How do I know how my cat will react to me getting another cat?

It usually doesn’t turn out so well. I’ve tried getting some kittens/cats from different litters to come together, but it always resulted in hostile behaviour. Cats are jealous by nature.

I’d suggest introducing a younger female, spayed of course. Usually cats do best with the opposite sex, not always, and a young neutered male kitten might be a good fit too.
I have hardly ever had any issues, other than a very aggressive young female stray that I fixed up last summer but she was too aggressive for my 2 yr. old female. It was not a good blend, at all.

I adopted 8 weeks ago, a 5 yr. old male from the shelter who is a real sweetheart and the two of them have blended purr-fectly. They were playing within the first 3 weeks and no aggressive issues at all. Aside from a little pissiness the first few weeks most cats will take to a new cat within a month or so with few problems. Just be sure to fawn extra affection on your original guy to avoid jealousy.

Good luck…2 cats are more fun than one, and keep each other company when you are away. :-)

@MilkyWay I guess cats are a lot like women. Ducks and covers.

Also, if you adopt from a shelter not only will you save hundreds on health treatments/spaying/neutering, but most shelters will allow you to return the cat/kitten within a month for a refund if they do not work out for you. You can’t go wrong.
The female that was evil to my cat is with my daughter, and she is just great, she just needed to be an only cat. If you go the shelter route you won’t have to worry about what to do with a cat if it is not working out, no trying to find it a new home or having to take it to a shelter. :-(

Their nature is to be territorial and not accept other animals UNLESS the others were there before the cat. I’ve personally experienced cats living up to that reputation on several occasions.

@deni Is it Barney or Barry?

”...but he still yells at me when I get home, even if I’ve only been gone 10 minutes!”
I gladly take it that your Bar(ne)(r)(y) visits the vet every now and then.
But, if that is not the case, it could be possible that something is wrong with him
Probably not, but I just say it, because our kitty, in hindsight, was probably asking for attention last year with her meows and screams.
I was too indifferent to it (I had no idea why she was that ‘annoying’ to me, I tried everything except, obviously, go to the vet :-( to make her more relaxed and comfy,but to no avail).
Just think about it please?!
Better safe than sorry.
I am sorry.

@Adirondackwannabe I’m gonna pretend I didn’t read that.
@Coloma I’m so jealous! You actually managed to get some cats together? Not fair ~

@rebbel He’s had some bowel issues and we also couldn’t get him to stop pooping beside his litterbox a while back, but we took him multiple times to the vet and spent exorbitant amounts of money to find out, after multiple tests and whatnot, that there was nothing wrong. He just has a sensitive stomach and is a big fat baby. And, by the way, his name is all of the above. Originally Barry, I also call him Barnabus a lot, Barney, Barnacle, Velvet Log, etc

@deni I was sure you would (good on you)!
Glad that Velvet Log (great name!) is a healthy kit.

I would love to get another cat and have the same concerns you do @deni.

I agree with @Coloma, you will have more success with a younger, female cat (if Barney is male). Keep in mind though, while Barney may have got on okay with cats when he was also not in his own territory, you are talking about bringing another cat into his space. He may not react so well.

I think it also depends how old Barney is and how long he has been on his own. My cat’s nature leads me to believe he would not cope well. He is 4.5 years old and very spoiled.

I like @Coloma‘s idea of getting a cat from a shelter so at least you can take it back if things don’t work out.

Please let us know how you go.

@MilkyWay Do I owe you an apology?

