Question For Those With Two Female Felines

I am considering a friend for Pudge.

After very unpleasant past experiences with a male cat we had to rehome (after over a year of futily trying EVERYTHING under the sun to calm him down) because of his extremely dominant behavior which made her a nervous wreck (which I am happy to say she's mostly recovered from now), I am heavily reluctant to get another male cat.

I keep hearing that girls can never get along, that they'll constantly be at each other's throats, etc. However, quite a few of you have more than one fuzzy female sharing your homes.

I know that personality plays a huge role in how the cats will get along (and I want a cat who is at least 2 years old, as Pudge is a little over 2), but I would like to know if the phrase "female cats don't get along" holds any water. How do your females usually interact?

I've had cats since I was a teen and was breeding rexes for about 10 yrs or so. I've had both males/females in the house. My females tolerated each other but never were buddy buddy like the neutered males. The males loved EVERYONE that came in the house.

I've had several breeding females who were very territorial with each other (and even after they were spayed). The only female that liked everyone, was a little brown patched tabby mixed breed spay that we adopted as a 4 month old kitten. But she was pretty shy and not dominate anyway.

There are MANY layed back neutered males. I think you just picked the wrong males - most are not that dominate. Personally, I'd go for a laid back male kitten about 4-5 months old and neuter him. You might try a young female around the same age, but what if your older female doesn't like the new female?

I have three female cats whose relationships are complicated. I adopted Gracie as a tiny kitten when Katie was 6, and she adores Katie. However, the feeling has never been mutual and Katie merely tolerates her. They had long period of adjustment. Katie also tolerates Claire and vice versa, but Gracie isn't particularly fond of Claire. They're all pretty territorial. All the girls get along well with Peter and he with them. He's a very easygoing, sweet young guy. I think an older male kitten or young cat with a similiar personality might be your best bet, however it really does have more to do with personality than gender.

In my experience, personality is the most important factor. I grew up in a house with 2 females that got along well. They weren't buddy buddy, but there was never any aggression, and they would always curl up to nap together.

It really is personality, not gender that matters. Dushka is very grumpy and sometimes even violent with all the other cats though I can do anything with her, Persil and Ellie adore each other and sometimes the boys, and the boys just love everyone and everything they can get near to. I previously had a male and female who always slept in the same basket and were never far apart. He was never the same after she died.

I have two female kittens and they are inseperable.....best of friends, practicially sisters....

I have my three girls....boy is that complicated. Ophelia HATES all other cats in the house, except Chico. Twitch & Lily get along really well, playing, etc. They don't sleep in the same basket because Twitch has gotten a little pudgy...

Damita(female) & Chico(male) have this inseperable relationship. They MUST eat from the same food bowl at the same time, they MUST drink from the same water bowl at the same time. If I shut one in one room & the other in another room, they both poop all over the place. This is one very special relationship.

I would suggest you go to the shelter & tell them about Pudge's personality & ask them to show you cats they think would get along well with her & meet cats. Most males I have known are not dominant, but there are those few "special" ones....

My two RB kitties, Gaby and Tara were together from the time they were 4 months old and so attached to each other. I don't have one photo that they aren't curled up together. My new cats are also both female and get along very well. Not the best of friends but no drama either. The bengal cat Mundi I'm adopting this week is also female so we will see if they all get along or not next week. I'm sure some hissing will be involved. But I always say hissing but no blood is ok.

Cynthia

My two girls while living together never went near each other. No problems. The males fight over the girls. lol

3 girls here and 3 boys.
Generally adding neutered males to a house with a resident female works out better.
There of course are always exceptions, take their personalities into consideration.
I would not hesitate to try another male, but if possible, I'd look for one that is submissive.
Female alphas do not take kindly at all to any dominant cats.

I have 3 females. It's all merely tolerating... we do get a few squabbles every now and again. The cats don't like eachother, but they will coexsist at our insistance

2 females here and one male (all altered). The girls tolerate each other with minor squables so far. Our eldest (Kuce) adores Lil' Jag but Lil' Jag wants her space. Personality is important. Our boy is kind of the peacemaker between the girls if they get out of hand.

All my cats get along. Three females, one male. I credit this to the fact that whenever I introduce them, the new cat is always a young kitten. Godiva, who is friends with everyone, takes over the mothering and the others follow suit and realize it's okay.

