Hi everyone, I could really use some expert advice here.
I currently have one cat and no other pets. Ziggy is a 1.3 year old neutered male who we adopted from the humane society at age 8 months. He was brought into the humane society at age ~1 day, raised there, adopted out by a family, and then returned by that family before being adopted by us. Despite an unstable kitten hood, he is rather well-adjusted. Friendly, curious, likes to be around us. We have never seen him interact with any other friendly cats (at the humane society he shared a room with two older females who shunned him and hissed at him when he tried to approach them) so his cat-to-cat interactions are kind of unknown, except that he is definitely the "approach" type rather than the "avoid" type it seems.
Now the second cat in question, Leo, is a 10 year old neutered male who was one of my boyfriend's family pets. Leo is still living with my boyfriend's parents. Leo has spent his life with 2 other felines and a large dog who recently passed, and has been living in the same home for about 7 years now. He is very laid back, "chill", kind of dog-like in some of his behaviors, and loves attention and petting. He's not getting a lot of attention where he is living now, and we'd simply love to bring him into our home. He would be getting better food, more play, and more love.
But I have some concerns, for example:
1. I have no idea if Ziggy and Leo would get along. I just want them both to be as happy as possible.
2. Leo lives far away - a definite plane ride. The travel could be traumatic, and if things don't work out, there's the additional trauma of sending him back to his original home. We can't really do a "test" or trial run.
3. Leo has had a relatively stable 7 or so years in the same house with the same cats. He has no problems there, and he might get very stressed with the huge transition (although he would be with my boyfriend, who he still remembers and enjoys even though it's been years since my boyfriend has lived with Leo). It would just be such a major adjustment.
For as many potential negatives as I can think of, I can also think of plenty of potential positives....
Experienced cat owners, I am dying to hear your input on this issue. I adore Leo, (and Ziggy too of course!) but I overall want to do what is best for the cats. Please help! And I'd be happy to answer any additional questions that could aid in your advising!
I currently have one cat and no other pets. Ziggy is a 1.3 year old neutered male who we adopted from the humane society at age 8 months. He was brought into the humane society at age ~1 day, raised there, adopted out by a family, and then returned by that family before being adopted by us. Despite an unstable kitten hood, he is rather well-adjusted. Friendly, curious, likes to be around us. We have never seen him interact with any other friendly cats (at the humane society he shared a room with two older females who shunned him and hissed at him when he tried to approach them) so his cat-to-cat interactions are kind of unknown, except that he is definitely the "approach" type rather than the "avoid" type it seems.
Now the second cat in question, Leo, is a 10 year old neutered male who was one of my boyfriend's family pets. Leo is still living with my boyfriend's parents. Leo has spent his life with 2 other felines and a large dog who recently passed, and has been living in the same home for about 7 years now. He is very laid back, "chill", kind of dog-like in some of his behaviors, and loves attention and petting. He's not getting a lot of attention where he is living now, and we'd simply love to bring him into our home. He would be getting better food, more play, and more love.
But I have some concerns, for example:
1. I have no idea if Ziggy and Leo would get along. I just want them both to be as happy as possible.
2. Leo lives far away - a definite plane ride. The travel could be traumatic, and if things don't work out, there's the additional trauma of sending him back to his original home. We can't really do a "test" or trial run.
3. Leo has had a relatively stable 7 or so years in the same house with the same cats. He has no problems there, and he might get very stressed with the huge transition (although he would be with my boyfriend, who he still remembers and enjoys even though it's been years since my boyfriend has lived with Leo). It would just be such a major adjustment.
For as many potential negatives as I can think of, I can also think of plenty of potential positives....
Experienced cat owners, I am dying to hear your input on this issue. I adore Leo, (and Ziggy too of course!) but I overall want to do what is best for the cats. Please help! And I'd be happy to answer any additional questions that could aid in your advising!
