My kitty needs a friend

Post Reply New Topic

Yes.

I'm at work for 10 hours minimum.
I am able to come home for lunch and play with her but still......

I've put off traveling because she hates being alone and I want to go some places this year....so I want to get her a friend so i can go away and not have to worry about her.

She is about 3 yearsd old, stricktly indoor, and the nicest cat you'll ever meet.
I want to get another young female or weaned kitten.

Here's the question......How do I introduce them to each other?

I was thinking of keeping them caged and placing them next to each other so they can become familiar with each other......but then, how long do I keep them in there and who do I let out first?

Any advise, thoughts, coments greatly appreciated!

Cats are hard - you sort of have to watch what they do - I have an orange tabby who will, litearlly, try to kill any other cat that gets in his territory (other than his brother) - but with other cats what I've done is locked the new cat into a room and let him or her play footsies under the door with the other cat, then I switch them out so that the old cat is locked in the room and the new cat can smell around the house, then switch it again and let the old cat smell around the house the new cat has been walking around in . . .
THEN get the new cat out, put him in your lap, and let the new cat out and see what happens - being prepared to stand up quickly and move very quickly to put the new cat in a room and save yourself and the new cat from being eaten by the old cat . . .

I wouldn't leave them alone together for a good two weeks - and watch for tufts of hair around your house to see if they have been fighting while you are at work when you do leave them alone together . . .

good luck - cats are about as hard as rats to introduce . . .

excuse me!! !! !!???????? you got a cat that you're concerned about cuz you want to go on vacation. Now you want to get another and keep it in a cage. next to the other?so they can get used to eachother? Then what? When you go on another vacation get another and keep it in a cage? s**t, glad you dont have kids hon..... animals are not disposable, to be set in a cage so YOU can go play.and be there for you when you return home. ....... you dont deserve to have a pet..! !! !! !! !! !

You sound like a responsible pet owner...just looking for a freind for Cat A whilst you are at work or gone for a bit.

We did the "put one in the bathroom and let them play footie thing." It seems to have worked. The animal trainer from the humane society also suggested rubbing each cat down with a towel and then putting the towel with the other cat, so they got used to each others scent. Taking turns in the bathroom would also do the same thing.

Cat A gets more attention at first, of course, so it doesn't associate a drop of attention with the arrival of Cat B.

BeeBee

Excuse you!! !! !! !! !! !


Did I mention I was going to be keeping them in the cages? No

As stated in my original message, the point of putting them in cages is so they can meet each other.
I thought it would be assumed that the point of this is so they don't have the ability to kill each other upon first sight, appearantly I was mistaken.


......and I would never and have never kept my animals caged or borded while I'm away.
I don't have anyone to look after my cat while I'm gone and I think having her borded in a pound or something is worse than leaving her alone at home in a familiar environment (uncaged).

Therefore I need another cat to keep her company.

Last edited by Lurker_Extraordinaire on 09 Jan 2006, 3:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Yes.
Precisely.
Thank you.


And thank you eveyone who responded.

More cat intro stories ( good or bad ) would be cool.

I'm sure she will get one.

do not do the cage thing. take beebee's advice.
if cats get bad first impression from smell or sight it is hard to change.

Cool, thanks!

I'll do that, luckily my bathroom door leaves a nice nice 2" gap from the floor

Keeping a cat in the bathroom is difficult. I've tried it. The best thing is to let your cat have the bedroom as it's designated place, the new cat gets the bathroom, and the rest of the house is neutral. When you are gone, let your cat have run of the house with the new cat in the bathroom. When you're home, let the new cat out, and close your cat in the bedroom. This is how they can familiarize themselves with *sharing* a territory with another cat without having to confront and antagonize each other, and the new cat doesn't go bonkers with boredom from being confined. Just be sure that each get some time with you alone so they don't feel they have to compete for your attention.

It is actually best to not let your cat see teh new cat until the second day. She will know there's another cat around just by smell and sound. But as long as she doesn't see it, she's likely to be a little calmer and less stressed about it.

