is in her free article library.

You can get a Feliway diffuser to use and also consider looking at Dr. Hovfe's flower essence concoction "New Beginning" to use on the cats. Both those helped things go smoothly around here.

Answer 10

They're both young enough so that introducing them shouldn't be an issue, but you might want to have the current cat sniff something that the newbie has been exposed to - say a blanket. That might make the introduction a little easier. They'll probably end up thinking they're just long-lost litter mates!