Need advice on choosing a kitten

nicolegray

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Hi all. My boyfriend and I currently have an adult cat, Audrey, who is about a year and a half old. We're trying to find another young cat to add to our household.

We had wanted to adopt through the rescue group we volunteer with, but most of the cats they have available right now are younger than we'd been hoping. Most are around three or four months, so it's hard to get a handle on their personality.

Anyway, we went to meet a 14 week old kitten yesterday. She was absolutely adorable, as are all kittens. Very sweet. Unusually mellow for a kitten, but also happy to play. Big cuddler too, according to her foster mom.

The problem was, she was very shy around us, which I've never seen from a kitten that age before. After we'd been there for about twenty minutes she was willing to come play with us and sit near us. The rescue group swears up and down that she grows accustomed to people quickly and comes out of her shell, but it seems like a warning sign to me.

What do you think? We don't want to adopt a cat who's only going to grow more standoffish as she ages.
 
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nicolegray

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Never mind. Moot point now. We went to the shelter and found a fabulous one year old boy. You can delete the thread if you like.
 

goldenkitty45

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In my experience female kittens/cats tend to be a bit more reserved around strangers till after they get to know you. On the other hand, boys tend to be a lot more friendly/outgoing with everyone.

Since you have a female (am assuming she IS spayed), why not consider adopting a young neutered male to join your household.

Another thing (in my experience) is a resident female takes better to a new male then another new female. Ling was the resident female and still doesn't totally warm up to Charlie (we've had him since December as a 4 month old kitten).

All my males welcomed any cat into the house; all the females had a harder time accepting a new female into the house.
 
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nicolegray

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Once I get some pictures I'll start a thread in the appropriate forum.

GoldenKitty, we actually ended up with exactly what you suggested. He's a year old and neutered. Our resident cat is spayed. They've been sniffing at one another through the door. So far she's hissed and growled a bit, but mostly just seems really curious.
 

laureen227

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i'm so glad you went with an older cat - i think he'll fit in much faster than a really young one. i was going to suggest the same thing!
 
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nicolegray

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After being Mr. Personality for some time, the new cat has retired to beneath the bed, and won't be budged. He's had an exhausting day, and I can't blame him a bit.

So here's a teaser photo for now. I'll let you know when I start a new thread up in the appropriate place with real photos.
 

goldenkitty45

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OHHHHHHHHHH are you in for a TREAT! Those red boys are goofy and very loving - all my red tabby boys were riots to be around. What one didn't think of, his brother did.

Red tabbies are one of my favs
 
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nicolegray

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I started a thread called "New Cat" over in the New Cats on the Block board.

GoldenKitty, he seems just like you've described so far. Loves pets (he's been grabbing our hands with his paws and pulling them to his face). He's starting to remember how to play, and he's a total goof about it. We'll have to work with him to stop play-biting (we're redirecting him to a ribbon when he starts), but aside from that he's perfect so far.
 
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