What type of cat to adopt?

[lolaselina1]

Hi all!

We have had our house check and have passed, we can now adopt another cat or two. For those of you who don't know we have two five year old already, both from the same litter, one is incredibly shy and loves fuss and the other is incredibly chilled out and independent, and is usually found outdoors stalking the neighbourhood! They don't 'get on' per se, the indoor fussy cat either hisses and lashes out at the other or sniffs at her and growls and walks away.

Is a cat the same age best? Or older? Or a kitten? Make or female? I know... Lots of questions! But I'd love to rescue a cat, as would my little boy, and I just want to make sure o do this right both for the new cat and my cats.

Thanks!

[Animal lover]

I can understand how you feel. I have always had animals in my life, most of the time I have had more than one type and multiples of them. The most I had at the same time was 4 dogs, 2 cats, 3 hamsters, 3 rats, different species of fish and of birds. I have also had rabbits, ducks, ferrets,.... the list goes on. I just love animals. I would have all of them if I could. I have also rescued, rehabilitated or fostered and released wild animals and also rescued and rehomed domestic animals. Some of the domestic animals I have rescued were cats. I would have loved to have kept them. I rescued my cats when they were around a week old and I hand raised them. They were Brother and Sister and it was clear that as cats are territory based, they would not be happy with any new cats in the home, especially my girl who was more reserved than my boy. It would have been different if I had socialised my cats with other cats, starting when they were kittens, as they would have grown up being used to having other cats around. Due to the awful start they had in life, I chose not to and to just ensure they were happy. My boy passed in 2011 and my girl in 2014. I miss them both terribly. Sometimes I think it would have been nice for them to have had other cats to play with, etc. But, knowing how they were, I know it would have caused them great stress.
I understand you wanting to help animals, but I feel that with your current 2, it would not be a great idea to adopt any more. Have you thought about volunteering at a centre? Doing fundraising? Volunteering in a charity shop? There are other ways besides adopting that you can help and make a great difference. You can also get your Son involved too. I have always been involved in charity work of different types and in some ways that makes more of a help than adopting. A person can only adopt so many animals, depending on that persons circumstances and on the animals already in the home. Yet, you can fundraise, etc., every day, week, month, year, and you will be helping lots of animals at the same time, more animals than you could probably ever adopt.

[Crewella]

I currently have five permanent cats, all rescue cats, two of whom had lived just together for the first ten years of their lives, one who had been an only cat for nine years and two ex-strays with uncertain histories. The 'only cat' and one of the ex-strays were originally foster cats but have stayed on as they have settled happily in with the rest of the gang. I won't say it didn't take some time, patience and careful management, but if I didn't feel that they were all now happy, they wouldn't still be here. The 'only cat' in particular had a tough time adjusting to living with other cats (along with all the other changes in his life), but he has actually turned out to be a sociable sort of cat that likes to hang out with the other boys in the house and has learned the joys of playing 'chase'.

I think it could work, as long as you have the space and you're prepared to put in the time and effort that might be required to settle a new cat in. My gut feeling is that you'd be best off with a younger cat that is known to be sociable with other cats, but not a kitten as, temperamentally, kittens can be a bit of an unknown quantity. A good rescue will advise you and help to make sure you get the right cat for your circumstances.

There's good advice on settling cats in here:

http://www.catchat.org/bonding.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.catchat.org/hierarchies.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good luck!

[Animal lover]

I do think it depends on the individual animal and your own circumstances. My Sister lives nearly one hundred miles from us and when she first had her cats, she would bring them with her when she came to stay. My cats were absolutely fine with all of my other animals, and with the animals that I would rehabilitate, foster, etc. They were typically offish with my Sisters cats when they first came in the door, and by the time my Sister had to go my cats would be more welcoming to my Sisters cats. My boy would be encouraging them to play, but my girl was much more reserved. I knew that if I really wanted to have more cats, it would mean taking the time to socialise them, get them used to each other, etc., I just decided that I would have my two cats as the only cats in my home and they would then get all the 'cat' love, so to speak. My girl became more reserved to my Sisters cats as time went by and in future visits, she would be in the same room, but no closer than a few feet. It would then take her a few days to get back to being herself. I knew that having new cats permanently would be possible, but I knew it would cause my girl a lot of stress and so I decided against it.
Some centres do an introduction period to see how your cats would be with new ones. I know not much can be achieved in an hour, but some places can do it over a few weeks. So that may be an option. I have seen cats, who have been hissers and who liked their distance from other cats, go on and live with even more cats. They have either become more friendly or gone the other 'I need more space' way, and some have even left home and moved in elsewhere. (This has happened to someone in my road, they found a cat had taken to them, one day they opened the door after seeing it for months in the garden, and it ran it. They found out who owned it and the situation was as just described).
If you feel you have the time and the space, then ensure you get the right fit. Maybe ask the centre, or the person who did your home visit, to see your cats and let you know how they think your cats will be. I wish you the best of luck in whatever you do, and just know there are other ways to help apart from adopting. I do think an adult cat would be best. But, if one of your cats is very maternal, kittens could be an option. One of my dogs was so maternal. Even when her pups were grown, she would still mother them. Bless her, she would even try to carry the hamsters like they were pups and try to get them to suckle! When friends with babies would visit, she would mother the babies too, bless her. X