I have a 9 month old, very active, neutered male and I am in the process of adopting a 1 year old spayed female. The idea is that they entertain each other and keep each other company. Not sure how that’s going to work out. The adoption process is ongoing and I can still bail.
Anybody got any experience with adding a second cat to a household? Do I need separate bowls and litter boxes for example???
We’ve done it several times now. Don’t usually need 2 of anything. One bowl, one box. First time was a little kitten brought in to be with our 13 month old. That one worked real well.
Most recently, we fostered failed and Sammy is the annoying little brother of 11 year old Dot. Sammy got bigger than Dot along the way. They don’t get along great but they get along. Biggest problem, he wants to play, she wants to sleep.
You don’t need two food and water bowls, unless you want to, but I do recommend two litterboxes. Otherwise, you’ll be changing litter every couple of days, vs. once a week or so.
If you can isolate the second cat for a few days, until the first one get accustomed to the fact that they’re sharing space with another creature, that’s a good idea. The basement, or even a bedroom, is fine.
I’d suggest two food bowls, one water bowl, possibly two litterboxes but see how it goes, one might be enough.
I second the advice to shut the new cat up in a separate room for a couple of days – let them smell each other under the door and get used to each other’s scent and to the idea that the other one belongs there too. For that stretch of course you’ll need two of everything.
I have almost always had more than one cat; adding in new ones one or occasionally two at a time as openings, sadly, appear over the years. It’s easier for the human, as they’ll amuse each other; and it’s good for the cats, as they’ll stay socialized to cats as well as to humans.
If they don’t seem to get along immediately, give it time; they probably will – especially two cats that young, they’re basically still kittens.
I’ve adopted cats into the house, when I already have cat(s).
Expect some friction at first–the cat whose home it is may resent the intruder. They may not get along at first, but will eventually become friends, once they realize neither is going anywhere. You may want to keep them separate at first, as has been suggested, but in such a way as they can still smell each other, such as under a door.
It’s a good idea to have them close in age (as you do). Just like old dogs don’t learn new tricks, neither do old cats who are set in their ways and their homes take well to young, rambunctious kittens.
Mostly, things have worked out fine for my cats and I, but I’ve had a few problems. “Feliway”–feline pheromones that are diffused through the house–has worked well to calm things down in such instances. You can discontinue it once they get used to each other.
The general rule of thumb is to have at least one more litter box than cats. So two cats “need” 3, though you can probably get away with two. One is right out, though.
I give my kittens different bowls but they eat out of each other’s. My parents’ last cats really needed different bowls, so it’s hard to say if yours will. I think you’ll want to try feeding them separately to begin with, to discourage them feeling defensive about food as they get to know each other.
Hopefully they’re young enough to get along quickly. My guys were 13 and 15 weeks old when I brought the older one home, and within 2 and a half days they were friends. Yours are a little older, but hopefully within a week or two they’ll be happy in each other’s company.
It so depends on the cats. I got Imhotep specifically for Sandstone to play with. Well. He nearly died of happiness. “I have a friend!!! A friend a friend a friend!!!” He rushed up and tried to play.
Immy was recovering from her spaying, suddenly being in a new place and new people and growled at him. For days. He tried for three months to play with her. She was having none of that, until suddenly she did and they were bestest friends until his death from Feline Infectious Peritonitis (I had to have him put to sleep).
This is true; but it’s also true that if all your cats are about the same age you’re more likely to be in for a really bad year or two eventually.
I’d go ahead and start with these two young ones, who will be easier to get used to living with other cats; but add another cat when they’re five or ten and then another one maybe five years after that – the relatively younger ones will play with each other, and the older ones won’t be too old yet to deal with it.
Of course, that means that some of the time you’ll have four cats, and most of the time at least three. A sad fate . . .
You need one litter box per cat, plus an extra. Cats are VERY particular about litter boxes.
I found some a linoleum “remnant” at one of those home stores and put it under the litter boxes in case of accidents, but my kitties are all quite old.
True enough, and I think I’m in for a bad year or two. I recently had to euthanize a 17-year-old, and my remaining ones are two 17-year-olds, and an 18-year-old. Not looking forward to what may happen in the next year or two.
Definitely 2 litterboxes, separate food bowls and one water bowl. Our trays are on a balcony and recently put some artificial turf underneath…stops the crystals sticking to their feet and prevents it coming inside.
Our cats hate each other, especially at food time. But mostly they coexist just fine.
Multi-cat households are very rewarding. Sure, there is a bit more work involved, mostly at first, but once you get through the adjustment period it’s not significant. (Though of course vet and food bills will increase linearly.)
The thing is - one cat offers one “feline entertainment unit” (FEU). However, two cats are actually worth three FEU, because you get all of these:
I actually have three cats, which I think is equivalent to 7 FEUs (since you get all the 2-cat pairs plus the three-at-a-time FEU).
Yeah, I’m a crazy cat lady. So sue me.
yeah we went through the "kitten vs older cats " standoff… out first 3 serving cats were elderly and the 2 new kittens couldn’t figure out why they didnt want to play 24/7
We’ve had 2 cats as often as not. Not a problem.
