nervous about a second cat!??

[debbiegarland]

So my cat is crazy hyper.  He tries to play with me and my dog like we are cats.  So i think I am going to get another cat for him.  Now I have done a lot of research about cat introductions and i'm a little nervous about it-so does anyone have any personal expirience that may help? or noteworthy things to mention? 

Also what if it doesn't work out?  If my cat doesn't get along with the new cat?  I guess I would have to return the new cat?  Is there any way I can test out if my cat is good with other cats?

And as far as compatibility-my cat is about  ten months and crazy hyper.  So I should probably get a male cat and one that is also pretty playful.  I was even thinking about getting a slightly younger cat-maybe that way my cat would find him less threatning?  

Idk if you can't tell i'm pretty new at this.  This is my first cat and I just want to make sure he is a happy little fellow! I wish I had just adopted him with another kitty at the time though.  I feel like that would have been a lot better. Oh well.  Any advice would be much appreciated! 

 

[Ms. Freya]

It does sound like a friend would be a good idea for him.

Personally, I've not found much difference between males and females when introducing them, as long as the two cats have similar energy levels. The biggest thing to remember (and you've probably seen this in your readings) is that introductions will work on the cats' timetable and will take as long as they take.

When we had our Freya, she took months to warm up to any new cats. Our Wendel, on the other hand, is generally a very social cat and was grooming our newest cat (Random) within a few weeks. The trick really is just to keep calm and let them work at their own pace.

You've probably seen it, but here's our Cat Introduction guide. It has some great suggestions and tips:
[article="32680"]How To Successfully Introduce Cats The Ultimate Guide  [/article]
Good Luck!

 

[fearlessbenjamn]

Adopting a second cat saved my life..It also saved my arms, legs and nose because my wild boy ripped us to shreds..He played so rough..My cat Benjamin was about 5 months old when I adopted my second cat Caya..She was about 6 months at the time..The lady at the SPCA said Caya would probably get along with Benjamin because her sister was a wild child and Caya was used to it..She is just mellow and easy going but feisty enough to put litte Ben in his place when she has had enough..I took it slow in introducing them and they would play under the door for hours..They love each other..I have since adopted a third cat Nina..She is very friendly and easy going too but a little more active than Caya..Nina and Benjamin chase each other around the house..I just bought a giant cat tree that takes up a whole wall and they are having a blast..I am so thankful that my kitties get along so well..And once you get that second kitty, you will wonder how you ever lived without them..Best of luck

 

[talkingpeanut]

Hi - quick question that I may have missed above. Is your boy neutered?

 

[debbiegarland]

Thanks for all the advice!  And yes he is neutered.  

 

[allycalico]

Give it a try. I just recently finished introducing our 11-month-old calico to our new 12-week old bengal. I was hesitant at first, because our calico is extremely territorial. She's incredibly loving to us, but hisses and hides from any other humans that come in the house. She also growls and hisses at the neighborhood outdoor cats whenever they come near. However, she's extremely high-energy, but since we both work full-time, she's left alone in the house a lot. That combined with the fact that my boyfriend's had his heart set on getting a bengal for ages, we got a kitten. We plugged in a Feliway a few days in advance and brought the kitten home. We kept them completely separated the first day. Tika (calico) was skittish, camped out by the door, hissed and growled a bunch. She wouldn't let us pet her. We fed the cats on either side of the door. Day 2, we opened the door a crack. Just enough for the cats to see each other, but no touching. Tika hissed again, but later that evening she was kind of batting at Shiva's (bengal) paws under the door. Tika was back to her normal affectionate self with us humans. Day 3, we let them meet. Tika hissed/growled again, but to our surprise she was running away from Shiva when she got close (not the other way around). We kept them out for about an hour, then separated them again. Day 4, Tika began cooing at the door instead of hissing. When we opened the door, she was still a bit skittish but they began to play/bat at each other a bit so we decided not to separate them anymore. This was last week, and since then they have been progressively more affectionate each day and Tika follows Shiva around like she's the most interesting thing in the world. Yesterday we saw them groom each other for the first time. Just go slow, and be patient. 

 

[LTS3]

My Aby was super crazy and active as a kitten. I had to get him a friend to keep him occupied. I initially wanted another male kitten but the rescue talked me into getting a female, reasoning that females are more calm and would be more patient with a high energy cat. So I took home a female similar age kitten to "try out" for a week (the rescue had that option). My Aby was super excited with his new friend and wanted to play right away. The new cat obviously wanted to be left alone. New cat went into the bathroom and stayed there for a few days, only coming out when I was around to supervisor the interactions. After some initial hissing and swatting from the new cat (my Aby is an annoying PITA so he deserved many of those swats

), she settled in just fine. Both cats get along well. They don't cuddle or snuggle or really play with each other but that's fine with me.

 

[alic23]

So i have heard that male and female cats best combination, they generally get along better than 2 females but that 2 males is better than 2 females. We recently saw a vet behaviourist specialist who also mentioned that, but it's also got to do with their characters as well. If you get another cat from a rescue centre depending on the centre they usually will give u the option to return if it really isn't working out.

Lesson learned from my experience is go slow with the intros, don't rush and do it at their pace.

We kind of failed due to personality clashes with our 2 and they are female and male and very close in age and were introduced very young. I think there are so many factors involved it's hard to predict how successful integration goes but there are some good guides out there about cat intros that help. If you decide to go ahead also try and find a cat whose temperament, activity and energy levels complement your resident cat insofar as you can tell from the new cat!

Best of luck!!