@MilkyWay

Well…there’s always a first, like demon pussy last summer. lol
I think finding a good match temperment wise is the trick. My female is docile and playful but not dominant, the other girl cat being semi feral had dominance issues. The new guy is the most laid back cat ever, so my girl hasn’t felt threatened at all. He has not so much as growled or swatted, at all. He is just like “cool, I like this place, I’ll let the girl cat boss me around as long as I get the top of the cat tree and all I can eat, no problem. ” lol

The younger the cat is when a companion is introduced the better. But your cat is up there in age so get a spayed female that is considerably younger than him. Also make sure you gauge the personalities correctly. Find a passive, friendly, lap cat that is used to living with other cats. That removes the feelings of “Get out, my turf”. I have a male cat and he was so lonely being in the house all day alone while we were at work, so I adopted a companion/sister for him. She was a few months younger than him and not aggressive at all. I kept them seperated for about 3 days to avoid a cat fight but they couldn’t wait to get at each other and play! They have been the best of friends since they met.

I forgot to mention that Barney has no teeth or front claws so I would be especially worried about the two getting in a fight and my poor defenseless tubby getting hurt.

I also forgot to mention that he has gotten super stressed out any time a friend or visitor in my house has had a dog around for more than a day. So….that is probably not an excellent sign. The only dog he ever didn’t seem to mind too much was an older, extremely relaxed dog, so I think finding a cat with the right temperament will be very important.

Yes he gets even more defensive because he has no teeth and claws. He knows that he is defenseless and is scared shitless. The only suggestion I can offer is to find him a cat who also doesn’t have claws but the teeth thing is still an issue. Forget another cat and get him a fishtank to keep him amused instead. Also get Barney some Bach’s animal rescue flower essence drops. It’s helps calm animals who are stressed.

@Akua Great suggestion thanks!!! I was browsing petfinder.com JUST TO SEE and there were actually quite a few older cats that didn’t have teeth too, I was surprised.

If you do decide to try out another cat, you should also get a lattice type baby gate (VERY SMALL lattice squares so they can’t squeeze through but can see and smell each other, play, touch noses, etc.

Be prepared for a month or longer of separation (three days is exceptional). New kitty should have one room of her own, he should have the rest of the place as he’s used to.

Always give him attention first whenever you come home. If she’s been a shelter cat she won’t mind and will be getting more attention than she had there. Same for her only having one room. Shell be delighted as it’s bigger than the cage she was used to.

You will be able to judge how they’re adjusting with this type of arrangement as they are either avoiding each or interacting positively with this type of separation.

There are lots of other techniques and helpful hints on numerous websites for introducing cats to each other.

Just don’t rush it. Slow and steady gets the best results.

You really can’t tell ahead of time. In choosing the new kitty, try to get one with a more placid relaxed temperament. You don’t want a bouncy loud dominant Oriental or Siamese type.

Go for cats with a suggestion of Persian, Ragdoll, etc in their genetic background somewhere. One way to test out a cats dominance is to cradle them on their backs as you would a baby. The more dominant a cat, the more vigorously they’ll struggle.

My Velvet would let me hold her like that routinely and was relaxed and comfortable with it.

My current cat Smoochy won’t tolerate it for a second. She also bosses around my landlord’s dog, a Shitzu who is probably twice her weight and size. But she doesn’t care. That’s NOT the type of cat you want for Barry:)

Do some reading up on how to successfully introduce cats to each other and that’s the best preparation.

Oh man, last late October/early November, we found a stray kitten inside our car. How he got inside, I’ll never know. It was fun having him around, but our pre-existing cat didn’t like him and she was very moody (she wasn’t a friendly cat to begin with). In fact, she was so depressed she didn’t even eat. Eventually we had to give the little guy away or else she would’ve starved to death.

I’m not a cat expert like that guy on the animal planet channel who carries a guitar case filled with cat toys instead of an actual guitar, but I guess it depends on your cat’s personality.

@Adirondackwannabe Not at all :)
@Coloma I’ll keep those things in mind in the future :D

@MilkyWay Okay, that was an attempt at a joke, but it was a bad one. Thanks.

Great answers yall. I am just afraid that even if I take all the necessary precautions and introduce them slowly, Barry is a big chubby grumpus and I’m not sure he’d ever come around. We’ll see.