playmates and number of cats

This is about a lonely kitty.

Our two 4 yr old female Maine Coon mixes are people lovers, sedate, and content. Our 1 yr old tabby, Ratty, is lonely, I think. She's a smaller cat and loves to run, climb, tumble. She invites play and gets rebuffed. We take them out in the fenced garden several times a day, where they play a bit together, but not much really. We play with all the girls with toys, at least once and usually several times a day. It's not easy, as they get territorial over which toys they will chase.

I'm sad for Ratty. We got her 10 months ago, at my insistence, for the smaller Coon to play with, but it hasn't worked out. The Coon is jealous, very attached to Mom.

I want to either get another cat like Ratty, (but a male to avoid more female territorial problems), or let Ratty be adopted to another family with younger cats for playmates. My husband is opposed to having four cats (our house is 1100 square feet, with an additional large loft area), and appalled at the thought of giving her away.

Please advise. Thank you,

Linda

Ratty atill has a lot of kitten in her, whereas the others are young adults. Its just like humans....a toddler can be really irritating to her older sisters!

I wouldn't give away Ratty and I don't think you need another cat....wait! I can't believe I said that! A woman can never have too many cats!

Instead, I would get lots of toys Ratty can play with by herself. Turbocat (Turbokitty?) was our youngster's favorite...he would play with it for hours. It is a plastic ring with a ball inside...he would bat and chase that ball until he bacame dizzy! Another great one is a mouse on elastic that hooks on the door frame. It springs up and swings around for the cat to chase.

Anyway....there are lots of great toys that Ratty can use since the others don't want to play. It won't be too long before Ratty is old enough that she will be happy that the others ignore her.

I have to agree with lotsocats. If you feel uncomfortable with that many in your space, it's not a good idea to add another one. It is usually good when each has one thier age to play with, but it can cause problems as well. If you get one a year old, the others may have a hard time accepting him. If you get a young kitten, he may be too playful for Ratty.
Of course there is me, who lives in an 1100 sq foot house with 12 cats and a dog. It's a full time job and not all the cats get along famously. I feel that as long as they are not shredding each other to peices, they can hack it. They are better here with us than lord knows where they would have ended up.
I think that as long as Ratty has toys and lots of stuff to do, she will settle with age and fit right in.