I usually introduce them slowly over a couple days. I don't stretch it out unless I have to while I wait for vet test results and such. I let them work it out the first day or so, I don't intervene unless there is some serious fur flying, and I've never had a problem. Others do all sorts of complicated manuevers to introduce cats, but I'm too lazy... and it still works out for me.

Shasta was 14 when we brought Gryph and Nibs (both 6) into the house. Shasta would never have admitted to being friendly (though we did catch her occasionally grooming Nibs ) but there were never any altercations.

When Nibs was left the only cat (at 13), we brought in Suzy and Sam (7 week old littermates). Nibs was nonplussed. Then he was Grampy-cat, and was great with the monsters.

Sam disappeared, and then we had a temporary boarder for a couple of months -- a 4 or 5 year old neutered male, sweet fellow who got along famously with Nibs and freaked Suzy out. We finally asked his human to find him other digs, since it was just too stressful for Sooz.

That summer Nibs passed away, and after a few months we added to the household again, this time 5 month old female littermates, Cindy and Fawn. That was almost five years ago. Mostly they all get along, though Suzy is a martyr and Cindy is a tease, so there is occasional swearing, but never anything to be worried about.

The only cats who were not altered when they came into the house were Suzy and Sam, and they were done at 6 months.

That's a little long, but I wanted to show the different relationships, and I think it just reinforces the statement that gender doesn't have much to do with it -- it's personality really.

Good luck with your decision.

Hmmm I have 3 females, all spayed. They get along great. Well one is the daughter of another one but the third is unrelated. We have 5 cats and never a cat fight ever, well except for playing.
If she is a dominant kitty I think a female would be better than having some male coming in trying to tell her what to do.
At least that's what I would say if I were her and could talk. LOL

Our dominate female barn cat will allow males (neutered) to stay, but she has run off EVERY female offspring. That's one reason why Ling never was outside once she came inside at 5 weeks old. Ling's mom was run off by LoCal (the dominate female) and she never returned.

Took us awhile to figure out why all the females were missing.

I also had a female RB who allowed males in the house but totally resented another female and would fight the other female. I spayed the RB and placed her in an only cat home to be spoiled (as queen of the house).

Sorry for the hijack- but this thread go me to thinking. I was just wondering what typically happens with sisters? I've just agreed to adopt my soon-to-be cat's sister also. Do you think there will be problems since they 'grew up' together? They're 11 weeks old now and get along great. They've both been spayed. What do you think?

Originally Posted by LunaLou

Sorry for the hijack- but this thread go me to thinking. I was just wondering what typically happens with sisters? I've just agreed to adopt my soon-to-be cat's sister also. Do you think there will be problems since they 'grew up' together? They're 11 weeks old now and get along great. They've both been spayed. What do you think?

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Twice we have adopted young littermates, both female, and both times it's been beyond fine. You'll get some sibling squabbles, but that's what they are, and no more serious than two human siblings squabbling.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Our dominate female barn cat will allow males (neutered) to stay, but she has run off EVERY female offspring. That's one reason why Ling never was outside once she came inside at 5 weeks old. Ling's mom was run off by LoCal (the dominate female) and she never returned.

Took us awhile to figure out why all the females were missing.

I also had a female RB who allowed males in the house but totally resented another female and would fight the other female. I spayed the RB and placed her in an only cat home to be spoiled (as queen of the house).

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Hmmm....I've got Queen Feen outside & she will run off anyone who has her mad at the moment. Whether they are one of our cats or not. However, she is 12-13 yers old & has always run the place. I'd like to have her inside so she can retire safety, so I have started intoductions. I was thinking about seeing how Feen gets along with Ophelia....they could be quite the pair of "other cat haters".

Princess and Patches, both female, have lived together since they were 6 months old. They are now almost 17, and they have never stopped squabbling.

Patches is queen of the household. She's a calico that generally hates everyone. However, she makes her dominance known from the start. Princess, on the other hand, is scared of everything but has to reassert herself with all other animals (whatever foster cat and the dog) about every week. Once in a while, she attempts this with Patches. That's always fun.

They do have neutral spaces where both will sleep without fighting (the bed and the porch), they will hunt together, and they will chase other cats out of the yard together. Otherwise, they hiss at each other every time they pass in the doorway and every morning and night during feeding. And of course, they hiss at the dog. Meal time is a racket.

Puppy (male) lived with them for two months and didn't seem to care about the kitty heirarchy at all. Princess would specifically go out of her way to hiss at him, but he never even twitched.