I think my kitty needs a friend!

[Saphire]

I think Lily is lonely now that my son (her best buddy) is back at college. She has been crying more and has been very affectionate. I was reading the thread here about how many cats you have, and am amazed at how many have two or more. I think she needs a friend! What do you think of adding a kitten to the family? She is 6 years old and somewhat shy, an indoor cat. Will she adjust? Do they always become friends, or can they dislike each other? Advice welcome.

 

[Rajah]

I bet she'd love a friend.

They don't always adjust, but usually do. Especially if you follow good introduction techniques.

Personally, with her being 5 years old, I'd get an older kitten around 1 or so.

 

[alliecats]

I have heard from friends that introducing a new kitty is smoother when you adopt the new one of the opposite sex of the kitty you already have. Not sure how that holds up.

I hope you can figure out whatever makes her happiest and do it ASAP--she is a little princess and she needs to be happy!

 

[gradtchr]

They do tend to adjust but not always. I've heard it's best to bring a young cat home to the new one but that's not always true.

One thing to do when you bring them home is to keep them separated for a day or two by way of a door. Lock one of them up in a bedroom (usually the new addition) and let the other cat smell around the door. There will probably be hissing, there will probably be growling, claws might be flashed, but it settles down if you give them time.

 

[Rajah]

They do tend to adjust but not always. I've heard it's best to bring a young cat home to the new one but that's not always true.

One thing to do when you bring them home is to keep them separated for a day or two by way of a door. Lock one of them up in a bedroom (usually the new addition) and let the other cat smell around the door. There will probably be hissing, there will probably be growling, claws might be flashed, but it settles down if you give them time.

Not just for a day or two, but until the hissing and growling stops.

And then introduce them in person under supervised conditions for short periods, being ready to separate them into the separate rooms again.

 

[Aurora63]

You have a cute kitty!

I'm thinking about doing the same for my kitty. She's been around other cats before, and has always been mellow, but always at someone else's house. I wonder how it will be on her own turf? We'll see!

 

[chyam]

Im my experience (I have 6 presently, had 9 at one time) I found it to be much easier to add a kitten then to add an adult. I added an adult last Aug. and a kitten in Dec. the adult is still having a hard time finding her niche in the house.
We are expecting animals down here from the hurricane in the next few weeks or so, I guess the local SPCA is up there now trying to rescue some so I just may have to add another one too

 

[Tigger&Belle]

We kept our kittens apart from our cat for I think about a week. Besides making the introduction go better it also meant that the kittens didn't bring home a cold, etc to our cat.

Yes, I think your kitty would like a friend!

T&B

 

[Tigger&Belle]

And to the OP, I bet it's no surprise that we're both thinking of getting another cat just after we've had a child go to college. If I get a cat every time a child of mine goes to college I'll be getting another cat in 3 years.

T&B

 

[ASFCurly]

We had a cat that was around 7 or so, named Turtle, and we got a kitten, Roo, about 1.5 years ago. Turtle is a very nervous cat, and Roo was hyperactive. Roo definately terrorized Turtle for about 6 months or so, but now they love each other. Maybe an older kitten would be good. Wouldn't want both cats too old, or one too young and have trouble adjusting.