New house, new cat?

May 11, 2021 9:57 AM

I just bought a house, and I'm wondering if now is a good time to introduce a second cat into the mix.

Chopper and I have been living in an apartment for a few years. He's a 4-year-old indoor cat who alternates between super-sweet-cuddly and insane-sprinting-gnawing on an almost hourly basis. Never boring.

I tried introducing a second young male cat a year or so ago and it didn't go well. Even after weeks of separation, Chopper was still on the sweet new guy like a tiger every time he saw him. Sadly, I had to take Oliver back to the shelter after a month.

Now that I'm going to have a lot more space, I'm wondering if it might be time to try again. The territoriality issue should be moot, at least at first. But that would also be two big changes at once. Opinions on this seem to vary. It depends on personality, obv, and the sex and age of the new one. I'm thinking an older female this time might be better. Should I try?

posted by gottabefunky to Pets & Animals (5 answers total)

I had a similar issue, and it was solved by my going back to the shelter and getting a female cat who was not afraid to put the smack down on my jerk make cat. In fact, jerk cat didn’t really try much of anything , despite at least a month of bullying my prior adoption attempt, who was a mellow male.

I accomplished this by asking the shelter staff to only introduce me to female cats who were bossy.
posted by PussKillian at 10:29 AM on May 11, 2021 [5 favorites]

The territoriality issue should be moot, at least at first.

I mean, sorta, but there is the potential to be territorial over you. Can you foster-to-adopt? That would seem like the best way to try out a kitten or cat. As for temperament, I'd look for a relatively low-key female kitten.
posted by coffeecat at 12:13 PM on May 11, 2021 [2 favorites]

It's worth it to try, if you can find the right one who would love sparring Chopper and giving as good as she gets, you can give that kitty a good home with lots of fun.
posted by bleep at 12:41 PM on May 11, 2021

I really think it's more of an art of the introduction thing, just the right cat, and having enough doors in the house that you can work on the problem productively. And... some cats just aren't ideal (at least unless you have the touch) for living with other cats.

I've done the bossy female thing (a kitten. I looked at her picture and I KNEW she would be a spark plug. When she got home after half a day hiding in my office and half a day flying in from Chicago, she BOLTED out of her safe room and proceeded to hiss the hell out of all the large adult male cats). That was a very challenging integration.

The ideal cat is probably a very chill but very self assured one with experience with other cats. Our smolest cat was born at a cage free shelter, and got returned as a young adult. He's an old kitty now, with no muscles to speak of and a sharply diminished number of teeth. And when we added a beefy, young male who wanted trouble... Brother Justin wouldn't start trouble, but he could be relied on to finish it. Things have long since become calm, and the big cat still gives him a wide berth.
posted by wotsac at 7:44 PM on May 11, 2021

Here's a previous AskMe about introducing a second cat. The upshot is: it could be fine, it could be disaster, it's impossible to predict which. Following a long list of gradual-introduction procedures can improve the odds.
posted by Zed at 9:51 AM on May 12, 2021 [1 favorite]