Should I get a third cat to play with my 1 and half year old cat?

[gwlaw99]

About six months ago we got a new female cat and she is a bundle of energy.  She and my 13 year old boy usually ignore each other, but she does like to tap him on the head to get him to play with her which can end up in some pawing the air or him just ignoring the tap.  They never fight and often sleep next to each other on the bed, but he does his and sometimes growl at her when she walks by and he wants to be left alone.  

We play with her a lot, but she really wants to play with another cat.  I would love to get her a friend, but I am afraid it make the situation worse with them both bothering the older cat or the young and new cat not liking each other and fighting.  I was thinking about getting another young boy.  Any advice or thoughts.  Thanks!

 

[marc999]

Experiment and try it out. Male/female, not sure if that part matters. 

 

[alainasmom]

First of all - ask yourself: Are you financially ready for a third cat? That means another mouth to feed and more vet bills (especially as the younger two age). Are you ready for more potential health problems, more potential behavior issues, etc.? If you've done your research and feel like you're ready, then we would of course encourage you to rescue another kitty. 

Is she interested in the toys you're interactively playing with? As a temporary solution, I would keep younger kitty and senior kitty loosely separated to give your senior cat some time to relax and sleep in quiet. Too much stress for him could lead to potential health and behavior issues. If your younger kitty gets more anxious, then I would definitely continue spending a lot of cuddle/affection and play time with her until you've made the decision to get another kitty.

You are right - it may resolve the entire situation by giving your younger and more energetic kitty an equally energetic playmate, or they could irritate/overwhelm your senior cat even more. For the first few days, please do keep new and resident kitties separated and slowly start scent-to-scent introductions (these can last up to a week or more): there are many threads documenting members' past experiences with introductions and also a hopefully helpful article here: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-cats. 

 I wouldn't focus on a gender and instead look more into the purr-sonality of kitty #3. As far as age goes - I'd go for someone close in age, perhaps 1 - 4 years range. Then again, don't focus on age, it's only a number, look for a personality match/energy level match. If they're introduced properly and thoroughly, they should be able to live in harmony. 

 

[mishicats]

I would think long and hard before bringing in another cat. Do some research on multi cat households and the problems that can happen. When I had three cats everything was great. They all got along really well. Then I saw a beautiful cat at the shelter and after thinking about if for about a week decided to take her home. I thought to myself ONE MORE CAT WON'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE.  Well it most certainly did.  We followed all the new cat introductions advice and after 9 months we are still dealing with 2 of them that don't get along. It has been extremely stressful for us and the cats. We love all the cats and are now committed to making it work, but up until about 3 weeks ago we were so fed up we were going to try to rehome the newest cat.   I am not saying you shouldn't do it. I am just saying that you need to do your homework and find out what problems can come up and ask yourself if you are willing to put in the time and energy to make things work out. 

 

[alistair]

Mishicats, that's some good feedback. I wonder if the problems you are having are related to 3 of your 4 cats being female? I have read that male-female, male-male, similar ages works out well but unless female-female pairs are litter mates, too many females can be a problem.