Thinking about getting a second cat...

I currently have one male seal point siamese cat, but I really want to get him a brother or sister. I am wondering if anyone has a siamese and has introduced a new kitten into the household?

I am also not sure if I should get him a female or another male, I tried to do some research but came up with conflicting information.

Any advice would be helpful!

I'll move this to the Behavior forum for you Jane.

Conflicting information is what I found when I researched it, too. My particular cats are 2 male and 2 female. I don't think it really matters that much. As long as they are neutered. Be sure you use the right techniques for intros. Here is a good site about that: http://www.thecatsite.com/content/view/11/26/
Becky

I went against the warnings about age difference. Most people said they should be close in age. Well, my Franz was about 8 or 9 at the time and my new arrival Maddie was about 7 months. I personally believe that Maddie keeps Franz young!

Originally Posted by Mom of Franz

I went against the warnings about age difference. Most people said they should be close in age. Well, my Franz was about 8 or 9 at the time and my new arrival Maddie was about 7 months. I personally believe that Maddie keeps Franz young!

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I had the same situation with Miko (9 yrs old) and Kionu (6 months old). When we first got Kionu (he was 4 mo. old at the time), Miko hissed, growled and kept his distance for a few days. Miko slowly started "bonding" with Kionu and they started wrestling. They now have daily wrestling matches, and Kionu sure does keep Miko active.

But back to the original poster, I would suggest a male kitten. From my personal experience, they are more playful with each other.

Charlotte was just over 2 years old when I introduced her to Izzie (who was about 10 weeks old). That was about 2 months ago. Both are female and the introduction process went very well. I'm very happy that I found a buddy for Charlotte. They both love to chase and wrestle with each other. It's too cute. Having 2 cats allows them to entertain each other. It took me over a year to make the decision to get another cat, but it's been worthwhile.

I tried getting Mer a roomate who was also male and around the same age, and it didn't work out that well. I really think it was the personality of the other cat, though, not the age/sex. We ended up returning him because he started to show severe stress behaviours. (He's back to normal and in a good home now.)

I have three boys, all of which I got within the last 6 months. Mer is 2 years, Hans is 14, and Little One is 7 months. They're all males, and they get along great. I think part of the reason is because they were all strays/abused. They kind of relate to each other in that way, and it shows. They wrestle through the house together, then clean each other and then come to beg me for dinner. (I will say it was a long two months before harmony was reached in this house, though. For a while I thought it wasn't going to work, but they proved me wrong, thank heavens!)

I think a playmate and companion is always a good idea with a cat who is social and who has a past of being around other cats, or a cat who is still young. I volunteer at a shelter, and we usually try and talk people out of getting another cat if they already have one who is over 5 years old and who hasn't lived with another cat in the past. It gets tricky and a lot of people aren't willing to put the time and energy into making it work. Our shelter does offer a two week "return or exchange" policy. I know that sounds horrid since it deals with a live, feeling creature, but some cats don't get along (I learned that first hand), and some do. If a cat or kitten doesn't work out with a family pet or family member, most of the time a different one will. It's a way of helping people find the right companion, and still give a homeless cat a chance at a good life. As for getting a male or female, I really believe it comes down to the individual cat. I've heard wonderful stories of male/female, male/male, and female/female, but I've also heard the most horrible stories too. I don't think there is a "right" answer to the question. It comes down to the cats personalities.

Wow! Thanks for all the reply's, I am comforted to know other people went through the same decision making process !

I am leaning towards another male cat, but I still think a female might be good too as she might be more of a "companion", I don't know much about female siameses' temperment but I assume they are fairly similar.

As you can tell I haven't quite decided I'll keep you posted, the litter won't be here until spring anyways, so I have lots of time to decide.

Hi JaneMary,

Our daughter just recently moved back home with her little blue-cream point siamese Mika. We were unsure how she and Bijou would get along so we separated them for about 1 week. Then we started allowing "supervised" visits, and have been letting them be together when we are home during the day in case of problems. This past weekend we let them be together while we were away on Christmas Day and all was well. Bijou is 14.7 lbs and Mika is 5.2 lbs so we worried that he might hurt her. She is a feisty little miss though and doesn't back off. They play a bit too rough sometimes but Bijou is really good about backing off. The next thing you see is the two of them curled up together having a nap. The only problem we have is that Bijou wants to constantly clean her ears and face and she gets fed up after a while and takes a swipe at him.

When Mika first came there was a lot of hissing and scratching (she'd scratch me if I tried to pick her up). Our daughter said she wasn't like that at all when they were at her place and that once she settled in we would see what a sweet nature she had. Now she is a little angel and doesn't get nasty at all. Bijou also has a great disposition so it seems we were lucky.

Folks here will tell you that it can take anywhere from days to months to introduce cats to each other. Patience is the key.

Doofus was the best thing to happen to Emmet....and mabby was the best thing to happen to Doofus...and they were the best things that ever happened to me....hopefully you can decipher my opinion on the matter from that statement......
Also as far as male and females mingling...i have had no problems with my two guys and my girl.....I am sure the fact they are all nuetured has a strong barring on this....

I was originally going to adopt 2 kittens from a local shelter. I paid for both, but unfortunately, could only bring 1 home due to the other having health problems (though she may be cleared to be brought home this weekend!!!! Yay!!!!!!) .

The 2 kittens are both females, they weren't cage mates at first, but once I decided on both, the people at the shelter put them in the same cage to get them used to each other. They lived together in the same cage for a week and did great with each other.

Hopefully that translates into a smooth transition at my apartment. I've read the articles on how to introduce cats, but I just don't have the space available in my apartment to seperate them. I may just have to let them get together in the open and hope for the best.

I have the feliway plugin, though I need a refill. I'm not sold on the idea of 2 litter boxes for 2 cats. I have friends that do just fine with 2 cats/1 litter box. Petsmart is a 5 minute drive, so if need be, I can pick up a 2nd one, no big deal.

Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? How about some positive board energy? It seems to work for everyone else!