Choosing kitties
October 19, 2014 7:04 AM Subscribe
Can a young energetic kitty and an older mellow kitty make a good pair?
I am working with a rescue to adopt a couple of kitties who were abandoned. One is an approximately 1-year-old Norwegian Forest Cat. The other one is approximately 5-7 years old, a Siamese mix of some sort. These two cats have never met -- I picked them because they're both beautiful and I am a shallow, crappy person. I'm worried they won't get along, although I've been told they both are good with other cats.
Questions:
1. Has anyone owned kitties with several years' age difference, and did they learn to get along?
2. What is the easiest, least stressful way to introduce them both to a new home at around the same time? I have a guest bedroom that I've set up as a temporary kitty room for them to get used to for a couple days -- would it be a bad idea to put them both in there together or should they be separated at first??
3. Am I just overthinking this?
I am working with a rescue to adopt a couple of kitties who were abandoned. One is an approximately 1-year-old Norwegian Forest Cat. The other one is approximately 5-7 years old, a Siamese mix of some sort. These two cats have never met -- I picked them because they're both beautiful and I am a shallow, crappy person. I'm worried they won't get along, although I've been told they both are good with other cats.
Questions:
1. Has anyone owned kitties with several years' age difference, and did they learn to get along?
2. What is the easiest, least stressful way to introduce them both to a new home at around the same time? I have a guest bedroom that I've set up as a temporary kitty room for them to get used to for a couple days -- would it be a bad idea to put them both in there together or should they be separated at first??
3. Am I just overthinking this?
No, you're not over thinking it. You have to be careful about putting new cats together.
I think the age difference will be OK. 1 year old is old enough that the young cat shouldn't be quite as annoying as a younger kitten to the older cat. And 5-7 years old is more like middle aged, not too old to play.
Do not put them together in a room first thing. I would separate them first and then let them have more space together - if you put them in the same room and one starts beating on the other, the cat that's getting beaten up on will have nowhere to hide.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 7:22 AM on October 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
I think the age difference will be OK. 1 year old is old enough that the young cat shouldn't be quite as annoying as a younger kitten to the older cat. And 5-7 years old is more like middle aged, not too old to play.
Do not put them together in a room first thing. I would separate them first and then let them have more space together - if you put them in the same room and one starts beating on the other, the cat that's getting beaten up on will have nowhere to hide.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 7:22 AM on October 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
You should definitely not lock two stranger cats in an unfamiliar room together. Keep them separate for a few days, then do gradual supervised introduction.
As to whether they can get along: sure. But not necessarily. When introducing two adult cats, there is no way to ever really know what will happen when you put them together. They may end up being best pals, they may end up tolerating each other, they may end up not liking one another at all. The age difference doesn't have much to do with it, though; they are just finicky, unpredictable, territorial creatures.
I think it's worth a shot, certainly, but be prepared for it not to go all that smoothly, especially at first.
posted by something something at 7:25 AM on October 19, 2014
As to whether they can get along: sure. But not necessarily. When introducing two adult cats, there is no way to ever really know what will happen when you put them together. They may end up being best pals, they may end up tolerating each other, they may end up not liking one another at all. The age difference doesn't have much to do with it, though; they are just finicky, unpredictable, territorial creatures.
I think it's worth a shot, certainly, but be prepared for it not to go all that smoothly, especially at first.
posted by something something at 7:25 AM on October 19, 2014
Our cats were 11 and 1.5 when we got the 1.5 year old. They tolerate each other, but they are not friends, and the younger one bothered the crap out of the senior until we moved from an apartment to a house and they split the house.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 7:27 AM on October 19, 2014
posted by Ms Vegetable at 7:27 AM on October 19, 2014
Sorry if you mentioned this in the question and I missed it, but what are the genders of the kitties? In general, male/male combos go better than female/female combos. Female/male can work out depending on the individual temperaments. (I'm taking it as a given that the kitties are spayed/neutered.)
When I was growing up, we did have a male/female combo with a pretty similar age difference. They were never super close, but they did tolerate each other. However, I think they each would have been happier separately.
How big a place do you have? We had a big house, and one of the cats was indoor/outdoor (which I don't recommend and would not do now), and I think the extra space made things a lot easier. They each were able to stake out their own territories.
Is there any way you can introduce them to each other before you take them home? I definitely would not keep them both in the same room when they've never met before. The general set up that I've heard recommended is to let them sniff each other with a door separating them, and then gradually introduce them. Is there some sort of contingency if they end up hating each other?
posted by litera scripta manet at 7:30 AM on October 19, 2014
When I was growing up, we did have a male/female combo with a pretty similar age difference. They were never super close, but they did tolerate each other. However, I think they each would have been happier separately.