You should do this routine for about a week if the new cat is an adult (and yes get anothr female, definitely), gradually increasing the time that both cats are allowed to roam about the house at the same time (always when you're home) after second or third day. Some hissing and growling is to be expected. If violence erupts, lock both in their designated rooms so neither feels they're "won" the larger territory. In most acses, there's a lot of sulking on part of the older cat, but they eventually come to a truce.

If it is a kitten, then you can start letting them share the house after the second of third day. Just be mindful that if your cat starts getting upset with the kitten it either move the kitten from the room, or put it back in the bathroom for a while. Tryto discourage the kitten for going into the bedroom until the two get along, so your cat feels it has a safe sanctuary to get away from teh "interloper" if need be. When you leave, though, put the kitten in the bathroom, so your cat doesn't take the opportunity to terrorize it without you to play referee. Even with a kitten I'd recommend getting another female - they adapt to a submissive role with another cat better than males.

I have had to introduce new cats to the home many times. Right now it's easy because my oldest cat, who's 12 and has seen 15+ other cats and kittens come and go from her home, knows the routine and takes a laissez-faire attitude to it all. She just comes up to the new cat, sniffs them, glares at them, hisses at them, and then struts away like "OK, now you know the rules around here." LOL. And if she, the alpha cat, doesn't get that miffed about it, any other cats in the house knwo they can't either (even if they don't like it). But before I've tried several techniques, the above seems to work the best, if it is feasible to do.

I am going to get my kitten a companion too.
She is imprinted on me and acts more like a dog than a cat. She meets me at the door, begs for attention and tries to do everything I do. When I lie down she goes to sleep. When I go into the bathroom she uses her litterbox. When I eat she wants to eat what I have, even if she doesn't like it. I have stopped eating meat and now she doesn't want her canned food. She has been stealing my vegetables (bean sprouts, celery, lettuce, tomatoes and string beans).
I think she needs another cat to be properly socialized.

No that's normal for kitten. Like any intelligent animal, kittens learn a lot of behaviors by imitating that of their mother and interacting with their siblings, which in this case is you. Getting another cat right now isn't going to change that you're the surrogate parent/sibling figure - actually it'll reinforce it since Mikesan will observe you feeding, caring for, playing with and petting that other cat/kitten too.

Kittens are more sociable than adult cats and their social needs are more- that's why she wants so much attention from you. Kittens for the first months normally have contiuous interaction and frequent physical contact with mommy and littermates. They need this stimulation and affirmation for both their physical and psychological development. If she still had mommy and littermates around, they would groom, eat, sleep, play together. But mommy and littermates are not there for that affectionate contact and interaction, so you have to fill the void.

As for her stealing your vegatables: veggies are appealing to kittens because they're colorful and you're eating them. There's nothing that abnormal about that. Kittens are very curious and they're taste buds are still in flux. Because they still have taste buds oriented to mommy's milk, they often are curious about things have sugars in them like veggies, breads and milk. Normally they outgrow this curiosity as their adult taste buds develop.

In some cases cats just have quirky taste buds. One of my cats like mango or peach flavored ice cream or yogurt, and will eat a lot of it if I don't intervene. He also likes things that are red, like watermelon, red bell peppers and tomatoes. But he doesn't really eat these so much as lick the juice.

Right after I made the post about getting another cat, kitty came and slept on me and was very affectionate. She even let me eat my pizza in peace.
I think she read my post (she usually watches as I post) and knows whats up. She might want to be the only cat in the house.
Either that, or I'll have to get her a dog.
Wonder what she'll do when I start meditating again?

She wouldn't be the first cat to want that, if that's the case.



Dogs bark. Keep that in mind, Mr. Aspie Earplugs. They also don't use a litter box. You want the responsiblity of both cleaning a litterbox and walking the dog/cleaning up dog pooh?



My cats think I'm just furniture when I meditate. It's all fine until Cordelia tries to stand on my shoulders or climb on top of my head.

But musical instruments are another story. Either it's unsolicited criticism or someone has a get jealous and try to insert him/herself between me and whatever instrument I'm playing.

Durn.
Can't get her a dog.
Piglet will be jealous.