adding a 2nd cat to my ragdoll lady

[evuscha]

Dear cat experts,

I have a cat who will turn 1 in September, and although at first I thought "1 cat and that´s it", right now I am 99% decided to get her a companion. She loves the company of other cats sooo much (a neighbour who catsits for me when I´m away has 3 cats and my cat is very friendly with all of them) and at the same time I know that leaving her alone (as I work 8+ hours per day) is not fair on her...so I think it is a good decision.

So the question is: is there any rule on how to do this? I mean, should I go for a male or female? Roughly the same age or younger? I suppose a rescue center (as I am thinking rescue cat) will advise me on character of each cat and which one is suitable to be with another cat?

Any happy stories about introducing another cat to your household (both would be house cats btw and my apartment is not huge unfortunately, but comes with a lot of toys and huge cat tree) greatly appreciated :)

[issey6cats]

being as your cat is 1 yr old and female a younger male or either sex kitten would be what the rescue i work at would advise as cat society is female hierarchy so with this combo your lady would be top cat,

i have four cats (despite user name on here) 2 are 7 yrs old brother and sister, next one down is 6 yr old male, baby is 2 yr old male and the girl cat is the smallest but deffo the boss and apart from the odd spat mine all get on well together

[cozietoesie]

I wouldn't evuscha .

[evuscha]

Thank you issey6cats. Mine does look like she could be the boss she rules even in my neighbour´s household (with 2 much bigger males and 1 female in it) when she stays there.

Cozietoesie you wouldn´t recommend a second cat?

[cozietoesie]

Well no - I wouldn't necessarily. It depends on her and not on you. Is she happy at the moment? (Think hard about this one.)

[evuscha]

Well that´s the thing - I think she is sad when left alone, and she is very sociable with other cats she has met so far - thus assuming she would be better of with a companion.

If it was about me, I would prefer just one cat as two cats are of course more expensive to keep and more "hassle" in general. But I want to have a happy cat(s).

[evuscha]

Interested to hear more opinions and experience from everyone of course! (as I thought the general consensus was "2 cats are better than 1", it is good to have another points of views)

[cozietoesie]

I'm not able to comment easily. I have Siamese and they plain don't like having another cat around. They're too bonded. And get jealous.

Your call I think.

[evuscha]

All right, I see what you mean. My friend has a Russian blue and she is also really not into other cats and would probably hate it too. But I am thinking about it based on the fact that mine seems to love cats and company :)

[Fluffycloudland77]

Jenni Murray did an article about her chihuahua saying she got a second one as the first got lonely and gave her sad eyes every morning as she left for work. She said now she has two dogs doing sad eyes in the morning!.

I think it's great you want to provide a playmate for her.

[cozietoesie]

That made me laugh.

[Silverfox45]

I don't think you should get another cat.I think it is extremely cruel to keep cats as house cats.How would you feel if you were never allowed out to feel the wind on your cheeks etc?It must be so boring to be kept inside, it makes me feel very sad thinking about all the caged animals in the world.All animals should be free to do as they please!!

[cozietoesie]

I'm going to disagree with you bigtime, Silver. I think it depends on circumstances. I have a big old roomy house, I work from home, and I have a cat who is completely bonded to me - and happy as a sandboy to be around and in the house.(He's currently snoring blissfully at the bottom of the bed.)

The Lodger went out at first when he was living with us - that was what he wanted to do at first - but even he (an ex street cat) came to want to stay in with us.

I think you have to go with the cat and not with your beliefs.

[cozietoesie]

Oh - and bear in mind that my Seniorboy is now 18. That's 18 years of cuddles and love. How long would he have lasted if he had gone outside? My mom had maybe 5 or 6 cats RTA'd before she decided to have SB as housecat.

[evuscha]

Haha Fluffycloudland77, something like this

About house cats.....while in the ideal world I would love for my cat to be able to come and go as she pleases and still stay safe, I think there is far too much danger outside, from traffic to cruel cat-hating people, to make it possible where I live. She was born as a house cat and never knew anything different and I believe she is happy that way, with her many toys inside, possibly another cat to play with in the near future, cat-proofed windows and occassional visits to the garden with me.
If I get another cat, I assume the rescue center will offer me house cats as well - of course I wouldn´t make a previously outdoor cat to stay indoors.

[issey6cats]

if you get a kitten and bring it up as a house cat then it will not know the difference and yes rescues have cats that have always been house cats, but if you fall in love with one thats been an outdoor cat its harder to turn them into a house cat as they have had that taste of freedom and not really fair on them

[crazynanna]

My girl has a 60/70ft garden all to herself, and just sits at the back door blinking. Maybe I should foot-shove her into the garden as I am we'll cruel for letting her stay in

[crazynanna]

well not we'll

[evuscha]

I just wanted to share my happy ending as perhaps this will be useful for someone considering a second cat as well

So, I gave it a long hard think, visited a couple of rescue centers and finally got a second cat about three months ago. It is a one year old male (my first cat is almost 2 now), very very shy in the beginning (but friendly with other cats) and after a couple of days of avoiding each other and hissing a bit, they soon became friends. Now they regularly chase each other in a play, sit together on a windowsill and sleep with me in my bed. Most importantly, whenever I come back after a long day out or even a weekend away, they are still happy and only a bit of a mess in my flat shows that they threw a party when I was gone. But nothing like what I experienced before - my first cat used to get very sad when left alone (meowed loudly when I returned) and stressed when I took her with me.

To the house cat issue, they have both been housecats since they were born so they don´t seem even remotely interested in going outside and seem happy indoors.
My first cat is a ragdoll (similar to birma) known as a sociable breed so I guess it would have been better to get a pair of them in the first place (but she is still happy enough with a non-sibling).
I do appreciate that all cats are different and some prefer to be the only cats...the rescue center would look for another home for the cat that I took if it came to the very worst and they were fighting - but luckily it turned out all well

Thanks everyone again for their posts!

[Fluffycloudland77]

Well done, you have gorgeous cats & you got a black one so that's even better.

[JadeJ123]

We've got 2 Bengals, an older male and a female, we had me grump first then when he was about 2 added a female 8 week old kitten into the mix as they would get on better, fast forward 3 years and they're best friends although they only come in the house at night as don't want any accidents, if you're ready and think your cat will be happy get another one

[Lovethesea]

Glad it has worked well and another cat has a place to thrive!

I had one rescue and then added another a year later. Both enjoy watching each other, following each other around at times, ignoring each other at other times. We have the occasional chase when both are in an excited mood (especially if it's windy outside).

In winter I found them sleeping near each other on my bed most mornings and while one likes napping on my lap and the other likes to be next to you, they really do seem very content together.

In fact I think my second cat, the feisty mad Tortie female is learning to hunt from our huge tabby hunter. Since observing him stalking the hedgerow all summer she has started doing some pouncing into the bushes too!

And Huntercat May have learnt from her took he now does sit on laps occasionally :-)