Calling INGO cat owners

[Colinb913]

Alright, here's the deal. I don't have a whole lot of time to type this, so it's gonna be quite short.

Me and my fiance got a cat a few months ago. Great cat, no problems. This cat is now about 5 months old. Now the woman wants another cat. A friend of hers had a litter about six months ago or whatever, and they're realizing they don't want to keep any of them. There is a white cat my fiance wants. We currently have a black one, so I guess some sort of yin-yang thing. I don't know.

Is this gonna be hard to have two cats? What should I expect? I always had dogs in my house. Cats are a new thing to me, and I am a dog person to start.

Basically, any first hand experience would be great. Thanks guys.

 

[ROLEXrifleman]

They will hate each other the first few days. If there both under a year they should be buddies within a week. Two males and you'll be golden. Two females you'll never see them. One of each they better be fixed

 

[Colinb913]

Two females. Why won't I see them?

 

[ROLEXrifleman]

Female cats are not as social as males. Every time I've dealt with two females they always seem to hide. Not sure if they get jealous of each other or if having 2 just multiplies their anti social behavior.

 

[Colinb913]

Interesting, the current, Cleo, is very social. A little too much. As in walking on the keyboard now. She'll get in my face in bed, and such. We'll see.

 

[ROLEXrifleman]

It might go well for you. She's a kitten now do she's looking for affection. in a year if she rather sleep alone than in your bed youll know you got an anti! lol

I had one cat that used to sleep on my head.

 

[Roadie]

I think you are going to be much better off with one being a kitten, than if you try to introduce two adult cats to each other.

Like others have said, it might be slow going at first..

 

[P-Shooter]

Honestly, with cats it can be hard to predict anything. When I was young, we took in a stray that had a litter of 6. We kept 2, one boy and the only girl, along with the mother. Those 2 kittens pretty much hated each other for their entire lives, for no obvious reason we could discern. They couldn't even eat at the same plate without a hissing contest. They did co-exist without resorting to urinating or serious bloodshed, but they always kept a respectful distance from each other. The first time I brought in an adult male to live with my pre-existing adult male, he started peeing in the bedroom corners and had to go. The second one I took in seemed to accept that the first was the alpha, and after a few months, they got along fine. I always thought a kitten would have been easier, shouldn't be old enough to challenge dominance of the household. There is the possibility that one will pick you and the other will pick your wife as the primary human, which from what I've seen with friends isn't much of an issue.

 

[RedneckReject]

Let me just say that I've had a lot of cats. And I mean a LOT of cats. Most cats do better when they have another cat in the house. Of course there are exceptions (I happen to have one now). There will be a lot of hissing and growling and nastiness at first. In most cases they will warm up to each other eventually. Again, I do have the exception to the rule. Denny hates all cats. Always has always will. She does like the dog though, oddly. But I digress. If you have a male and a female make SURE to get them fixed. Honestly it's a good idea to get them fixed anyway. Females will go into heat and scream for a week if not fixed. Males often spray if not fixed. Not to mention that sometimes cats escape the house and you don't want to be responsible for an unwanted litter of kittens. Again I digress. Basically be prepared for them to hate each other for a little while. They will warm up to each other eventually unless you have one of those weird ones like mine. It's rare. And I haven't had any problems with my females being antisocial any more than males. All cats are different and have their own personalities. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions but I'm willing to bet that you can find plenty of info here on the thread from various members.

 

[Hookeye]

Fixed male cats can spray too.
Get females and fix them.
All 3 of mine are (6 month old huge cali, a slinky 8 yr old longhair, and a 15 yr old Himalayan). When I crash in a few, the longhair will jump up and be by my feet, the cali on the nearby dresser, and the Himy will crawl under my blanket and lay with her chin on my elbow). Sometimes all 3 will be on the bed, waiting for me to zonk (esp if the old lady is gone).

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

People generalize about cats, but each has a unique personality, then when you get another, those personalities interact. I had one that decided I was hers, and when she saw another cuddling me she went into a homicidal rage. I've had enough at a time to have five of them lay on me in bed. I recently brought a two year old in with a couple of 14 year olds. She still has a lot of play in her, but the others don't. Got about a 3 month kitten a couple of weeks ago, and she terrorizes the younger one, but just in a play mode. They've all sorted themselves out already. As young as these are, they'll probably take to each other, and keep each other entertained, but you never know.

