Would My Cat Still Pay Attention To Me If I Get A New Kitten?

[bornagirl]

Hello, I know hope this question doesn't sound too bad. I'm aware it's selfish but I still hope for some advice! Please be nice, haha )
I have a year old male cat and recently I've been thinking about getting another one and I'm worried my 'old' cat won't pay me any attention anymore? I wouldn't say he's exceptionality affectionate but he's quite friendly. He comes to be be petted (and to knead my stomach) a few times a day and he likes to lay on me sometimes. He usually sleeps alone but a few times a week he likes to sleep close to me on the bed. He's not a huge cuddler but he likes to be in the same room as me. He's not really affectionate with my partner or anyone else.
So basically I was wondering if my cat stop paying attention to me once he has a new friend? Now don't get me wrong, I would love for him to get along with the new cat (if I get one)! I know some cats don't get along that well and I would absolutely love for them to play together and cuddle together if they get along that well. But his affection and our daily petting sessions are important to me and I don't want to lose that. He's been my little buddy for months now and I love him to pieces.
Does anyone has any experience with this? Thank you )
(Also I'm aware this type of thinking might be illogical but I have bad anxiety and sometimes it gets the best of me).

 

[Etarre]

There are a lot of threads on this board about cat introductions-- not just how-tos, but people posting about cat introductions that have gone sideways in some way. I'd suggest browsing through those to get a sense of the types of situations that people have run into, keeping in mind, of course, that it's those who do have trouble who tend to post here, so it's not a totally unbiased account.

Some of those who have posted have had trouble with a previously affectionate pet being less friendly with a newcomer, and they might be willing to give some follow up info to you about how they were able to resolve the situation and whether things went back to normal with their first cat.

I do think one common thread is that introductions can be very stressful, which is something to be aware of if you tend to be anxious.

Good luck deciding! This board is a wonderful resource for making informed decisions.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Welcome!! Etarre has good points.
Here's an article for you, (it has a number of other articles' links embedded so that you get a lot of good info in one place).
Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

 

[ArtNJ]

When the cats don't get along, the change in behavior can be pretty large. However, your resident is only a year old, they will likely do ok, so that is reasonably unlikely to be at issue. There may still be some changes in behavior if they get along, which sort of makes some sense if you think about it -- they are getting attention and playing elsewhere. However, sometimes the changes or lack of changes can be hard to figure out. Like the two cats mostly ignore each other, but the resident is still less affectionate and your like why? I most recently had a similar thing when one of my cats died. The survivor never really interacted with the cat that passed, but he nonetheless became much more affectionate immediately. Huh? We humans can't figure the 4 legged critters out completely.

Bottom line, it is not likely to be a huge deal, but it could be an issue to some degree. Or not.

 

[bornagirl]

Thank you!! I've been reading about how to introduce cats smoothly even since I got the first cat, but only recently did it occur to me that my cat could become less affectionate and I couldn't figure out where and how to look for answers. This forum seems to have a lot of info
So far I'm still leaning towards getting a new kitten in a few months but I might not want to risk it.

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS.

My family, and now myself, only ever had 1 cat at a time, so I can't advise from personal experience. But I have read that sometimes a cat with a feline friend will not be as clingy to its human parent. There is also the possibility that your cat is happy and would not want to share you, and his home, with another cat. But there isn't really any way to know what will happen in advance.

However, TCS does have some articles about multi-cat homes that may have some helpful suggestions / advise:
Your Second Cat: How To Choose The Best Friend For Kitty
The Multi-cat Household
Introducing Cats To Cats
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide

 

[ArtNJ]

I just noticed you mentioned "bad anxiety". I'm not sure adding a new kitten is the best for someone with bad anxiety, because even with a one year old resident cat, there is still a risk they don't get along, and cat-cat problems can be quite stressful. Usually things are OK pretty quickly when the resident cat is young, but not always, and it can take some time for things to settle down, and there can be some real stress along the way.

If you do decide you want to proceed, don't wait too long, because it seems to get harder/riskier the older the resident cat is.