Two Females?

A co-worker has a female cat - think she is about 3 years old. He has his eye on a female kitten. He said she is small, so probably less than 12 weeks.

Is there a decent chance that the two females will bond and get along or will the older tend to ignore the baby?

I know all cats are individuals. What is the most common reaction from your experiences?

(he asked me because he thinks I'm a cat lady )

It really is very individual. If you get two cats who both want to be alpha cat, you can have problems. If they have different personalities, they may get along well.

I have three females (well 5, plus one male, but the extra ones are babies) and they all get along well. It didn't take them long to figure out who is boss---mostly because she told them! Of the other two, one is fairly submissive and one is just laid back.

Unfortunately, you can't always tell how they're going to react until you get them together. Is there any way your coworker can bring the kitten home for a few days to check things out, with an agreement to return the kitten if it doesn't work?

In my experience, females are more territorial about who comes in the house (if they are a resident top cat) especially if the new one is another rival female. It can work, just takes longer.

Ling is a typical female. She hated Charlie when he first came in (at 4 months old) - she wouldn't have a thing to do with him for about 6 months. She tolerates him now; but they are not close. They continue to argue about who is top cat (Charlie turned 2 yrs old in August).

I'm sure she would never accept another female coming in the house. It will probably be the same thing over again when Jack gets here next year. Charlie and Jack should bond quicker (being males), but I seriously doubt that Ling will do more then tolerate Jack.

I had 2 female rexes that tolerated each other for years; then one day one decided she didn't want to be in the same room at all with the other, and she would really fight with her (this female got along with every male in the house). I had to separate her from the other female until I could rehome her.

I strongly suggest your friend adopt a young neutered male rather then another female.

Between 2 friends of mine and myself, we have 6 males and 6 females. None of the females cause any problems if you don't count that my Coco seems to think it's fun to charge at Toby and make him run away. She doesn't "attack" him though, just charges at him. Of the males, 2 are laid back and the other 4 cause some kind of problem with at least one other furry house member. These are actual attacks that result in fur flying.

In the future I'll think very seriously about only having females but as others have said it really depends on the individual cats involved.

I have 2 females living together upstairs - they bathe each other, sleep together, etc. Downstairs I have Molly & Ophelia co-existing with frequent spats. Then again Ophelia is evil.

I had two female (spayed) littermates when I adopted Marmalade and had her spayed. There was a great deal of puffery and snarling for a week or so, then detante. Now, several months later, they all get along. There are infrequent rumbles. Both Bast and Marmalade would like to be alpha, but the fights are mild and short lived.

Angie

In my home the females get along, but I have issues with 2 males. But Easy (female) is top cat and that is known by everyone.

I have 4 females and another one coming soon.
They all get along great.
Coco lets new kittens nurse on her even though she is old.
When I got Oreo I had 1 male and 4 females and Yoshi the male and Stormy a female were the worse.
Stormy died a few weeks later though.
Yoshi smacked every new cat we got but Coco protected them.
Meeko is ok when I get new cats also.
Sasha hissed at Oreo but now they are good friends.
Yoshi the male was Meekos son but Meeko was very close to Stormy and became very upset when she died.
It really depends on the cat.
I would go ahead and get her.
My cats all clean each other also.
Oreo does get bossy over toys and growls and growls over food also.
She also is small.

I have three females and they all get along well.

It depends on the individual. A slow intro (if he decides on the female) might be a good idea.

I have two females and 1 male (all altered). Luvbug (the male) gets along with both girls. The girls however, are just tolerant of each other - even though we adopted Lil' Jag as a kitten. Kuce still loves LJ though but LJ won't have anything to do with the mothering. Kuce is alpha cat, followed by Luvbug and then LJ. LJ probably still trying to get up the pack order. :shrugs:

Remember the rhyme about the two cats of Kilkenney?