 

[fullauto 45]

I have two females. They are very social. In fact, one is out all the time. I also have a 3 yr old male. He loves to be the center of attention. The females will play with each other, but not with the bigger male. The girls are 15 now.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

If you can keep the new one separated from the established one at first - the transition to a two cat house will go better.

Keep the new one in a bedroom for a few days. Let them "get to know" one another through the door / under the door. They'll quickly learn there's another animal on the other side and be curious as to what it is.

After a few days - open the door and introduce them. This may very well keep any kind of territorial violence down.

-J-

 

[rockhopper46038]

Your biggest issue is that it won't stop at two.

 

[Bunnykid68]

Google my cat from hell, that guy knows his **** about cats

 

[JettaKnight]

If you keep the new cat in a bedroom with the door closed then the other cat will be able to smell and get used to it without being able to fight.

We had two, when one was gone for a week then back in the house, the other one would go nuts thinking it's an intruder. Crazy thing had had completely forgot about its best friend in 5 days.

Just give them a month and they'll go "prison gay" and start licking each other.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

If you keep the new cat in a bedroom with the door closed then the other cat will be able to smell and get used to it without being able to fight.

We had two, when one was gone for a week then back in the house, the other one would go nuts thinking it's an intruder. Crazy thing had had completely forgot about its best friend in 5 days.

Just give them a month and they'll go "prison gay" and start licking each other.

We had to take one of our cats back to the vet after they were both sterilized & de-clawed. Seems they missed the claw on one of his "extra" toes. So, in that whole two days he was gone - SHE, who was home, decided that she was now an only kitty and didn't like her brother when he came home. I thought it rather strange - but it's not like I know how good a cat's memory is.

 

[JAFO]

The black one's are great... especially with a little soy sauce

 

[pmorriso]

We had two then I brought home a GSD. Now we have one. No the dog didn't eat him, he just had social issues with the dog and pee'd everywhere and started to bite and scratch. They do however taste good with soy sauce as JAFO had mentioned.

 

[88GT]

Let me just say that I've had a lot of cats. And I mean a LOT of cats. Most cats do better when they have another cat in the house. Of course there are exceptions (I happen to have one now). There will be a lot of hissing and growling and nastiness at first. In most cases they will warm up to each other eventually. Again, I do have the exception to the rule. Denny hates all cats. Always has always will. She does like the dog though, oddly. But I digress. If you have a male and a female make SURE to get them fixed. Honestly it's a good idea to get them fixed anyway. Females will go into heat and scream for a week if not fixed. Males often spray if not fixed. Not to mention that sometimes cats escape the house and you don't want to be responsible for an unwanted litter of kittens. Again I digress. Basically be prepared for them to hate each other for a little while. They will warm up to each other eventually unless you have one of those weird ones like mine. It's rare. And I haven't had any problems with my females being antisocial any more than males. All cats are different and have their own personalities. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions but I'm willing to bet that you can find plenty of info here on the thread from various members.

There is no truth to this as cats are solitary critters by nature.

I've had four female cats together at one time. One hated all the others and rarely ventured out of her bunker. The other three got along just fine.

I've had two males at one time. They couldn't care less about each other, but they never fought either.

I've had one kitty at a time and had zero problems.

I currently have one old female (the one that hated all the other cats in the four-female ensemble) and a 6-month old male. We also have a dog. The female is as hatin' as ever. Can't stand the dog. Can't stand the new cat. Never will. The kitten thinks he owns the place, has no problem with the older cat, and started trying to become the big dog on the porch by challenging the dog (cat usually wins too stupid dog).

There are three factors that influence how well cats will get along with each: how old they are when you introduce them to other cats, how long they have lived in the status quo before the introduction of new blood, and the cat's individual personality. All else being equal, the younger they are, the more likely they will be to tolerate new additions and the sooner they will do it. All else being equal, the more static and unchanging the pet situation has been, the less likely they will tolerate new additions and it will take them longer to do it. And all else being equal, a laid back cat will tolerate new additions and do so sooner than one with mental health issues.

What combination you have when you start introducing them will determine your results. Remember, too, that there are two sides to the introduction: the home cat and the FNG. Both will bring their 3-part dynamic into the equation.

Have fun!

FWIW, I've had cats all my life and only ever had one cat that didn't like the other cats. If they aren't a hater, most will simply learn to ignore the others. Of course, ignoring is what cats do best anyway.