Can I introduce a kitten to our household?

[XxPrincess1x]

Hi everyone. My partner and I have a nearly 9 year old cat called Prince. He's only been living in our house for a year and a half as that's when we both moved in to my partners house. For a long time I've wanted to get a kitten but I'm worried I'll upset Prince. His temperament can be quite skittish, he bolts up the stairs if he hears someone at the door. He is very nervous around people to the point that he hides in our room whenever someone is round. It took him at least 6 months to come to terms with being in a new house and to bond with my partner completely.

A bit of backstory of our cat. He grew up with me in my parents house, unfortunately my mum had a weird set up for him and our other pets (which I never agreed with) so he spent the majority of his kitten life in my bedroom. We had 2 other cats in the house that spent alot of time in the other bedrooms. One of the bedroom doors was almost entirely made of glass. As much as I could I would let Prince out to roam around but I was young so was trying to avoid him running into the others as I didn't know how to handle the situation. I'm not sure how old he was at the time but when he was fully grown I noticed when he went to roam, he would go straight up to the glass door where our other boy cat Leo (an adult cat) would frequent. They would both rub off the doors and look at each other and I thought they must like each other! Gradually I started to open the door whenever they met up and sure enough. They hit it off straight away. I was thrilled because I really wanted them both to have some feline company. They would often spend time in the same room after that.

Unfortunately a few years later Leo ran away and we still haven't found him. And since then Prince moved in with me and my partner. I'm sorry this has been a long story but what I was hoping to gain was some insight on whether his behaviour with Leo indicates that he may be happier if another cat was living with us. Especially since sometimes my partner and I are away for a day or so and would really like to give him that company if he needs it.

I hope I can gain some insight into what would be the best option for us. Any advice would be appreciated. I'm aware of the way that is best to introduce a kitten to a cat but I don't want to put my cat under too much stress. Or risk the possibility of having to rehome the kitten if things really didn't work.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts!

[fjm]

Approximately how old was Prince when he wanted to be friends with Leo? In my (admittedly limited) experience young cats take more readily to a companion than older cats - my most successful introductions were with cats less than a year old. I think you said in your other thread that he did not get on as well with the other cats in your parents' house, although that might have been more because of their reactions than his. Given that Prince took so long to relax in your new home I think I would be wary of disrupting his life with a kitten, but you know him best - it is possible that he is a cat that flourishes with companionship, and is missing the dogs and cats he grew up around.

[XxPrincess1x]

Hi, thanks for the reply! I'd hazard a guess he was under 2 but he was fully grown at the time. So still young but not in kitten stage. You could be right it may be that at his age now he might react different. At the time Prince and Leo connected we had another female who didn't like either or them (she's quite moody) so they didn't get on. As of a few years ago we all moved out to my mums new partners home where he had another 2 female cats. Prince and Leo stayed together until Leo ran away.

As for the new cats that were at mums new place, the one is I'd say was around Prince's age (7 at the time) or a bit younger and definitely hates other cats, so I think it was more how they were with him than the other way round. The other cat was a 21 year old female who Prince actually didn't mind at all, could be around her and seemed pretty relaxed. And I think that may be due to how laid back the female became in her old age. This was around 2 years ago now.

Sorry if this is a little confusing haha alot has happened in the past few years in terms of moving and meeting new cats.