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We are thinking about adopting a cat.
We have a 3 hr old female indoor/outdoor cat and our concern is whether this would be good for her in the long term.
She just turned up at our home 2 yrs ago - very skinny and not neutered.
She is quite vocal, not a lap cat at all, ever, and is very even tempered.She does like to cuddle as long as you're standing up
Even though she goes outside she enjoys playing inside on her scratching box, with her catnip toys and a softball
Wary of strangers(she'll sometimes hiss if she is in the house and they come in, but hasn't been aggressive otherwise.
We would love to give another cat a home but would like some advice regarding sex, age, personality etc.
Would hate our current cat Susie to do a runner!
Thanks
The problem with cats, is that you never know who will work out, and who won't. They may end up the best of friends, or barely tolerating one another. I would go with a nuetered male, not a kitten, but a young cat, from the shelter.
I would also be very candid with the shelter about what you're looking for; most shelters do at least some basic work to assess personality, ability to interact with other animals, and so on, and they can help you choose a cat that is known to be able to get along with other cats.
We recently added a second adult cat to our one-cat home, and were able to achieve a tremendously successful integration of the new cat in with the resident cat. It took a bit of extra time and doing, but at least for us, it was very worthwhile for the outcome.
We worked with a rescue organization to find a laid-back fellow with a good track record of getting along with other cats, and we also spent a couple of hours interacting with him at his foster mom's home before adopting him to get a good sense of his personality, which I strongly recommend you do also.
First, we prepped our spare bedroom for the newcomer. We set up a new litterbox, small cat-tree by the window, upholstered cubby, bed made up with blankets that hung down to make a cave under the bed, lots of toys. We made sure to lay in a supply of the food he'd been eating, too.
We scheduled a veterinary appointment for the same morning that we were planning to pick up the new cat, and went straight to the vet's office from the shelter with our new family member. Once he got a clean bill of health, we took him home, and took him in the carrier straight into the spare bedroom. We closed the bedroom door, opened the carrier, and let him out to start exploring.
We put out fresh water and food, and left the newcomer alone in the room for a while to settle in and explore his new digs. Meanwhile, we made much of the resident cat, petting him, talking to him, playing with him, and generally trying to convey that he was still a much-loved and valued member of the family.
Starting that night, I slept in the spare bedroom with the new family member while my spouse slept in our bed with the resident cat, and we continued to sleep apart that way as long as the newcomer was sequestered from the rest of the house. He would wake me up for petting and interaction every hour or so, so I knew he was still feeling pretty insecure, and he clearly appreciated having a petter-person around to talk to.
Also, at the end of that first day he was with us, my spouse and I took off the shirts we had been wearing all day, and we put one of them on resident cat's cat-tree in the living room and the other on newcomer cat's cat-tree in the spare bedroom. Each day, we'd switch the shirts to the opposite cat-tree, so that they both had ample chances to smell each other along with the "safe" smells of the food-giver/petter people in the family.
We followed this routine for a full week. Resident cat was VERY interested in the spare bedroom, and by the end of the week, newcomer cat was VERY eager to get out and explore, but everything we had heard suggested that a full week of separation works best, so we kept them apart.
On the seventh day, we opened the bedroom door, and Col. Snuggledorf strolled out. Finn hissed once or twice, but his heart clearly wasn't in it; he pretty much just ignored the Colonel. By the end of the second day of the Colonel's freedom, the boys were playing "King of the Castle" on our living room chair. By the end of the third day, they were chasing each other through the living room and wrestling together. By the end of the first week, they were sniffing noses when they met, and I caught the Colonel giving Finn a good ear-washing.
We've now been a two-cat household for about two months, and while they still haven't gotten to the point of curling up together, they clearly both really enjoy playing and wrestling together. They collaborate in chasing sparkly balls, take turns chasing each other across our bed to wake us up in the morning, and they've even learned to take turns when I give out salmon treats. In short, it has been a tremendously successful transition, and I'd say that first inconvenient week when we were keeping them apart, trading their smells, each of us sleeping with a different cat and so on was worth every bit of hassle.
I will also add that I think Finn (the first cat) has been happier and more active since the Colonel joined our family than he had been for a long time. He wasn't sick or anything, but he had become kind of sedentary, not playing as much as he did a few years ago, and he was really, really needy when we'd get home from work. He's still very affectionate, but I don't think he gets as lonely when we're away all day as he used to, and he's definitely a lot more active now that he can play with the Colonel. Activity is good for cats just like it is for us, so I see that as a very positive thing.
Good luck to you in your search! Remember that cats have as distinct a personality as humans do, and not every cat is able to tolerate another feline around, but hopefully your current kitty will have as much fun with a new roommate as ours is. Let us know how they do!
Thank you for writing your successful integration story, MidwesternBookWorm. I hope our moderators will post your steps to success to the top of the cat forum for others.
Thank you for adopting a homeless pet and showing an adult rescue cat can be a great companion to an existing cat family member!