How big a place do you have? We had a big house, and one of the cats was indoor/outdoor (which I don't recommend and would not do now), and I think the extra space made things a lot easier. They each were able to stake out their own territories.
Is there any way you can introduce them to each other before you take them home? I definitely would not keep them both in the same room when they've never met before. The general set up that I've heard recommended is to let them sniff each other with a door separating them, and then gradually introduce them. Is there some sort of contingency if they end up hating each other?
posted by litera scripta manet at 7:30 AM on October 19, 2014
Response by poster: Male/male and both neutered. If they end up hating each other, I'd have to take one of them back to the rescue, but the people at the rescue seem pretty confident that these two will probably get along just based on their personalities.
Looks like I'll definitely keep them separated to start with.
posted by Librarypt at 7:39 AM on October 19, 2014
Looks like I'll definitely keep them separated to start with.
posted by Librarypt at 7:39 AM on October 19, 2014
Get Feliway diffusers and have them plugged in for a couple of days before you bring the cats home, having that mother-cat hormone scent already in the air will be soothing for them and could keep them from redirecting anxiety onto each other.
posted by oh yeah! at 8:16 AM on October 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by oh yeah! at 8:16 AM on October 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
It's all super-individual to the cats. If you want a success story - my oldest cat, Schroedinger, was 14 when I brought home baby kitten Pascal (and his sister, Gigi).
We originally planned to keep them apart for at least a week, but after about two day, Schro barged his way in to the kitten room. There were a few weeks of the kittens being vaguely creeped out as Schro followed them around sniffing them a lot, but no one fought or anything, and after that first few weeks of Weird Creepy Uncle Schro, everyone became very good friends. It was very easy.
posted by Stacey at 8:21 AM on October 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
We originally planned to keep them apart for at least a week, but after about two day, Schro barged his way in to the kitten room. There were a few weeks of the kittens being vaguely creeped out as Schro followed them around sniffing them a lot, but no one fought or anything, and after that first few weeks of Weird Creepy Uncle Schro, everyone became very good friends. It was very easy.
posted by Stacey at 8:21 AM on October 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
I agree with everyone above regarding separating them for a while. We just introduced a 4 month old kitten to our 2 year old cat. The kitten stayed in the bedroom (large suite; not a prison) for about a month and the two very slowly - VERY slowly - were able to be in the same room. Now, three months later, they are great playmates.
Our rescue recommended this approach and it was magic. You must expect some hissing and clawing from cats no matter what.
I think it's a fine situation and you should be optimistic. How great of you to rescue - good luck!
posted by Punctual at 9:17 AM on October 19, 2014
Our rescue recommended this approach and it was magic. You must expect some hissing and clawing from cats no matter what.
I think it's a fine situation and you should be optimistic. How great of you to rescue - good luck!
posted by Punctual at 9:17 AM on October 19, 2014
Mine was 5 when I got a 4-month old kitten. Both neutered males. The kitten annoyed the shit out of the older one for awhile but they quickly became BFFs and 8 years later, they still are. I wouldn't worry about it. Just be sure to introduce them slowly, as noted above.
posted by desjardins at 10:16 AM on October 19, 2014
posted by desjardins at 10:16 AM on October 19, 2014
Just nthing the "keep them separate at first" thing. They need time to get used to each other's smell, and the general notion of sharing space with another (potentially threatening) animal.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 10:25 AM on October 19, 2014
posted by escape from the potato planet at 10:25 AM on October 19, 2014
Also, try to make sure that the space is optimized for sharing, that there aren't too many ambush zones or dead ends that one cat can corner the other into. (and watch 'My Cat From Hell' on Animal Planet, so many good lessons on what to do and what not to do)
posted by oh yeah! at 10:59 AM on October 19, 2014
posted by oh yeah! at 10:59 AM on October 19, 2014
MessyBeast has great instructions on cat introductions.
If either of your new cats seem to have misgivings about the other, that's the way to go, and go slow.
That said, I have an eighteen-year-old cat, and a second cat that's much younger that I brought home from the HS about seven years ago. They were good together from day one even though I was all prepared to separate them and do slow introductions. Sometimes cats do just get along.
posted by vers at 11:36 AM on October 19, 2014
If either of your new cats seem to have misgivings about the other, that's the way to go, and go slow.
That said, I have an eighteen-year-old cat, and a second cat that's much younger that I brought home from the HS about seven years ago. They were good together from day one even though I was all prepared to separate them and do slow introductions. Sometimes cats do just get along.
posted by vers at 11:36 AM on October 19, 2014
Hmm -- male-male is a combo that would worry me unless the older one was neutered at a young age. I have an older male cat who is super-mellow with people and female cats but dislikes all male cats. I hope your experience is more like the positive experiences that other commenters have had. Definitely introduce them slowly and provide them with separate food and water bowls.
posted by slidell at 3:14 PM on October 19, 2014
posted by slidell at 3:14 PM on October 19, 2014
The older male Siamese may be set in his ways and never accept the younger. If he's smart enough he'll notice all the attention the kitten gets and try to play with the younger cat so you'll pay attention to him too.
