should we get him a friend?

Hi,
About 6 months ago we picked up 1 year old cat from the animal shelter. It seemd like they didnt really have his information straight on his file. They did mention that he might have been a bully with other cats and was declawed possibly for that reason. My guess is he spent his first year around other cats more than people. He isnt the most friendly cat, doesnt sit on your lap. He seems to be really bored and is usually sitting by the door when you come in. He'll bother you til you give him some wet food then his back to his loner self.
We're thinking about getting a friend for him, but dont want to get stuck with two cats that cant get along at all. I realize that is a risk you take when you have more than one animal, but I'd like to be as sure as possible that he can have a relationship with another cat.
Any suggestions?
Balth

Do you play with him? There are so many little things that can be used for toys, both the kind you throw (little balls) and the kind you jiggle (knotted cords under a sheet of paper), or wiggle at him (feathers on the end of a stick ("Da Bird"), etc. There's a great one - like a big plastic bagel with the innermost area opened up and a ball inside to chase around the circle. The thing is, there's no way to tell a) if he would like a friend (though experience tells me he would), or b) which one he will be friends with. I should say that my two boys were best friends from the minute they saw each other (the kitten just threw himself at 10 yr old Plato, who grabbed onto him and just loved him - even though he was only neutral to our other older male cat and gave the two girls a hard time. Luck of the draw!

I had an experience years ago with one of our cats. Jenson, he was nice cat but not the friendlest boy. Well, a stray showed up and he really took to her. We would catch them together all the time, sleeping, playing. Now I wouldn't have thought he would have taken so well to another cat, but I guess he showed us. If you do decide to get another, I would suggest a cat that is very social with other cats and possibly younger. My current cat Simon didn't want much to do with Sofie when I added her to the family. She had been fostered with other cats and was use to them. It took a little time, but she won him over and everytime she sits need to him, he will start licking her. Good luck with your decision.

Laurie

I say go for it. 1 year old is very young. He shouldn't be too set in his ways yet. Mine was 2 when we added a 2nd cat--the 2nd one was a tiny kitten. And the older cat would hiss for a while so we kept them separate when we weren't there to monitor them. But it didn't take long for them to become best friends and cuddling companions.

thanks for the advice so far. hes fun to play with and hes vicious when hes chasing after his toys. hes a suck though.
Balth.

I would bet money that your new cat will not like your old cat given the personality type you described. Our calico will have nothing to do with our domestic shorthair, even though he is constantly trying to play fight with her.

Although, they do seem to band together when there is no food around and start randomly knocking things off of shelves to get our attention. Even though the calico will have little to do with him, I still feel that a bond has been created between the two and would never want to separate them now.

I remember when I took my cat on a "mans night out" to my fathers house...my wife said the normally mean calico was depressed the whole time because her "enemy" wasn't at home.

In summary, there is no way to know how these fickle beings called cats will react to any given situation....

You might want to talk to the shelters in your area. At our shelter, they do "foster to adopt". That way you can try the cats together "risk free".

Originally Posted by clixpix

You might want to talk to the shelters in your area. At our shelter, they do "foster to adopt". That way you can try the cats together "risk free".

Click to expand...

That's a great idea.

I will definitely investigate the foster/adoption idea.

upon further reflection, the idea of taking a kitty back to the shelter after having a home for a week is heartbreaking.



I should also have mentioned that when we got Balthazar he was in a hut with 10 other cats, and he didnt seem to be showing any aggression towards any of them.