We’ve also fostered many kittens over the years.
More over the county animal shelter and foster group we’ve worked with don’t agree with you.
Cats can and do share boxes. To say otherwise is surprising.
Like almost everything else with cats YMMV.We adopted two bothers from the Humane Society almost 6 months ago We researched a bunch with our Vet, Jackson galaxy, catinfo.org and the CVMA. We went the cats +1 litter box route and it has worked out well. They have separate food dishes but are bonded so they commonly swap bowls back and forth. We also have a water fountain for them located away from their food. Confining the new cat to one room for a little bit is a good idea, and you’ll be able to judge pretty quickly how well they will get along. Look for erect tails, chirrups, and curiosity as good signs.
One other point is to avoid dry food if you can. Every resource I checked all say the same thing, that dry food is hard on cats and should be given as a last resort.
The debate on Wet vs. Dry vs. some of each is not that straight forward.
Pros to all 3.
The big one, if you give dry food, ensure plenty of fresh water is available.
If your cat is prone to urinary tract blockages, don’t use dry food.
Don’t feel bad if you decide to give your cats dry food for various reasons, too many will try to shame you for a simple decision that isn’t harmful. Again unless the cat is prone to urinary tract blockages.
As your cat becomes an old cat, soft food is probably a good idea. Their teeth can start going too. Of course the simplest thing, check with your vet.
For two cats, I would do two food bowls and one water bowl. When we had two cats, we had one litter box. When we ended up with four cats, we had four food bowls, one (larger) water bowl, and two litter boxes, one litter box upstairs and one in the basement. You definitely do not need more litter boxes than cats.
Cats have individual personalities. They might become best buddies or they might remain worst enemies. Meal time is where they sort a lot of their issues out, so if you let them fight over food they are more likely to remain enemies. Force them to behave at meal time and they are more likely to at least be cordial to each other at other times.
At first they are going to be territorial, especially over food. This is where individual food bowls helps. Don’t get too upset if there is a lot of hissing at first. They’ll sort it out, eventually. Might take a couple of weeks. Don’t let them go all claws out at each other. If you have established yourself as the Alpha Cat then they’ll back down if you give them a firm NO when they start getting too aggressive towards each other. If you haven’t established yourself as Alpha Cat then you’ll have a lot more difficulty getting them to back down and you’ll probably be left with just letting them fight it out for dominance.
Cats aren’t pack animals like dogs, but they do establish dominance and a “pecking order” (for lack of a better term).
Sorry to post twice in a row, but I thought I would at least share about our cats.
We had one cat, which was the nicest, friendliest cat you have ever seen. About a year later, we got another kitten, who very quickly earned the nickname Psycho Kitty. She was always a very strange cat. Psycho Kitty never really became close friends with Friendly Cat (not her actual name), though to be fair, the only other pet that Psycho Kitty really got along with was one of our dogs. Psycho Kitty and Friendly Cat didn’t really play together, but they never fought and always basically treated each other with respect.
Several years later, we got The Twins. Friendly Cat was her usual friendly self, and while The Twins mostly played with each other, they were at least respectful to Friendly Cat. But Psycho Kitty was not so friendly. Psycho Kitty would smack each of the Twins on the head every time they came into the kitchen for meals. What nobody realized at the time was that The Twins were probably part Maine Coon. The Twins started out as tiny kittens, but soon got to be much larger than Psycho Kitty. At that point, the roles reversed. The Twins would bop Psycho Kitty on the head very time she came in for meals.
It was hard to feel bad for Psycho Kitty at that point because she was the one who started it. She bopped The Twins for months and months before they got large enough to fight back.
Psycho Kitty and the twins never got into all-out fights, but they were never friends.
Anyway, that’s my tale of four kitties, just to illustrate that every cat is unique and has its own unique personality. You can never predict how they’ll get along with each other.
I have three cats and three boxes. If asked, each feline would say, “My mistress has given me three litter boxes. I choose among them when I wish to evacuate. I allow the other two cats in the household to use my boxes, as I am generous and also sometimes the other cats will clean my ears for me.”
Cats do have dominance orders, but these are odd and can even be circular.
Some years ago, I had four cats. Cat A, we’ll call him, was a Very Confident cat and exerted dominance over the others most of the time, when he felt like it. Cat B rarely bothered to exert dominance, and would usually defer to A; but one day he had simply had enough about something, and proceeded to trounce Cat A very thoroughly and precisely into temporary submission; after which they went back to their previous behavior, except that A would back off a bit sooner if B started to look unusually fed up with him; but most of the time A was clearly dominant over B and C. Cat C didn’t like fighting at all, and if two of the other cats were swearing and/or swatting at each other he’d trot around them in anxious little circles mewing. And Cat D – Cat D was a very timid cat, afraid of nearly everything on earth. He deferred entirely and absolutely to Cats B and C. He would back off from just about everybody. He mostly did trust me and my mother; but the one creature on earth of whom he had no fear whatsoever was Cat A, who was his littermate. Scaredycat D, who was the biggest of the batch, dominated Top Cat A any time he felt like it.