We got two kittens two years ago. They were best friends and had a lovely time together. But one got outside one day and never returned. Great sadness all around. The other one, Typhon, has been so lonely and sad ever since (it’s been 3 months). Now we are ready to get a new cat.
I’ve read all the standard advice: keep the in separate rooms so they can smell each other before meeting for several days. Let them have separate litter boxes. Etc.
But do you have any additional advice or experience?
If it matters, Typhon is a neutered male, and the one we are thinking about getting is a 1 year old spayed female from the shelter.
Well, I think you’ve got the method pretty much covered, that’s always worked for us. I’m really just posting so I can tell when you have the pictures up.
We inadvertently discovered this when introducing two rescue kitties to each other–if you bump the temperature down in the house, they’ll seek each other out for warmth.
Granted, this was during February so we were saving money on heating by changing the thermostat. I don’t know where the OP is located, but right now we’d have to be running the AC on high to do something like this.
I got a second cat and broke every rule. I got an adult male neutered cat and brought him home to my adult male neutered cat. I opened the carrier and said here you go guys. They never had a single fight. I had two litter boxes, not three as everyone says to do. I never separated them. I had two food dishes in two different rooms but both cats ate from both dishes at different times. They growled at one another sometimes, and the newest cat let the oldest cat have my lap whenever he wanted it. But really, it was not a problem. Now, both of these guys were adopted at about a year old and both had been in shelters for a while before coming home with me, so maybe they were just so glad to be in a home they didn’t care, or maybe being in the shelter had gotten them used to other cats.
Oh yeah, pictures; well I have none of the two of them but here is Max and here is Rocky, the older, who is in cat heaven now, but the two lived together for about ten years in harmony so even if you do everything wrong it might work out!
I’m so excited! We get to bring her home tomorrow after her spay surgery. She was confiscated from a neglectful hoarding situation, but still seems very loving and people oriented. She’s been at the pound for a month, so I expect she’ll be glad to find a real home.