Is having 2 cats better?

[blackcatsrule1525]

Hello cat lovers!
We adopted a kitten named Jay (then 3 months old) and a senior dog with several health problems from a shelter in December 2019. They both got along well with no major problems. The senior dog was both blind, deaf, and had arthritis, so she could not play with the kitten, but I felt like at least the kitten did not feel alone when my husband and I were both out of the house.

Sadly, our senior dog passed away a week ago from complications from a big surgery she had.

Our cat is now 1 year and 8 months old. I have always been at home with him since we brought him home in December 2019 since I was working from home due to the pandemic. He has never been alone in the house for more than 4 hours tops. With our senior dog gone and with the possibility that I will be going back into the office in July, these things have caused us to think of the following questions that I hope my fellow cat lovers can help me with:

1. Will getting a 2nd cat alter Jay's loving and affectionate personality? I would be heartbroken if he no longer followed me around everywhere and did not sleep with me.

2. We are planning on getting another male cat (Jay is also male) since we heard they are friendlier and nicer. Does it matter if we get a female vs. male cat?

3. Will getting a 2nd cat make Jay feel less lonely when I have to go back into the office and nobody is home?

If it helps, here is a short summary of our cat's personality:Very, very energetic! Will play for hours on end. Follows me everywhere and is an attention-lover. Very talkative, loves head-butts, and loves to sit on my husband and I's laps. Will follow us wherever we go. Jay sleeps with me every night which I love. He gets nervous when he does not see us within his eyesight. He is our little baby boy.

Thank you!
Monique

 

[Bri5]

This isn't much help, but we have 5 TNRd from 3 litters and the only 2 that don't get too chummy are the females. The males are all like in a boys club, and the oldest male likes the youngest female a lot but tolerates the oldest female. Otherwise, no behavior issues. I would say among mine the male to male relationships are the most stable.

 

[HAS]

I am a firm believer that every cat should have another kitty companion, especially young cats. Jay will always be affectionate and loving to you, but expect a short term shake up as everyone gets used to the addition to the family. This happens in human households too when a new child arrives.

I would choose another male similar in size and personality. Avoid adopting a cat that may feel bullied with his energetic personality. Jay will absolutely feel less lonely with a friend, especially when you are gone for longer periods of time like work or vacation.

How you introduce Jay to his new kitty sibling can make all the difference. We just adopted a 10 month old kitty for my other 10 month old kitty (her brother died from FIP several months ago.) We are doing Jackson Galaxy's method of cat intros. It takes lots of patience, but will be worth it.

 

[Talien]

Some Cats prefer human companionship, some prefer having other Cats around, and some are ok with either or both. You won't know what he's like until you bring another Cat home, but since he is still young it should work out fine. Your best bet is adopting another younger Cat or even a Kitten.

 

[vince]

I got a second cat when the first got to be a PITA, always biting and wanting to roughhouse. I figured the second would keep him busy. Having a second cat made the difference. My first spent more time with his buddy than me, but I still got lots of cuddle time, mostly from the newcomer. Both were young adult cats.

Having a second cat seems to be easier than a single one. Of course, there's the extra expense, but it seems worth the effort.

Males generally get along better than a mixed pair. I now have three, with the third being a female (all are fixed), and she integrated into the bunch with no problem, but we had female pairs at home when I was growing up, and sometimes they weren't as close as other pairings.

 

[blackcatsrule1525]

I got a second cat when the first got to be a PITA, always biting and wanting to roughhouse. I figured the second would keep him busy. Having a second cat made the difference. My first spent more time with his buddy than me, but I still got lots of cuddle time, mostly from the newcomer. Both were young adult cats.

Having a second cat seems to be easier than a single one. Of course, there's the extra expense, but it seems worth the effort.

Males generally get along better than a mixed pair. I now have three, with the third being a female (all are fixed), and she integrated into the bunch with no problem, but we had female pairs at home when I was growing up, and sometimes they weren't as close as other pairings.

How does it compare having two cats vs. three cats?
My husband and I just put in 2 applications for 2 kittens at a humane society. They just called back and asked if we want one or both, and my husband thinks getting 1 kitten is enough. However, now I can't forget about the other kitten that we didn't take since he is also a black cat like Jay :'( My husband thinks it will just be one too many cats around the house lol. Would you agree?

 

[verna davies]

Have you thought about fostering a young cat / kitten. It will give you the chance to find out if Jay will adapt to another cat and how is behavior towards you changes or if it does. If it works out then apply to adopt the foster cat.

 

[Kieka]

I'd second seeing if you can foster first, or at least see if the shelter will take back the kitten if there are problems.

To the two versus three, it's really not much different. I have three, two males and a female. I do think males make better housemates, my female can be a brat more often then not. But with three, if one is napping the other two can play. Different personalities will get along differently but it does give your cat one other friend which isn't a bad thing. It complicates introductions a little but if they are all younger they should adapt.

 

[Babypinkweeb]

I adopted a male cat similar to your cats age with my existing 11 year old male. They were a good match and became curious friends very quickly! I'm very thankful to the advice someone gave me here to adopt a younger maybe more submissive/relaxed male than a female. I felt like I had bad luck but now I recall every time my cat was around another cat it was a female and they didn't get along. After this realization most of my close friends came out to tell me that yea they all have experiences with females being more sensitive or bossy.

Your boy is still young, I think about same age as my second cat, so it's best to adopt one around same age or younger for that energy level. And echoing others fostering is definitely a easy way to get a trial run, compared to going thru a real adoption only to find out it doesn't work out well.

My older cat has never been super affectionate but he likes to be around me. He is still that way after a 2nd cat, and keeps to his nightly routine of sleeping in our room. He has shown some negative personality changes before when he had to live with cats he didn't get along with (although they were separated for the most part). I think making a good match is definitely really important part, just as important as doing proper introduction!

 

[vince]

The third cat makes interactions that much more complicated. With more there's the collective dynamic, plus the interaction between each individual other. It becomes more difficult to find a cat or kitten that integrates into the clowder as the number of cats increases, but each individual cat doesn't have to spend as much time with an individual as they did in a pair. It kind of balances out.

I didn't choose the third; she was thrust on me when her mother decided to abandon her in my driveway under my car. If I didn't hear her crying when I went to leave, I might have killed her. She's definitely more aggressive than the males and rules the roost most of the time, but doesn't have to throw her weight around to prove it. She still plays with the other two, particularly cat 2, who is definitely not the alpha, despite being the largest and strongest of the three.

About the only difficult thing with a larger clowder are the thundering herd at midnight zoomie time and feeding time. Sounds like a herd of elephants at night and I have to sit with them at mealtime so the female gets her share (the one place where she's not in charge). Other than that, caring for them isn't that much worse than a single cat.

The prior agreement with the foster or shelter that you can bring the cat or kitten back if they can't get along is a big plus. Do try and see if you can get an adoption with that clause.

 

[Neko-chan's mama]

What about a friendly rescue dog? You know he's ok with dogs. I had both a dog and a cat as a teen, and they were best friends. They slept together, played together, and it was common to have the cat on the lap and the dog next to me with her head on my knee.