Adopting a second cat! What kind should we get?

In My Humble Opinion
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Pursuant to thread rule 47-B subsection iii, I am in the process of uploading a cat video to youtube. In the meantime, I hope you can content yourself with one adorable picture.

A couple months ago, my boyfriend and I adopted a middle-aged cat from the local SPCA. She is doing quite well, but is very needy. We have plenty of room, toys, and litterboxes, so we thought we’d get a second feline companion to keep her (and us!) company. And for the exponentially cuter photo ops. :wink:

So! I am hoping to get some advice on what type of personality traits, age, and gender would best complement her. We don’t want a kitten because of the risk of property damage (and because everybody adopts kittens first already), but a younger adult cat would be A-OK. Current catistics:

[ul]
[li]8 years old, female, spayed.[/li][li]Very loving and hands(paws)-on.[/li][li]More simple-minded than intelligent.[/li][li]Craves pets, is happiest when being picked up/held.[/li][li]Licks our hands while being held, so I think she’d dig having a friend to groom.[/li][li]Verbal as all hell–chatters and brrrs at us when coming home, meows back when talked to, gets kinda yowly when she hasn’t been petted in awhile.[/li][li]Very compliant, comes when she’s called (based on tone of voice, not her name).[/li][/ul]
I think she could be alpha over a younger cat, if she could play mother to it. But she would likely be beta to another female of similar age. Not that this would be a problem, as long as they get along. A dude cat would work, as long as it didn’t try to hump her.

What should we look for at the shelter? Obviously we don’t want a cat that’s cat-aggressive, but what do you guys think would be the best fit in terms of gender, age, temperament, etc? Advice, insight, and/or random comments appreciated. Thanks!

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I have volunteered at two cat shelters. We’d get to know each of our cats individually and really wanted to find the perfect match so that everyone was happy. The shelter’s volunteers can be a great help in finding the perfect match. Tell them what you just posted and see if they have a good match.

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Whatever boy/girl/young/old you bring home, make sure you do an introductory period. Put the new cat in a room with food/water/litter, separated from the resident cat. This can take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. Take cues from both of them, some hissing and growling through the door at first is expected. Give treats, or even feed them mealtime canned food next to the door, to give positive reinforcement that being near the other cat is a good thing. Once they seem more curious than territorial, or if you see them play pawsies under the door and sniffing and stuff, take that as a cue for the next step and crack the door. Expect a new round of hissing and growling. Territory swap the kitties after a couple days, let the new one explore the rest of the house while the resident is put in the room and gets to really smell the new one for a few hours. Swap them back. Rinse, lather, repeat, for hours to all day if needed. Then finally just open the door.

The above is the mos cautious approach. Your girl may seem perfectly docile with just herself and her hoomans. She may turn into a raging banshee when another cat shows up. There’s just no way to know for sure, even if she got along with other kitties at the shelter, doesn’t mean she will readily accept one in her now solo territory.

Or, she will love the new one and nothing above will need apply. Hope everything goes well, and honestly even if they’re never best buds and only tolerate each other, I think they’re still company for each other and do better. I have had cats that merely live in the same house, but still sniff each other like, “where ya been?” when one comes back from a day a the vet.

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I’ve had better luck with boy girl or boy boy than girl girl. That doesn’t mean it’s a rule of nature or anything, but I think I’d aim for a laid-back boy, but I would probably just end up getting the one that I fell in love with. That always seems to happen to me.

Good luck. And I love the picture. :slight_smile:

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Video!

Thanks for the tips. We are planning a multi-day introduction process unless things go unexpectedly well. I think the advice to get a male is great. It seems she has bonded more with me than my bf, so I think I’ll let him pick the one he falls in love with first. Seems only fair!

Oh, and if this is more appropriate for MPSIMS I don’t mind a thread move.

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We had two female cats that were introduced as adults; they never bonded and started grooming each other or anything, but after the older one died last year, we discovered that they were very much keeping each other company. I hope your two cats do bond and get along well, but even if they don’t, if they achieve armed truce, I just wanted you to know that they could still appreciate each other’s company.

Oh, and that’s one sweet little kitty! :slight_smile: