adopting a second cat: right match

Hi - this is the first time I've posted here. I have a cat that is two years and two months old. He is part Maine Coon. When he is active, he plays with his toys, runs around like a nut, jumps the walls, and plays rough with us. In other words, he can be a bundle of energy. I've had cats all my life, but only one at a time. My other cats were so territorial, they would hiss and growl if any cat came near our windows. My current cat does not do that; cats will visit on our deck and my cat will excitedly paw at the sliding glass doors and jump up and down, no hissing or growling at all. I think he wants to play and perhaps would welcome a cat friend into our family.
Now, my question is: what kind of personality should the other cat have? My vet says that my cat's age and rough-housing indicates that an older kitten, 6-12 months, who is a little more docile, would be the best match. That way my cat can establish his dominance in the home. She said getting another cat that was like mine would lead to conflict. However, this weekend I was looking at cats at an adoption day held by a rescue group, and they said "no way!", that the younger, new cat would retreat and regress. They said that I should get an active adult cat that can hold his/her own while rough-housing with him. Of course, they had a 3 year old female there who fit that bill, so maybe they were just encouraging me to adopt her.
So now I don't know what's right! Any of you who have experience bringing a second cat into a house like this, could you tell me what you think would be the best match and why? I intend to introduce the new cat slowly by giving him/her a room to itself, and slowly letting them into each other's territory etc.
Thank you for any help you can give me.

Rule number 1: there is no rule in these cases :laughing: I don't know why a young, energetic fellow with a good temperament wouldn't fit in if introduced slowly. Why don't you just go to your local shelter and have a look? Use your intuition. I think a male would probably be a better fit than a female, just my opinion, and of course he must be checked by a vet and neutered before you bring him home.
Good luck. We love pictures!

Welcome to the forum.

I'm fairly new to having cats on a regular basis, and all four of mine are pretty close in age.

I know there are many people here that will be able to give you some great advice.

And good for you, on deciding to get a kitty at a shelter. They need homes so badly.

Do you have any pictures of your cat?

It does sound like your cat wants to play... in my experience, I'd recommend getting a cat of similar age and activity level as your current cat. I made the mistake of getting a young playful cat when my resident cat was older and fairly inactive. Let's just say, they don't get along with each other (though they both have gotten along well with other cats). I'm not sure if gender matters much, it just depends on the cats. However, seems like males do tend to get along well with other males, if they both like other cats to begin with (neutered of course).

I agree 100% with badger, a young neutered male would probably fit in best as young males are much more social in general than females. A male 6 - 18 months, too young then you can't tell their personality yet, but by 6 months you can get a good idea. You can check his temperment by watching his reaction to other cats when you put him up to the cages of other cats. If he doesn't act aggressive he may be a good fit. I have always found females to be much more of loners unless they have grown up together.

What you have been told is not true about younger cats, it depends upon both cats!!!! I have a Ragdoll who is quite large (13.5 lbs) and he was best friends with the kittens that I was fostering last summer, the kittens were introduced to him at 5 wks and they loved him! I would still recommend a male over 6 months old though.

Maine Coons are very laid back cats and should have companionship.

Good luck.

What an adorable picture, love4himis! :lovestruck: The kittens appear fascinated with him.

What an adorable picture, love4himis! :lovestruck: The kittens appear fascinated with him.

He was known as "Uncle Jasper" to the kittens. Ragdolls have a similar personality to Main Coons, so I wanted to show ubenclagen that adult cats can be very gentle with small kittens and may not necessarily scare them.

That is the cutest picture, looks like he's giving the kittens a seminar!

I had a male 3 1/2, then I introduced kitty from hell AKA Mickey.
At first a lot of hissing, and fighting, now best buds, and clean each other

Wow, this is an active group! Thanks for your help. Lots of good ideas. A couple of you asked if I had any pictures of Nettles, my cat. I do, and I looked thru the FAQ on how to add images to my post. But at the bottom of the screen as i'm posting this, it says I may not post attachments. So, if I can figure out what I need to do, I'll post some images. He's real handsome too, even if I do say so myself!

I can't wait to see pictures of him, yes, maine coons are very handsome kitties, indeed!

At first a lot of hissing, and fighting, now best buds, and clean each other

Same here. I think you can expect that sort of thing with any coupling.
Let us know how it goes...your current cat seems like he'll love the companionship.

lol it's a crap shoot who will get along but try it anyway i though Du would freak with the kittens but she is wnodefull with them even let them by her food the other night

lol it's a crap shoot who will get along but try it anyway i though Du would freak with the kittens but she is wnodefull with them even let them by her food the other night

DU is coming along so well isn't she?

When my Sammy was 4 I went to the shelter Alittle black kitten wacked me I took her home. Sammy was fine with it . Sly was a terror. Sammy put her in her place and every thing was fine Sly grew to be a solid 15lbs Sammy was 5lbs. Sammy was always boss cat . Every now and then she would remind Sly of that . Six years later we found a kitten. She was bloody and starving. We took her to our vet had her cleaned up she had fleas and worms and smelled terrible. We named her maggie. Sammy was fine, Sly was not pleased. Aftera few weeks everything was fine. 4 years later a golden lands on my door step her owner didn't want her. In comes a 4month old puppy. Maggie and the puppy were the same size. All our girls picked us . It wasnt always easy there weresome scraps. Sammy died in 2004 at the age of 18. Sly died in 2007 at the age of 17. A few weeks later we adopted am male 1.5lb kitten named Petee. Maggie was acting strange she wanted nothing to do with us. She died a week later at the age of 10 she missed her sisters. Petee needed a playmate. Well I needed him to have one. I drove to Hensall with my Mom and adopted Paddy. He was born the same day as Petee. It was ment to be. The just love each other. The dog is in her glory the boys cuddle with her , she baths them it 's wonderful. In my case I didnt put too much thought in to it it just happened . Finding Maggie, Sly wacking me. Petee picked my husband. I wanted to call my cat Petee, his name was already Pete. My family picked me . I'm the lucky one.

I think i was in the exact same situation as you, my previous cat Ty:rip: was THE most territorial cat ive ever seen, so only one cat. However, my cat Onnie who I adopted later would paw at the window excitedly (no hissing) when another cat came to the deck..he was also very playfull and thought hed want a companion

I ended up adopting a non-neutered ~5 month old male kitten, on the reccomendation of the humane society who said a male kitten would be best (as males are generally more social like love4himmies said). I had problems at first, but never ever was there hisssing/ growling from Onnie to the kitten, despite never having 'properly' introduced them ( I would reccomend doing the separation for a time period thing). That being said, my problems arose from Onnie wanting to show dominance, but hazel being so small that he was getting 'crushed'.

Once hazel got a little bit older, and I could let Onnie show who was boss without worrying for him (a little swat here, chasing there) everything worked out well.

All in all I would reccomend an older male kitten, just like love4himmies suggested. However, it being older would be best to have neutered b4 as he is likely to be 'developed'. Good luck :thumbs up

it being older would be best to have neutered b4 as he is likely to be 'developed'. Good luck :thumbs up

Agreed, if the kitten is over 4 months and big enough to be neutered.

When my Sammy was 4 I went to the shelter Alittle black kitten wacked me I took her home. Sammy was fine with it . Sly was a terror. Sammy put her in her place and every thing was fine Sly grew to be a solid 15lbs Sammy was 5lbs. Sammy was always boss cat . Every now and then she would remind Sly of that . Six years later we found a kitten. She was bloody and starving. We took her to our vet had her cleaned up she had fleas and worms and smelled terrible. We named her maggie. Sammy was fine, Sly was not pleased. Aftera few weeks everything was fine. 4 years later a golden lands on my door step her owner didn't want her. In comes a 4month old puppy. Maggie and the puppy were the same size. All our girls picked us . It wasnt always easy there weresome scraps. Sammy died in 2004 at the age of 18. Sly died in 2007 at the age of 17. A few weeks later we adopted am male 1.5lb kitten named Petee. Maggie was acting strange she wanted nothing to do with us. She died a week later at the age of 10 she missed her sisters. Petee needed a playmate. Well I needed him to have one. I drove to Hensall with my Mom and adopted Paddy. He was born the same day as Petee. It was ment to be. The just love each other. The dog is in her glory the boys cuddle with her , she baths them it 's wonderful. In my case I didnt put too much thought in to it it just happened . Finding Maggie, Sly wacking me. Petee picked my husband. I wanted to call my cat Petee, his name was already Pete. My family picked me . I'm the lucky one.

