Considering Adding Another Kitten To The House

[cat princesses]

Hi everyone!
I have two female cats that were both adopted together about 3 years ago from the same no-kill shelter. Aurora is 11 and Mulan is 4. Mulan loves to play but Aurora doesn’t like to play and will hiss and then swat of Mulan gets into her personal space. Mulan seems to like to chase Aurora when she’s bored and Aurora hisses and runs to higher ground. Overall they get along and there has never been a bad fight. I’m cinsidering adding a new kitten to the house. I have my eyes on an all black long hair Maine coon. There are too females and one male. I haven’t gone to meet them yet. Wondering since I already have two females if it’s a bad idea to add a third? Would a male be better and more easily accepted? My mom seems to thu k too many females is trouble, looking for some guidance from those who have more than two cats. Thanks!

 

[ArtNJ]

Forget the gender issue, a kitten is going to drive Aurora crazy. You'll have a lot of stress in the house, and Aurora will be very unhappy for a while. Eventually it will settle down and maybe be a slightly worse version of the relationship with Mulan -- worse because the kitten will be more active. It is a weird and super surprising thing that many senior cats act like they are afraid of kittens, and they get super stressed when kittens try to play with them. The kittens ignore this, making it worse.

Bottom line, this is not going to be a nice thing for Aurora. Aurora would probably do better if you adopt a low key adult that is known to be very good with other cats. Once in a while you can get a low key kitten, and maybe this is more likely with certain breeds, but mostly kittens are kittenish and it is going to cause problems.

 

[cat princesses]

So maybe this is a bad idea and I should just be happy with the two?

 

[ArtNJ]

I don't think a kitten is a good idea for the overall household including Aurora. But you could certainly do a trial period with a gentle low activity older cat that is known to be good with other cats.

 

[cat princesses]

I have always wanted an all black long hair kitty and I figured this might be a good opportunity. I was thinking maybe this would give Mulan a buddy to play with and Aurora would be left alone.

 

[ArtNJ]

I've only had 3 cats once, years ago, (we normally have 2) but from reading forum posts here it seems to me that the inter-cat dynamics are hard to predict with 3. You quite naturally think the kitten would be delighted with an active 4 year old that shows interest and not bug an 11 year old that wants nothing to do with a kitten. Because that seems to be common sense! Unfortunately, it seems like it doesn't always work out that way, and with Aurora being one of those older cats that doesn't want to play and gets bugged by active youngers, its clearly a risk.

But hey, lots of people add a kitten in less than ideal circumstances. There is often a high level of stress and unhappiness, but it does improve with time. You can be a good cat mom and still do it, just want you to understand that your doing it for you (which is fine!) and Aurora may be very unhappy for a time.

Right now, I kind of have the same dynamic. I have a 9 or 10 year old that doesn't like the 3 or 4 year old much, growls when he gets frisky. It used to be worse, but now she mostly tolerates him unless he is a little stir-crazy. I'd personally be afraid to add a third to the mix, but as you say, there is an optimistic scenario as well.

 

[IronHippo]

We have a very low key 4-5 year old girl and a very outgoing 9-month-old boy. She loves to play too but she was getting a little chunky and I thought a small thing to wrestle and knock around might help her get some energy out. She was absolutely not thrilled when Radish arrived, and I bet she would have been even more stressed out if we had waited until she was older. It worked out OK because she is young enough that she can run or play when it suits her, but my husband and I agree that we aren't going to get another until she passes. It might be a while since we think she's still pretty young, but she's just the type of cat who doesn't like surprises and likes doing things her own way and at her own pace, and I would hate to stress her out with another young addition, especially as she gets older (she gets stress constipation, unfortunately). I think it's nice that you want to help the younger one get her energy out, but you might try redirecting Mulan's energy away from Aurora with lots of play and maybe leash training first before going for the kitten, out of consideration for Aurora's senior status. Also, how big are the girls? I'm wondering because Maine Coons famously get huge and I've heard that even a Maine Coon kitten can easily outstrip an adult cat. It might be hard for Aurora to deal with a kitten twice her size and with twice the energy to boot!

 

[cat princesses]

Yeah I think I agree with you both and am going together happy with the two girls and leave it alone. Aurora is about 12 lbs and Mulan is 8 lbs but more in the smaller side. you are right we have to get Mulan tired out with evening play time or else she chases her sister. Both girls are so happy I’d hate to change the happy balance we currently have so for now I’ll just day dream of fuzzy all black long hair kittens! Thanks everyone!