Good luck!
posted by irisclara at 5:01 PM on October 19, 2014
Good luck!
posted by irisclara at 5:01 PM on October 19, 2014
I have male-male cats; the older was about 8 and the younger about 9 months when we added the 9-month-old cat. He thought the 8-year-old was his MOM or possibly CAT GOD and followed him and worshiped him and snuggled him all the time. The 8-year-old is pretty sociable as cats go. He was pretty happy to have a buddy, although occasionally a little overwhelmed by the amount of LOOOOOOOVE. Now that the older is 12 and the younger is 4 they basically just sleep snuggling all the time.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:32 PM on October 19, 2014
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:32 PM on October 19, 2014
I just introduced the most rambunctious 16 week old kitten to my 6 year old.
Male/Male
Older cat was super mellow. To the point that the little kitten was dominating him. A few weeks in though and the big kitteh beat him around a bit and hes more in charge now.
At first it was a little harrowing and man, they still have some crazy chases.
posted by PlutoniumX at 7:12 AM on October 20, 2014
Male/Male
Older cat was super mellow. To the point that the little kitten was dominating him. A few weeks in though and the big kitteh beat him around a bit and hes more in charge now.
At first it was a little harrowing and man, they still have some crazy chases.
posted by PlutoniumX at 7:12 AM on October 20, 2014
Someone I know introduced a large, young male cat to an older, smaller female cat over the span of about three days. They did not and still do not get along. Blood has been shed. In my opinion, the owner should have spent more time with the cats separated by a door so that they could get used to each other's smells before letting them coexist in the same rooms. As much as I'm sure you'd love to see them cuddling, move very slowly and bide your time when introducing the two.
posted by theraflu at 8:28 AM on October 20, 2014
posted by theraflu at 8:28 AM on October 20, 2014
Here's the ASPCA advice. Note the exchange of smell prior to actual introduction bits. And bringing each to the other's door so they can hear the other and know the other exists while still feeling safe.
Age difference isn't really a concern here. Any two strange-to-each-other cats might mix like oil and water if suddenly thrust into the same environment, no matter how similar in age and background they might be. (And some might get along just fine from the start, but if they don't you're now at a place much worse than where you started, so I'd definitely want to do all the recommended hullaballoo.)
And take your time. Just being brought to a new place is stressful for a kitty. A new place with another cat, moreso.
posted by Zed at 9:40 AM on October 20, 2014
Age difference isn't really a concern here. Any two strange-to-each-other cats might mix like oil and water if suddenly thrust into the same environment, no matter how similar in age and background they might be. (And some might get along just fine from the start, but if they don't you're now at a place much worse than where you started, so I'd definitely want to do all the recommended hullaballoo.)
And take your time. Just being brought to a new place is stressful for a kitty. A new place with another cat, moreso.
posted by Zed at 9:40 AM on October 20, 2014
Response by poster: Thanks all. We got Potato yesterday and he's settling in nicely as you can see. Cat #2 who is not named yet will arrive on Thursday night.
posted by Librarypt at 1:35 PM on October 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Librarypt at 1:35 PM on October 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Ugh... cat #2 arrived yesterday, infested with fleas. I spent several hours today vacuuming, washing bedding and blankets, and putting powder down in the room where the cat was (I gave him back to the rescue until they can get rid of his fleas). Word to the wise, when getting a rescue cat, always inspect it for fleas first before accepting it.... :(
posted by Librarypt at 4:06 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by Librarypt at 4:06 PM on October 24, 2014
Late to the party, but I adopted 2 unrelated shelter cats who were strangers to each other (closer in age than yours, though: 6 and 18 months at the time of adoption). When I agreed to adopt them, the shelter did a supervised introduction and, when it went OK, housed them in the same enclosure for the week or so before they came to me.
I am convinced this helped them bond, because when they moved to my place their only constant was each other. When the shelter introduced them, they reported back "no hissing, they just ignore each other." But during their first week at my place they began to play together, groom each other, wrestle and sleep in a heap. This is them today.
posted by Pallas Athena at 6:11 PM on October 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
I am convinced this helped them bond, because when they moved to my place their only constant was each other. When the shelter introduced them, they reported back "no hissing, they just ignore each other." But during their first week at my place they began to play together, groom each other, wrestle and sleep in a heap. This is them today.
posted by Pallas Athena at 6:11 PM on October 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
New cat was recovering from being neutered and a tail amputation so she spent ten days locked in the bathroom. I am not sure it made a difference.
posted by jeather at 7:13 AM on October 19, 2014 [1 favorite]