Have young cat, want to add another?

[hds7]

Hello to all. this is my first post, so its a hello at the same time! This is a great community and theres a load to read!

I have a 6 months old male cat (not yet fixed, but soon to be), and my girlfriend is interested in having her own cat to add to the family. We are both impatient to find a new kitten, but would like to make sure we make the right choices.

First of all, does it matter which sex the new cat is going to be? My cat is a very playful indoor cat. About a month ago we brought him to my girlfriends mothers house to be babysat while we were on vacation, and he ended up kind of dominating her mothers 5 year old male cat. We however only assumed that it was because my cat was not fixed yet.

Second has to do with the fixing of the cats. As we are so looking forward to a new addition to the family, we are wondering if it is necessary to wait until my current cat is fixed. This is going to be done before the end of the month. We are also wondering about the new comer, as he will be slightly younger than the current cat (we are looking to get a baby kitten) that he may be too young to be fixed yet. We wouldn't want to end up with territory marks...

I hope you can help us out with some opinions and facts.
Alex

 

[stephanietx]

If you get an already altered cat, it won't matter if your little is fixed, but it will help him not spray to mark his territory once the new cat arrives. I'd go ahead and make the appt for the neutering and then start looking for a cat.

I've read that usually either 2 males or a male and a female get along better. Sounds like your little one is an alpha cat, so you might want to ask the rescue group to help you find one that is not dominant.

 

[rad65]

If you get your new cat from a shelter, most likely it will be altered. Shelters usually perform alterations at 8 weeks, because they're the ones who deal with the consequences of handing out ANY unaltered cats. As for personality, it sounds like another high energy kitten would be good. Pick one that comes up to you when you go to look, and even better if it rubs up agaist you while you're looking. That usually indicates a more playful and outgoing cat, which would be compatible with your current cat.

 

[hds7]

thanks for these very fast responses! Chances are that i will be getting a kitten from someone around the area and not a rescue, as those places charge quite a ridiculous bit in canada

how soon is it necessary to get the 2nd cat fixed? does this depend on the gender of the cats as well? i think for males it is more important because they start spraying, but in the case that the younger cat is a female, even as an indoor cat, could there be any complications, or maybe tensions when she reaches puberty?

 

[darlili]

The most obvious problem will be kittens produced at much too young an age. If you get a female, you'll have to have your boy neutered and wait a while (what is it, a couple of months?) to be sure he's no longer producing sperm. Girls can be receptive way earlier than you would think - and it's not good for them, or the resultant kittens. Also, it's much better healthwise vis a vis certain cancers for a female to be spayed early - and for your own sanity, you don't want to go through her heats with her!

A suggestion - you might want to check the fees at a good shelter against what your vet costs will be for a new kitten to be neutered, chipped, etc. In my area in the US, most shelters charge about $100-$150 for a kitten - but that typically includes first round of shots, at least, neutering, chipping. Here, the shelter fee is a bargain compared to what most vets will charge, although there are some low cost clinics that vets will volunteer pro bono. Of course, that doesn't mean you won't be having your babies checked at your own vets - but neutering can be pretty expensive.

I agree that the rule of thumb is that two boys, or a boy and a girl, will do better with each other than two girls.

Good luck to you though - it's always nice for a kitten to have a friend to play with, if possible.

 

[my4llma]

If you do get another kitten, try to get them close in age. That way they are at the same stage of life. Luna is 3 months older than Midnight, and it did make a difference. Of course we got Midnight when he was only 3 weeks old. But we had to keep them seperated for a long time, because he was so much littler than her (now he's bigger than her) we didn't want him getting hurt. Back then all she wanted to do was play with him. Now she's more interested in doing other things, mostly enjoys looking out the window. She doesn't have the energy to keep up with Midnight, and Midnight is always ready to play. They do play together, and have fun together, but he tires her out.

 

[missymotus]

Originally Posted by darlili

A suggestion - you might want to check the fees at a good shelter against what your vet costs will be for a new kitten to be neutered, chipped, etc. In my area in the US, most shelters charge about $100-$150 for a kitten - but that typically includes first round of shots, at least, neutering, chipping. Here, the shelter fee is a bargain compared to what most vets will charge, .

I agree on checking out vet expenses vs adoption fees...vaccination x 2, microchipping, neutering, health check. Rescues do all that for a much cheaper price, shelter cats cost around $100-$150 - that is often cheaper than the neutering alone.

I would get your boy fixed before bringing in a new one, also boys remain fertile for up to 2 months after the op so be careful about bringing in an intact female...they can go into heat as early as 4 months old.

I'm not sure what you mean by getting a baby kitten, kittens need to remain with their mothers for 12 weeks and at that age they can also be fixed before adoption.
You can read about how young is too young here: http://www.breedlist.com/faq/young.html

 

[darlili]

I wish I had thought about this before - Whee, I'm sure you've thought of this, but just in case - you'll have to baby proof your house. Cats, and especially kittens, absolutely love putting things in their mouths - like strings and rubberbands and dental floss and yarn and toys...the bad thing is, the way their tongues are shaped, once they start licking something, it's almost sure to go down....and can cause a lot of problems in their digestive tracts. Let's say tinsel or yarn or a rubberband - it can actually cut into their organs, and then you're looking at surgery or worse. So you have to make sure that things are as safe for the cat as possible.

I bet your vet could recommend a good book for new owners if you ask, or as I mentioend before, a librarian or bookstore should have some suggestions as well. I can't believe how tidy I got after I got my cats.

Oh, and REALLY IMPORTANT - always check appliances when you close the door before you start them...there are some really tragic stories about kittens getting into washers or dryers, etc., and dying because their owners didn't realize kitty was in there.

 

[hds7]

Thanks for the replies!

I just wanted to update everyone on the situation. Currently we have booked an appointment to get our 6 month old male fixed. He will be getting fixed next Monday.

We have been looking into several options and I just wanted to know what everyone thinks is the best.

We found an ad for a 6 month old male kitten, that (with the help of the seller) we'd have fixed in around a week or so. That would mean that we'd be able to have both cats fixed by the time they met each other.

However, I would really like to have a younger kitten. I wanted to know if it is a bad decision to get a male kitten (unfixed) after our other cat's neutering. Is there a recommended time period we need to wait before we'd get another kitten?

Thanks,
Laura

 

[stephanietx]

You want your current cat to be healed from his surgery before trying to bring in a new cat. Introductions are hard enough, you don't need one of them hurting from surgery. I would also recommend you get the new cat neutered or spayed before bringing him/her home.