Considering a 3rd kitty. What to expect?

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cla517

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My DH found some kittens at his building and wants to bring one home. We already have 2 nuetered male cats, 6 and 7 years old. They get along wonderfully. I'm a HUGE cat lover and would love a kitten, but I'm afraid of upsetting the "balance" in the house. Is there a "gang up" mentality if you have an odd number? Since the others are older, is a kitten a bad idea? I don't want to upset my two residents, but I'd love to save another kitten!

Tell me experiences, tips, anything!
 
gailuvscats

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Well, my experience is when I adopted Pansy, there was a lot of jealousy from spike, because Fang became friends with him and did not pay as much attention to Spike. Before they were best buds. It has been two years I think, and Pansy is still odd man out. They all get along, but Spike has sort of removed himself, and it is not the same as it was. I would never have adopted Pansy, but he was a foster, and I knew he would have a hard time getting adopted because he is so timid so I knew I had to keep him, or he would have had a heart attack, and he was already buds with fang. I wish Spike would relax a little, but he has changed since the adoption. He really nails Pansy sometimes.
Every situation is different, it will be tough for a while, but they will eventually come to a balance, but it won't be the same.
 
menasmom

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Oh, man, you sound like me when it came to adding a third to the mix!! I had Jiggy (male neutered) and Gette (female spayed) and both were 3 years old when I was contemplating getting a third. CONTEMPLATING was the word for about 3 months, as I, like you, were worried about disturbing the balance that Jiggy and Gette had. Well, GOOD OLD HUBBY convinced me to adopt Sophia in March at the age of 5 months and everything turned out fine. While Gette, my female, tolerates her and sometimes will play withher, Jiggy, my male absolutely DOTES on her. Cleans her, sleeps with her, etc. She knows she can bother her big brother when she wants to play. And he's not the type that plays with toys like Gette is, so it's good exercise for him.
I say DO IT!!
 
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coaster

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I'd suggest bringing two kittens home. That way, they'll have another cat their own age to play with. Sometimes older cats get annoyed with playful kittens. Also, chances are you'll want another cat sometime in the future, and this way you'll already have one. If it's two kittens from the same litter, you won't have to worry about whether or not they'll get along with each other. And finally -- this is something I believe from my own experience, but I've never read about anywhere -- I think an even number is a more stable group than an odd number. I have three cats and many times I wish I had either stayed with two or I wish I had four. It seems that with three cats, there's always one cat getting left out. With four, you've got two pairs, and especially with two older cats and two kittens. I really think you should take in two.
 
cocoalily

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Originally Posted by coaster

I'd suggest bringing two kittens home. That way, they'll have another cat their own age to play with. Sometimes older cats get annoyed with playful kittens. Also, chances are you'll want another cat sometime in the future, and this way you'll already have one. If it's two kittens from the same litter, you won't have to worry about whether or not they'll get along with each other. And finally -- this is something I believe from my own experience, but I've never read about anywhere -- I think an even number is a more stable group than an odd number. I have three cats and many times I wish I had either stayed with two or I wish I had four. It seems that with three cats, there's always one cat getting left out. With four, you've got two pairs, and especially with two older cats and two kittens. I really think you should take in two.
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I agree, two would probably be best. Of course, if you can only take one, I'd say go for it...you never know what will come out of it if you don't try. And if worst comes to worst and you absolutely cannot keep the newcomer, you can always put it up for adoption.
 
rosiemac

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My two girls bonded with Jack within a week of him coming home.

For me it's making sure the house is as stress free as possible, and making sure the resident cats are still given lots of love and attention at all times to reassure them that their still loved
 
satai

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There are general rules to apply, and you'll get good advice from more experienced members.

In my own experience, the last thing we expected when we added the fifth kitty to our house was increased harmony. At that time we effectively had two pairs of cats - Molly and Bobby and Slayer and Slaine. Suddenly, with the addition of Talin (not immediately, but very shortly) we had a family of five cats. Slaine adopted him as her 'son' immediately, Molly tolerated him immediately. Slayer and Bobby quickly adapted to him - and Slayer and Bobby bonded over their dislike of him before that happened!

So, it depends on the cats to some extent. We didn't do anything extraordinary to intergrate them.
 
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I say go for it, the kittens need a good home, if you can take two, all the better, but if not, one is okay. I would suggest getting opposite sex of the two you have. I had two female cats, the older one passed away and the one left mourned terribly for a year. At that time, we adopted two male kittens and lady is a different cat all together now. One of the boys absolutely loves her and follows her around, the other tolerates her, and she watches them play and it keeps her interested. Just be careful to introduce the new kitten or kittens slowly, just one room at first, with the resident cats having the run of the house but able to sniff under the door to the new cat; then after several days, try opening the door for a short time but remain in the room with all 3 or 4 and always give the resident cats lots of attention so they don't get jealous.
 
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