Looking To Add Third Cat

[NicknTish]

Hi New to the site. I have a 2 year old bottle fed tabby (he was an only kitten) named Nicodemus and a 1 year old tuxedo named Morticia. We are hoping to rescue another kitten. With Nick and Tish it was love at first site there was no fighting what so ever. We worried because of Nick being a bottle baby and an only kitten but Tish was so easy going and he just adored her right off the bat. Nick is very low energy but Tish just loves to play so we are hoping to get her a playmate to match her higher energy level. So I was wondering if adding another kitten would be ok seeing how well it went before. Also wondering if it's better to add a male or female or does it not matter.

 

[ArtNJ]

You might have some drama for a bit, impossible to predict. However, no reason to think it will be particularly bad or won't improve with time given that both cats are young. I think "getting a playmate" is usually not a very good reason, because its essentially random if it works or causes stress, but if YOU also want another kitten, then sure.

Some people say gender matters, and some of them have lots of experience, but its a debated thing, and if it matters, it matters in a statistical kind of way. Any individual cat who knows. Matching disposition/activity level is more helpful, but can be hard to do.

 

[NicknTish]

Thanks we definitely want another kitten just a little nervous when it comes to rocking the boat

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. I've never had more than one cat at a time, so I can't advise from personal experience. I can, however, post links to a few TCS articles that might be helpful.

Here the one on Your Second Cat: How To Choose The Best Friend For Kitty, which in your case would be the 3rd cat.

Also the introductory articles:
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide
Introducing Cats To Cats
The Multi-cat Household

 

[NicknTish]

Thanks so much!!

 

[littlecatt]

The good news is that this is the perfect time to introduce a new kitten if you want one — after two years, it gets more difficult for a cat to accept a newcomer, though kittens are usually met with relative ease. Personality matching is so essential but so difficult to do, like sometimes you know your cat's personality as they relate to humans but not to other cats. Female cats are generally more dominant so I would recommend getting a little boy, but that's not a hard and fast rule if a female kitten captures your heart! There's so many different combinations of cat households on TCS, I do think with a kitten your chances are going to be slim that your older cats won't at least tolerate the newcomer. All you can do is hope for the best, but plan for long introductions and keep your fingers crossed!

 

[NicknTish]

Thanks for the advice we went for a laid back kitten last time and it worked beautifully so we’ll look for that again and hope for the best

 

[NT8]

Hi! In reply to getting a new cat I say go for it! I have 10 cats and just from my experience it was always worse trying to integrate teenage or adult cats, kittens were always no problem. It was like they knew it was no threat, the odd swipe here or there but more of a " I'm sleeping stop bouncing on my head" kind of warning. We got a female kitten, found in a bin, and two of my other females adopted her and started mothering her/ protecting her. If you're cats are placid and easygoing I'd say you'll have no problems at all. Enjoy being outnumbered!!

 

[nese]

We have 3 female cats, the third was unplanned . One day my husband texted me that he have found a very sick abonden kitten near the trash of his workplace, and taking her to the vet.
She was so shy, afraid of everything and was so young, we didn't even want to search for a new home for this kitten, and we kept her.
It was hard to introduce her with our other two cats. Ours welcomed her but she was afraid of everyone and eveything. At the end she became good friends with one of our resident cats, but never loved the other . Though, they have learned to tolerate the presence of each other.

 

[NicknTish]

Thanks so much!!

 

[NicknTish]

Thank you!!!