Advice on Getting New Cat with Existing 9 year old cat

[tiberria]

I had 2 9 year old cats (not brothers but adopted within a month of each other) since they were kittens.  I just had to put one of the cats down after a rapid illness.  My inclination is to adopt another kitten to fill the void.  What have people's experiences been with how surviving cats react to the introduction of a new cat after losing their long time companion?  My surviving cat has always been a very laid back cat that seems to take a (whatever!) approach to life, but he also is incredibly sedentary (and overweight), and I've never been able to get him more active or get him to lose weight.  My thought is that he is still young enough to potentially have a very long life ahead of him, and that adopting a younger cat to keep him on his toes would probably be good for his health (and mine).

Would you recommend a kitten or a young (1-2 year old) cat?  Would a female possibly be less threatening/bothersome to him than another male, or does the sex not really matter?

 

[talkingpeanut]

First, I'm sorry for your loss.

I'm not sure about the sex of the cat, but think that probably matters less than personality as long as they're both fixed.

I would not get a kitten as they can be really annoying to adult cats. I would aim for a 2-3 year old adult cat who you can get a real sense of.

 

[lykakitty]

I'm sorry about your baby. I had a similar situation when my tortie Isy passed away. She and my Ragdoll Maya were very close, Isy had kind of a Mama Kitty role with her, and Maya was very distressed. I personally had to wait about 4 months before I could get a new kitten but baby Calypso has helped Maya a lot. Maya is also a lazy cat and having an energetic kitten around seems to have made her more social and active, not to mention happier.

As your cat is older I would get a young adult rather than a kitten, but he could adjust fine to a kitten, you never know. Isy was 7 when I got Maya as a kitten and took to her immediately. It all depends on how he is with other cats.

As far as sex goes, I highly doubt it will matter. If cats have issues with each other because of sex it's almost always females with other females. As long as both are fixed either a male or female should be perfectly fine.

 

[tiberria]

Apparently, my decision is made for me anyway, because there literally are no kittens or cats <2 years old available at any of the shelters within a 100 km radius right now.  The SPCA shelter tells me that it's normal for them to not see many kittens this time of year, because people tend to keep their cats inside more from December to February because of the snow, cold, etc. and there just aren't very many litters born.

Does this even make sense?  I keep hearing about how there is a massive overpopulation of cats and kittens and the one time I am ready to adopt one, there are none

 

[lykakitty]

There is an overpopulation, but this is the lull just before kitten season. Come April-May there will be floods of kittens all the way through summer. But there are plenty of adult cats in need of homes, too.

 

[floralhippie]

I currently have two cats, one male and one female. When I brought home the male for the first time, I immediately began treating him like I would female. I left the two cats alone for about 20 minutes and when I came back, they were sitting with each other on my bed and now they're best of friends! However, some cats do take longer to warm up to each other, and some never will. Personally, I believe that it all depends on how you treat them within the first day of their arrival. Best of luck!! [emoji]128576[/emoji][emoji]128568[/emoji]

 

[bobkater]

If you do get another cat, see also here how to introduce the newcomer to the existing cat:

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-successfully-introduce-cats-the-ultimate-guide