That's a lovely story!:cry:

Okay, I can post pictures now! I am attaching three pictures of Nettles.

Sanddi, I loved your story about your pets finding you. I had a cat named Stephanie who picked me too. I was looking for a cat at a shelter, and Stephie was in the bottom cage on the floor. Suddenly I heard this kitty crying and I looked down, and there was tiny little Stephie lying on her side, her arm through the cage bars all the way up to her shoulder, and her claws sunk into my sock. She looked up at me and cried and cried. Now, mind you, I wanted a white cat, and Stephie was all black. I looked at her, then looked at my friend who was with me, and said, "well, I guess I'm getting a black cat!"

I had Stephie for 18 years. She was my best bud. She beat cancer when she was 16, and then she got diabetes. I nursed her through the diabetes for the last year and a half of her life. She was great, I'm so glad she picked me.

After Stephie, I had Panda. We adopted her when she was 2.5 years, we were her third home. We quickly found out she had a chronic illness, something like polyarthritic syndrome it was called. Then, when she was 5.5 years, she contracted acute pancreatitis. We did everything we could to save her, but she did not survive. It was very hard on us. Panda was the sweetest little girl you could ever meet.

Now we have crazy Nettles! Much to our chagrin, Nettles is not a lap cat. But he is a bed cat; he sleeps with us or our daughter almost every night. Otherwise he is very independent.

Yesterday, another cat, Tigger, who lives next door came to visit Nettles. She sat on the deck and he sat in the dining room. They both sat there calmly and just enjoyed each other's presence on the opposite side of the glass. He's so calm when cats come around. Hopefully we will find him a good friend.
Anyway... here's his pics....

Wow, he's just beautiful!:lovestruck:

wow he's cute. I'm sure he will do just fine with a new friend. I understand about the cat picking you. Allie looked horrible when I saw her in the spca. All the hair on her neck was shaved off and she had been in the cages so long she had rubbed all the skin off of her nose. She was 9 and had about two days left when she claimed me.

He is a beautiful cat.
I would like to get a female kitten . But the grouchy husband says no. He always says that. It seems every few years some animal lands on my door step. The funny thing is I live in a building. Six years ago I opened my door and there was a baby finch just sitting there. He came in and we got him a freind. When Mocha died we got Cocco A year later I got up and Cocco and Charlie were both dead. The died with their wings around each other. That was it for me and birds. Or so I thought . A freind of ours dropped of a cockateil. He hated me. I found him a good home. Three years ago a baby red squirrl ran up my leg. His eyes were barley open. I could not keep him.I called the Earth Rangers and we tookhim there. If things go like they have been some other animal will find me. My husband will go crazy just like he did when we found Maggie. He'll get over it.

Sanddi

Wow great stories and thoughts. I agree with most it doesn't really matter what age/gender cat you get. There will be fighting/establishing territory. I had Serena and Ecplise (litter mates) decided i wanted a third one to replace a kitten i had lost at a year old to leukemia. I got Stormy she was 8 weeks old and a scaredey cat! But it was the same hissing clawing running and chasing for about a couple months. Everyone is happy and gets along great now. So find one that seems to fit you or picks you. I love how pets pick us. Its like furry soul mates :cloud9:

So have you found a good match yet?

So have you found a good match yet?

Sorry I haven't replied sooner; just haven't been on the board lately. Actually, we are about to have some work done on our house, so I won't consider looking for a friend for Nettles until everything is done. It would not be right to subject Nettles or a new kitty to construction work, new cat friends, and new home all at the same time. Once all is done, and Nettles is used to it, then I can look in earnest (as long as hubby dearest concurs... he won't commit yet...)

Yes, I agree, best to wait until the renos are done, as it would only put stress on both cats which is not the ideal environment to introduce two kitties.


In the meantime, please feel free to post more pictures of Nettles:cloud9: