Add a kitty or not?

Hi everyone.
I read several of the stickies and I got some really fascinating information, but I couldn't seem to get any opinions that would really relate to my current situation. I have an 8 year old cat, spayed female stray that I got as a kitten. She had some socialization when she was younger, but I think she's been an only cat for about 4-5 years now. Currently, she's living with me, alone in my apartment. I think the solitude is driving her crazy, as I'm at work for many hours a day as well as having school in the evenings. She's become very codependent on me, to the point of me not being able to shut my bedroom door at night because she howls and scratches at it. I'm wondering if getting another cat for her to play with and be with might help? Thanks for any feedback.

Hard to say. I would love another cat -- my local Humane Society is waiving the adoption fee because they have too many cats.

The other day my brother brought his dog over (a small maltese/bichon) -- very sweet, completely ignores cats. My cat wanted a piece of him!! I can't imagine he'd react well to another cat.

My other issue is I am afraid all the stress may cause litterbox issues. My brothers two cats have been fighting lately (they were adopted together as kittens) and one of them is now peeing outside the box.

Its hard to say if it will work.
When Coco and Meeko met my Coco was 10 and Meeko was 2.
Meeko was the one that hissed.
Coco accepted her the first day.
Now Meeko accepts any new kitten I get.
How was she with other cats before?
Meeko is going to be 9 in a few days and Coco is now 17 and they are best friends.
All my cats are girls and all get along.

Some cat fairly readily accept others - some cats don't. It's almost a draw which way things will go. I say most definitely do not get a kitten, but look for a young/adult.

Yeah, I was definitely looking at getting a young adult because I don't really want to train a kitten. She's also a bit overweight (she's dropped some pounds since living with me, because I play with her) and I don't think that playing with a kitten would be good for her. I was thinking male, because maybe male and female would get along better. I'd have 2 litter boxes, two separate feeding areas and 2 separate beds. I'm just not sure if she'll warm up to the new kitty, or if she'd go psycho and cause more problems. I also don't want to get my hopes up for another kitty and then be crushed when she can't learn to share.

She was pretty okay before, as a kitten I had several other cats that she was able to get along with. As an adult, we only had 2 cats, her and a Siamese mix who was not playful and very anti-social, so Isis mostly left her alone. I'd say it's been about 6 years since she had another cat to play with. The only aggression towards other cats she's had was after I spayed her, and she suddenly became very bold and would escape the house to go stalk the neighborhood strays. I think she kept doing that until about 2-3 years ago, and then she got fat and stopped doing it.

I have essentially no behavioral problems with her. No inappropriate elimination, my furniture is mostly intact save for my bedding. I have a scratching post, and box, and now a roll of carpet for her, and I rotate her toys so that she doesn't see the same ones for too long. My only complaints are that she's suddenly become a picky eater once I moved to the apartment, and she's shredding my comforter and sheets. I'm combating the shredding by clipping her nails. The picky eating I think I have under control now, sadly I had to switch her from Eukanuba dry and Blue Buffalo canned to *gasp* Fancy Feast. But she's eating, so I'll leave her alone for now.

Everyone has given me the same response of "Dunno" when I ask them if she'll take to a new cat. It's kind of funny, in a sad way.

Here are some pics of my cats so you can see how they get along.
Sex does not always matter.
My brother has alot of problems with his cats and he has both males and females.
Some cats have to be locked up because they try to kill each other.
I have no problems except my sphynx plays to rough and has hurt Oreo.

I've never been a "one cat person", I've pretty much always had at least two, for the reasons you described. I say go for it. Two females can be tough, but a playful male might be fun for her. Let your heart lead you on that one.

The "sticky" threads have lots of very helpful information on introducing cats. If she has been with other cats in the past without problems, she may enjoy some company. Just go slow on the introductions.

A thought for the bedding, put a plastic shower curtain over the bed to see if that might help.

I think it would be great if you introduce them properly

I've always been a one-cat person, but the two cats I've had have had very, very different personalities.

The female who adopted me and lived with me for 18 years didn't like too much human contact. When I was at work, she slept, but I never separated her from me when I was home. Why don't you let your cat in the bedroom?
I played with her every morning before I went to work, and she thrived alone. When she was about 7, I tried introducing another cat, but she wanted to be alone--and let me know it. My vet told me that she was fine alone.

The boy I have now is VERY social and needs a lot of human contact. But I'm retired and home all day, so that works out. When I have to leave for vacation or anything, I have a sitter who lives in the house, so although she goes to work, he's not alone at night. When I discussed a second cat with my vet (I don't really want another cat, but I didn't want to deprive my boy), the vet said that my cat is very strongly human bonded and will do fine alone. Actually, he's so spoiled that I don't think he'd be willing to share me with another cat.


My point is that two very different cats did well as singles, so it's possible that your cat just wants a little more of you, not another feline.

Sorry, I've got nothing useful to add to this except those pics of your cuddly cats are so precious!

Originally Posted by mews2much

Here are some pics of my cats so you can see how they get along.
Sex does not always matter.
My brother has alot of problems with his cats and he has both males and females.
Some cats have to be locked up because they try to kill each other.
I have no problems except my sphynx plays to rough and has hurt Oreo.

Click to expand...

Thanks,
They all get along well.

Don't do it!! I was in the same situation, and rescued a month old kitten a little over a year ago. They became friends after some adjustment, but have been fighting for the last week. Now the older cat is crying and super obsessed with me just like before, but I've also got the younger aggressive one to deal with (who is also obsessed with me, and I love to death). If they don't work things out soon, I'm going to be faced with re-homing a cat that I love, and you don't want to have to do that. I know that this doesn't mean that all cat relationships won't work out, but think about it very carefully. It's really hard to give up an animal after you've fallen in love with it.