Cat(s)

Just curious question: While it's obvious cats are not pack animals and would take some time accepting a feline newcomer. Dogs it seems if *raised properly for the most part will accept a new dog at any point in its life, being socially conditioned for it.

Question is: At what point (age) does a cat no matter how much conditioning (Separation, Scent familiarization, site swaping) reject a feline new comer? 5YRS, 10YRS? I've heard the first the first few weeks (4-12) of a cats life are important because if socialized around a lot of different people, other animals, other cats will determine if its a skiddish or social cat.

No age cut off, but the cats MUST be introduced properly.  I have personally  seen cats be introduced to and accept new cats as old at over 20 years of age. I have frequently seen it happen at 5 years, 10 years, 15 years and any age before or in between. Some cats are better adapters to other cats than others are, but I don't think this is chiefly an age thing at all. And 99.9% of cats WILL eventually accept a newcomer given sufficent time to do so and a proper and un-rushed introduction. 

tulosai said:

No age cut off, but the cats MUST be introduced properly.  I have personally  seen cats be introduced to and accept new cats as old at over 20 years of age. I have frequently seen it happen at 5 years, 10 years, 15 years and any age before or in between. Some cats are better adapters to other cats than others are, but I don't think this is chiefly an age thing at all. And 99.9% of cats WILL eventually accept a newcomer given sufficent time to do so and a proper and un-rushed introduction. 

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So when you go to a shelter and they state that the cat being adopted out should be an only cat. Is that because the cat had a previous traumatic experience with other cats. Are those cats beyond repair? Reason I ask is we are fed this narrative that cats are solitary creatures. When in reality there socialized differently.

I found this article that explains it quite well. It seems that feline relationships with each other are complex and poorly understood. But they seem to have flexible social systems rather than being solitary animals.

Here's the link -

http://www.catsexclusive.com/educational-resources/helping-cats-co-exist