I own a condo and have one dog and one cat. They get along and play all the time, but I feel like the cat is often lonely and missing a cuddling companion. He’s a rescue who was a street cat for years before I adopted him. I’ve been considering fostering or adopting another cat to give him company. Thoughts?
As a person who has had many cats in my life, I am of the opinion that two cats is the best number of cats. If you can afford to care for and have space for a second cat, I’d say go for it.
If you’re not really experienced with cats, be aware that cats almost never get along immediately. It can take weeks of them seeming to hate each other before they become friendly. It’s helpful to put the new cat in a cage where the current cat can see and smell them, but can’t reach them with claws. That gives them a little space to get to know each other before the current cat feels like its territory is being invaded.
What makes you think the cat is lonely?
As someone living with multiple cats, it’s pretty rare that they will cuddle with each other. They prefer their own spaces.
When I adopted him he was actively cuddling with other shelter cats. He always tries to get my dog to lick and cuddle him but the dog doesn’t reciprocate. I feel like he’d attach quickly to another cat.
Awe ok, that is pretty convincing.
Well, I have two cats, both with a street history. My first cat had it hard in the streets and we did learn a lot with him. He probably was a street cat for a year, but after living in a home, since he came sterilized. The guy couldn’t even meow for two years, he learned to trust us mostly because of hunger. I love, admire, and respect that cat.
While being very comfortable with us, this first cat used to play with our feet. When we were walking away from him, he would hunt our heels, for example. So, I thought he could have a partner so they could hunt or something. I also thought that all kind of collective behaviors would appear if he was not alone as a cat. We brought another street cat home. This one was juvenile, not a kitty but soon an adult. We thought he still was well taken care of by people he crossed by, kitty cat cuteness survival. Wouldn’t last much longer.
At first it was hard, my first cat is serious business with his territory. He learnt this the hard way. So we kept them separate, gave them time to know each other through sound and smell. Little by little we allowed them to know each other, until they got accustomed. It’s great to have two cats, you will ‘unlock’ all kind of behaviors that will make your days if you like to just watch cats. My first cat learnt to meow or maybe he just became confident enough. Oh, it was awesome to listen to him for the first time, so shy. It was a bit unfortunate that the second one learnt to be overly vigilant of surrounding noises, like the first.
They can fight sometimes, but most of the time they mind their own business. In the end, cats are masters of ‘homing’, meaning to me culturing and experiencing their home, all the time. They make the other cats part of their home… eventually.
If your cat is younger I think your cat would be OK with it, but if your cat is older, in my experience older cats don’t like new cats around.
My cat is of questionable age. The vet says 4 ish but his personality is very much “old man”. He gives zero fucks and feels more like a roommate than a pet. He plays with my Shiba all the time and the dog always lets him “win”. Otherwise he just chills up on his tower and blesses me with affection for 30 min a day right before bed. I feel bad because he loved the fellow cats in the shelter when I adopted him and I feel that he would be gentle and patient with a new cat. I think that fostering would be ideal, because worst case scenario I can keep the foster in my home office and best case scenario my cat would get a new companion.
2 cats really isn’t too different than one cat. I mean, yeah, you’ll pay for another vet bill from time to time but it’s usually not that big a deal. If you can afford it I’d say go for it.
Source: have 3 cats
You could start by fostering, to see how it goes.
If you have the space and the means I would heartily recommend getting your cat a cat. Pets do get lonely and if he was used to a colony then there’s a good chance this would improve his life. Bonus points if you can get your hands on one of the cats he was loving on at the shelter!
In my experience cats always do better in multiples, with two adults though you need a really nice gradual introduction, I’ve got it down to an art so I’ve never failed. Start with the cats completely seperate for a week or two, you need the new cat to get really comfortable with you and the house, this can take a while. Once they’re relaxed and comfortable you can start taking things that smell like the other cat into the other location, a blanket or something works well. If the cats his at the new object initially then it’s ok but if it really upsets them take a step back and go back to just getting comfy and then introduce things that are only lightly scented like food bowls.
Once you are swapping stuff consistently and both cats are relaxed then you can actually swap the cats. Do not let them see each other at this point, put one cat away somewhere, let the other into the first cats area, then switch the first cat to the second cats area. Again, if they’re really upset then swap back and slow down, but a little unsure is ok. Swap them back and forth regularly for a while until everyone is calm and comfy.
Then you can start introductions through a barrier. The ideal situation is a glass door, but a door held slightly ajar can work too. Do not encourage the cats to come up to the barrier or anything, just let them come in their own time, and as with every stage, if they’re stressed go back a step.
Only once everyone is happy with being swapped about, seeing each other through the barrier, using the same stuff, then you can try putting them together, and again, step back if needed.
Sometimes I can do all this in a few weeks, sometimes it takes months, but it works every time.
It depends.
We tried adopting a second cat and she hated him so much that we had to re-home him.
So just make sure wherever you are will let you re-home them if needed.
Great advice. I heard that female cats tend to struggle with new roommates more than male cats, but that may be an old wives’ tale.