I would also be very candid with the shelter about what you're looking for; most shelters do at least some basic work to assess personality, ability to interact with other animals, and so on, and they can help you choose a cat that is known to be able to get along with other cats.
We recently added a second adult cat to our one-cat home, and were able to achieve a tremendously successful integration of the new cat in with the resident cat. It took a bit of extra time and doing, but at least for us, it was very worthwhile for the outcome.
We worked with a rescue organization to find a laid-back fellow with a good track record of getting along with other cats, and we also spent a couple of hours interacting with him at his foster mom's home before adopting him to get a good sense of his personality, which I strongly recommend you do also.
First, we prepped our spare bedroom for the newcomer. We set up a new litterbox, small cat-tree by the window, upholstered cubby, bed made up with blankets that hung down to make a cave under the bed, lots of toys. We made sure to lay in a supply of the food he'd been eating, too.
We scheduled a veterinary appointment for the same morning that we were planning to pick up the new cat, and went straight to the vet's office from the shelter with our new family member. Once he got a clean bill of health, we took him home, and took him in the carrier straight into the spare bedroom. We closed the bedroom door, opened the carrier, and let him out to start exploring.
We put out fresh water and food, and left the newcomer alone in the room for a while to settle in and explore his new digs. Meanwhile, we made much of the resident cat, petting him, talking to him, playing with him, and generally trying to convey that he was still a much-loved and valued member of the family.
Starting that night, I slept in the spare bedroom with the new family member while my spouse slept in our bed with the resident cat, and we continued to sleep apart that way as long as the newcomer was sequestered from the rest of the house. He would wake me up for petting and interaction every hour or so, so I knew he was still feeling pretty insecure, and he clearly appreciated having a petter-person around to talk to.
Also, at the end of that first day he was with us, my spouse and I took off the shirts we had been wearing all day, and we put one of them on resident cat's cat-tree in the living room and the other on newcomer cat's cat-tree in the spare bedroom. Each day, we'd switch the shirts to the opposite cat-tree, so that they both had ample chances to smell each other along with the "safe" smells of the food-giver/petter people in the family.
We followed this routine for a full week. Resident cat was VERY interested in the spare bedroom, and by the end of the week, newcomer cat was VERY eager to get out and explore, but everything we had heard suggested that a full week of separation works best, so we kept them apart.
On the seventh day, we opened the bedroom door, and Col. Snuggledorf strolled out. Finn hissed once or twice, but his heart clearly wasn't in it; he pretty much just ignored the Colonel. By the end of the second day of the Colonel's freedom, the boys were playing "King of the Castle" on our living room chair. By the end of the third day, they were chasing each other through the living room and wrestling together. By the end of the first week, they were sniffing noses when they met, and I caught the Colonel giving Finn a good ear-washing.
We've now been a two-cat household for about two months, and while they still haven't gotten to the point of curling up together, they clearly both really enjoy playing and wrestling together. They collaborate in chasing sparkly balls, take turns chasing each other across our bed to wake us up in the morning, and they've even learned to take turns when I give out salmon treats. In short, it has been a tremendously successful transition, and I'd say that first inconvenient week when we were keeping them apart, trading their smells, each of us sleeping with a different cat and so on was worth every bit of hassle.
I will also add that I think Finn (the first cat) has been happier and more active since the Colonel joined our family than he had been for a long time. He wasn't sick or anything, but he had become kind of sedentary, not playing as much as he did a few years ago, and he was really, really needy when we'd get home from work. He's still very affectionate, but I don't think he gets as lonely when we're away all day as he used to, and he's definitely a lot more active now that he can play with the Colonel. Activity is good for cats just like it is for us, so I see that as a very positive thing.
Good luck to you in your search! Remember that cats have as distinct a personality as humans do, and not every cat is able to tolerate another feline around, but hopefully your current kitty will have as much fun with a new roommate as ours is. Let us know how they do!
Awww- that brought a tear to my eye!
Thanks so much for sharing.
We had been reading up on how to bring a new cat into the house, but I thought your shirts thing was fabulous.
I can't claim that one as my own. I saw something similar suggested here in another thread (and apologies to the person who posted it, because I cannot remember who it was!) and basically tweaked it to suit our cats and their personalities. The original suggestion was to take a shirt you had worn, rub it all over one cat, then all over the other one, but both Finn and the Colonel took exception to that strategy. The shirt-on-the-cat-tree approach seemed to work as well for them, without ruffling their fur (literally!) at a time when they were both already discombobulated by the change in home/new roommate.
I think one thing I'd take away from that experience is to heed good advice, but pay the MOST attention to what your own cat or cats do in response to your actions. Something that works with our two may not work for yours, and vice versa. It's a lot like parenting; when my kids were small, I tried out all sorts of different methods and approaches, and I kept the ones that worked and discarded the ineffective ones.
Oh, and if/when you adopt your new family member, I hope you'll stop back with an adoption announcement and hopefully photos. You know we're all suckers for cat stories and cat photos here, so please feed our addictions with some illustrated cat tales!
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