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Hi!
I've been posting here quite frequently lately and have found a great deal of information and knowledge in these forums. Thank you all!
I was wondering if anybody has had any experience with introducing an older cat to a younger resident cat? I know the conventional wisdom is to try to pick a younger cat for the new cat, but my very mellow 5-year-old cat Rory was very easily overwhelmed by a younger cat's energy last time I tried. In contrast, when he was the new cat, he immediately fell in love with my older cat, Lou. Lou was anywhere between 10-13 years old at the time and they were great friends until Lou passed three months ago today. Rory is an anxious cat by nature, having been through tremendous loss and upheaval during his life, but Lou's older energy seemed to give him a sense of security and comfort that he's very clearly lacking now.
Hence, when the time does come to adopt a new cat, we are considering one Rory's age or older. My local SPCA has many cats who are 8-10 years old and who need to be adopted into homes with other kitties, so I'm hopeful that we could find a good companion there. Rory is an extremely mellow cat, save the 2-3 times a day he wants to play, and even then it's not for very long, so I think his energy is better matched for an older friend. However, I've heard a few people insist that younger is better in terms of acceptance (on both cats' ends), so I was hoping for any stories anybody might have.
Rory is very cat-friendly and has always lived with other cats, even before I adopted him. I'm not concerned about him rejecting a cat after a proper introduction, but I'd love to hear your experiences.
(Photo is of Rory, the tuxie, with Lou, my soul cat. Excuse the messy end table--I was cleaning and had to put things wherever I could!)
I've been posting here quite frequently lately and have found a great deal of information and knowledge in these forums. Thank you all!
I was wondering if anybody has had any experience with introducing an older cat to a younger resident cat? I know the conventional wisdom is to try to pick a younger cat for the new cat, but my very mellow 5-year-old cat Rory was very easily overwhelmed by a younger cat's energy last time I tried. In contrast, when he was the new cat, he immediately fell in love with my older cat, Lou. Lou was anywhere between 10-13 years old at the time and they were great friends until Lou passed three months ago today. Rory is an anxious cat by nature, having been through tremendous loss and upheaval during his life, but Lou's older energy seemed to give him a sense of security and comfort that he's very clearly lacking now.
Hence, when the time does come to adopt a new cat, we are considering one Rory's age or older. My local SPCA has many cats who are 8-10 years old and who need to be adopted into homes with other kitties, so I'm hopeful that we could find a good companion there. Rory is an extremely mellow cat, save the 2-3 times a day he wants to play, and even then it's not for very long, so I think his energy is better matched for an older friend. However, I've heard a few people insist that younger is better in terms of acceptance (on both cats' ends), so I was hoping for any stories anybody might have.
Rory is very cat-friendly and has always lived with other cats, even before I adopted him. I'm not concerned about him rejecting a cat after a proper introduction, but I'd love to hear your experiences.
(Photo is of Rory, the tuxie, with Lou, my soul cat. Excuse the messy end table--I was cleaning and had to put things wherever I could!)
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