- Joined
- May 28, 2018
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Hi, I have a dilemma. I have 2 cats. thinking about a third to play with my younger cat. here's some background on my cats to help you understand why I want a third/for you to provide input on if you think it's a good idea.
-older cat is 8 years old (shelters guess, he could be older or younger), mellow, and gentle
-younger cat is 1 year old and very playful, can be a bully to the older cat (but I think it's mostly because he's bored)
So I got younger cat to be a buddy to older cat. Yeah, in hindsight perhaps not the best pairing due to the age difference. I did think it could work though, because my older cat is playful and easygoing, but I know now he likes play, just not with his younger brother.
So things aren't outright hostile all the time (things are peaceful 70-80% of the time) and I never worry that they will kill or seriously injure one another, but chasing (younger chasing older) is an every day thing in our household. the older hisses and gets backed into corners, and will start swiping when the younger cat doesn't get the memo that his brother doesn't want to play. very rarely does it escalate to a fight, and a lot of the time my husband or I will separate them before that could happen. we leave them out together while we are at work 8am-5pm, and they do fine. I think this is because it's day time that the younger cat is more relaxed and sleeps most of the day. when we are home at night he is always extremely hyper though. and I know the solution is to play with him, and believe me we do! I usually do two 20 minute play sessions at night but it doesn't wear him out
I will go back to sit on the couch and sometimes minutes later he will be pouncing or swatting at the older cat again. & I have looked up engaging ways to play with cats, like trying to play effectively so the toy imitates prey. I also take the cats on walks since they are harness trained which does help burning energy but I live in a very northern place so soon it will be too cold to take them out.
then there's the night time routine. currently we take turns with them in having one sleep out in our bedroom/main area and the other sleeps in the spare room. we make the spare room as comfy as possible and it has a litter box, food, water, cushions, and we lure them in there at night with treats or catnip to try and make it more positive
we do this because the younger cat is so hyper at night and we just hear him heckling his brother and hisses, and running around which makes it hard to sleep. So what worries me about getting a third cat is the fact that we will have to have new cat separated in the spare room for the slow introduction period. Due to our night time routine, this could mean unpleasant nights for all of us--me and my husband because it will be hard for us to sleep, and my older cat because he won't get to sleep on the bed with us (the younger cat will certainly chase him off of it), and the younger cat because he's bored. I did consider that we could put a litter box in our room and still take turns with having younger and older sleep in the room with us while leaving the other in the living area, and the new cat in the spare room. Ideally eventually I want all to be able to sleep wherever with no closed doors but it's difficult now.
alright with all that background, here's the main reasons why I'm thinking about a third cat: to give my younger cat a play buddy (which hopefully in turn will mean my older cat will get a break) and to give a shelter cat a home. I would want cat #3 to be 2-5 years old probably, and playful but not domineering/aggressive. At the shelter I met a sweet girl 2 years old and her shelter note says very active so thats good. she is very sweet I could see her getting along with both my cats, but I don't know her history with other cats. but you just never know, my fear is getting a third, it not working out, and then having to take them back. the other part of me says that even though that sucks and is hard on the cat, it's also a good thing because if it doesn't work i will be able to provide the shelter more information on what would be the best home for the cat which would increase their chance of a successful adoption. I'm also nervous about stressing out my older cat. he has asthma and while we have it really well controlled now and he is doing so well on his inhaler, I still worry about him. I fear that the younger + cat #3 would gang up on him which would make things worse but the hope is they will mostly play with each other.
based on all of this information, do you guys think it's a good idea to get a third cat? oh and I think we have enough room..1000 sq ft apartment 2 bedrooms.
thank you to anyone that answers and makes it through this wall of text
-older cat is 8 years old (shelters guess, he could be older or younger), mellow, and gentle
-younger cat is 1 year old and very playful, can be a bully to the older cat (but I think it's mostly because he's bored)
So I got younger cat to be a buddy to older cat. Yeah, in hindsight perhaps not the best pairing due to the age difference. I did think it could work though, because my older cat is playful and easygoing, but I know now he likes play, just not with his younger brother.
So things aren't outright hostile all the time (things are peaceful 70-80% of the time) and I never worry that they will kill or seriously injure one another, but chasing (younger chasing older) is an every day thing in our household. the older hisses and gets backed into corners, and will start swiping when the younger cat doesn't get the memo that his brother doesn't want to play. very rarely does it escalate to a fight, and a lot of the time my husband or I will separate them before that could happen. we leave them out together while we are at work 8am-5pm, and they do fine. I think this is because it's day time that the younger cat is more relaxed and sleeps most of the day. when we are home at night he is always extremely hyper though. and I know the solution is to play with him, and believe me we do! I usually do two 20 minute play sessions at night but it doesn't wear him out
I will go back to sit on the couch and sometimes minutes later he will be pouncing or swatting at the older cat again. & I have looked up engaging ways to play with cats, like trying to play effectively so the toy imitates prey. I also take the cats on walks since they are harness trained which does help burning energy but I live in a very northern place so soon it will be too cold to take them out. then there's the night time routine. currently we take turns with them in having one sleep out in our bedroom/main area and the other sleeps in the spare room. we make the spare room as comfy as possible and it has a litter box, food, water, cushions, and we lure them in there at night with treats or catnip to try and make it more positive
we do this because the younger cat is so hyper at night and we just hear him heckling his brother and hisses, and running around which makes it hard to sleep. So what worries me about getting a third cat is the fact that we will have to have new cat separated in the spare room for the slow introduction period. Due to our night time routine, this could mean unpleasant nights for all of us--me and my husband because it will be hard for us to sleep, and my older cat because he won't get to sleep on the bed with us (the younger cat will certainly chase him off of it), and the younger cat because he's bored. I did consider that we could put a litter box in our room and still take turns with having younger and older sleep in the room with us while leaving the other in the living area, and the new cat in the spare room. Ideally eventually I want all to be able to sleep wherever with no closed doors but it's difficult now.alright with all that background, here's the main reasons why I'm thinking about a third cat: to give my younger cat a play buddy (which hopefully in turn will mean my older cat will get a break) and to give a shelter cat a home. I would want cat #3 to be 2-5 years old probably, and playful but not domineering/aggressive. At the shelter I met a sweet girl 2 years old and her shelter note says very active so thats good. she is very sweet I could see her getting along with both my cats, but I don't know her history with other cats. but you just never know, my fear is getting a third, it not working out, and then having to take them back. the other part of me says that even though that sucks and is hard on the cat, it's also a good thing because if it doesn't work i will be able to provide the shelter more information on what would be the best home for the cat which would increase their chance of a successful adoption. I'm also nervous about stressing out my older cat. he has asthma and while we have it really well controlled now and he is doing so well on his inhaler, I still worry about him. I fear that the younger + cat #3 would gang up on him which would make things worse but the hope is they will mostly play with each other.
based on all of this information, do you guys think it's a good idea to get a third cat? oh and I think we have enough room..1000 sq ft apartment 2 bedrooms.
thank you to anyone that answers and makes it through this wall of text
