getting a kitten for my male cat.

i got a male cat who is friendly with other adult cats, but i was wondering if it would be ok to get my kitty his own little kitten to raise even tho he is not the father because we want a baby kitty. what is typical behavior for this?

i saw similar topics, but specifically for a male, AND he's only 18 months old.

If you want a kitten, then get a kitten - but male cats do not typically raise kittens, once the mother is impregnated their job is done. Assuming your male cat is neutered, he may enjoy having another young cat around, but will be likely to view it as a playmate rather than show any parental response to it. An unneutered tomcat is more likely to view another cat as a rival and may be aggressive towards it, whether it is his related to him or not.

I would be careful. He might resent the Kitten. My Brothers Males hate each other and they are fixed. I never had a Male that really liked any kitten we got. When me and my Sister got a Kitten in Nov. Her Cat went nuts and attacked him and my Sister. You really have to be careful. My Male Yoshi who was fixed wasnt nice to my Kitten Oreo either. He smacked her and got mean. Coco my almost 16 year old Cat protected her and took her as her own.

I would certainly suggest not getting a small kitten as a companion for a cat that age, male cats can be rough with each other when playing and a young kitten may find it a bit much. Around 8 or 9 months upwards would likely give the best chance of a smooth introduction.

Before making any decisions, I suggest you have a look through the information on this site about introducing cats to each other - it's quite rare for cats to become friends in a short space of time, often there is quite a long period of adjustment. But I also think that if you just have 1 cat at the moment, he may well benefit from having a companion closer to his own age, as long as they are both neutered. But then there are some cats who never really take to others of their own kind! It's not a decision to take lightly, so don't rush into anything

As long as both are neutered or spayed (if you choose a female kitten) your male should be fine with a younger brother or sister. IMO I'd go for a younger brother, but males do accept either sex a lot quicker then an adult female would.

Choose a kitten that would be about the same activity level as your young boy

As far as what age - don't get a kitten younger then 6 months old - he'll be too "hard" on the kitten in playing. Look for something between 6-12 months and neutered/spayed.

This is probably a pretty odd case, but once I did have a neutered male cat kind of raise a male kitten.

We rescued this stray during a thunderstorm and he was young...probably too young to be away from his mother but when we found him he was out alone. The adult cat would protect him and even play with him like he was a kitten too. He'd allow all kinds of silliness that no other adult cat would put up with! Once the kitten started to mature the adult let him know that the playing was over.

My first cat, Mitten, was a "surragote" cat - but he was about 6-7 yrs old when we got our RB Kisa. He helped raise Kisa's litter of kittens.

An older cat may do it, but a younger cat would think of it more as a playmate and could be too rough on a young kitten if they were not used to being around them.

With my rexes, there was no problem since they were used to the kittens all the time. But when the kittens started walking around (month old) they actually were more afraid of them till they were more coordinated.

Originally Posted by bubblebats

i got a male cat who is friendly with other adult cats, but i was wondering if it would be ok to get my kitty his own little kitten to raise even tho he is not the father because we want a baby kitty. what is typical behavior for this?

i saw similar topics, but specifically for a male, AND he's only 18 months old.

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My male adult cat was also about 18 months when a young 8 week old kitten came into the household. The adult male adopted the kitten and soon the kitten was following him around everywhere. Good Luck!

Originally Posted by ChloeKitty98

This is probably a pretty odd case, but once I did have a neutered male cat kind of raise a male kitten.

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That's not odd at all and really it's more dependent on the adult male cat's personality then it is age. Some cats are just more naturally laid back... and maternal?

Sho wanted a kitten - I'm not making this up. I had taken in kittens and rehomed them before, but never let them stay with him. He would always brrr and coo at them the door. When I decided to keep Tomas (and after getting him tested), Sho took to him immediately - grooming and snuggling with him. They bonded very quickly. Now that Tomas is older, they play rough and try to figure out who's in charge (me and they know it ), but still groom and snuggle all the time. I only wish all kitties would get along so well.

Good luck if you decide to get another kitty! You've already been given great suggestions. I suggest, since you have a boy, that you don't focus on what sex of cat or kitten you will get. Just pick out the one that seems to call to you.