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Old June 11th, 2010, 01:15 PM
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One kitten or 2??

We are debating on getting just one kitten or bringing home 2 (male littermates).

First a little info... We are already a multi-cat home. We have 3 males, Gibson is 10 months old, Demon is almost 2 years old and Louie is 1.5 years old. And our female Lucy that is 5 years old. Everyone is spayed/neutered.

This is where it gets kind of complicated. LOL Demon and Louie have feline herpes and live on the main floor of the house with my parents. Not because they are potentially contagious but Gibson is an instigator and plays very rough which stresses them and causes them to have a URI flare ups. They still all mingle every once in awhile but contact is limited.

Lucy and Gibson live in the rec-room/finished basement. It's more like a seperate apartment but we share the same entrance. lol Gibson is harassing poor Lucy on a daily basis. He's just trying to get her to play but she's having none of it. We tried putting her upstairs with other 2 boys since they leave her alone but she was having none of that either. She would yowl constantly to be let back downstairs.

Hence the kitten idea. It would give Gibson a playmate.. but at the same time I'm worried he's going to focus all his attention on the kitten and pester it instead. Then hubby mentioned 2 kittens. Divide his focus so to speak. But would it work or am I crazy for even thinking about it? LOL
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Old June 11th, 2010, 01:40 PM
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Heh, you are asking that question on a forum where very few have a one pet household.

Gibson and Lucy sound like Vlad and Oksana.

I'm thinking as long as you do proper introductions you should not have too much of a problem. Giving Gibson two other kitties to focus on might get him to leave Lucy alone. Or not

Either way, you are giving two kitty siblings a home, and that's wonderful.
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Old June 11th, 2010, 02:04 PM
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LOL I hear you.. we have a small zoo here already. Most of my family is looking at me like I'm crazy for getting one kitten, nevermind 2.

I offered to take the whole litter after they are weaned and find the others good homes. So I may have 4 kittens temporarily. Should be interesting. lol
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Old June 11th, 2010, 02:08 PM
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Well, just say you got one. If they all have similar markings nobody will ever notice!
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Old June 11th, 2010, 03:13 PM
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Of course , 2 kittens !! (I mean really , what did you think asking this here )

Rayne , do you still have your beautiful st-bernards ?
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Old June 11th, 2010, 04:24 PM
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So true Frenchy, I should have known.

Yes we still have Bubba and Lola. Bubba is 5 years old now and Lola is 4 years old. I'll have to take some new pics and post them.

ancientgirl, I thought about that, but they are all different colors.
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Old June 11th, 2010, 04:49 PM
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Rayne,definitely yo have to take some pics of your big pups
As for the cats,yes,I think 2 kittens would be great,that would give you 6 cats..not too many in my estimation
I would have 6 if I was not too old
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Old June 11th, 2010, 09:45 PM
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I'll warn you, the more cats you have, the greater the chance one or more will start spraying. I was find at six, got two more, and all hell broke loose. I now have two that have to live in their own rooms because of continous spraying.
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Old June 12th, 2010, 08:23 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lindapalm View Post
I'll warn you, the more cats you have, the greater the chance one or more will start spraying. I was find at six, got two more, and all hell broke loose. I now have two that have to live in their own rooms because of continous spraying.
That would depend on the cats . I am pretty sure I could not get another mature male in this house, but females or kitten males who are neutered by 4 months are OK with Jasper. He likes to keep his girls to himself


Soooooooooo to answer Rayne's question, 2 kittens are better than 1. They will occupy each other, exhaust each other, and keep each other away from your mature cats.
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Old June 24th, 2010, 07:19 AM
turtlesdove3 turtlesdove3 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RaYne View Post
We are debating on getting just one kitten or bringing home 2 (male littermates).

First a little info... We are already a multi-cat home. We have 3 males, Gibson is 10 months old, Demon is almost 2 years old and Louie is 1.5 years old. And our female Lucy that is 5 years old. Everyone is spayed/neutered.

This is where it gets kind of complicated. LOL Demon and Louie have feline herpes and live on the main floor of the house with my parents. Not because they are potentially contagious but Gibson is an instigator and plays very rough which stresses them and causes them to have a URI flare ups. They still all mingle every once in awhile but contact is limited.

Lucy and Gibson live in the rec-room/finished basement. It's more like a seperate apartment but we share the same entrance. lol Gibson is harassing poor Lucy on a daily basis. He's just trying to get her to play but she's having none of it. We tried putting her upstairs with other 2 boys since they leave her alone but she was having none of that either. She would yowl constantly to be let back downstairs.

Hence the kitten idea. It would give Gibson a playmate.. but at the same time I'm worried he's going to focus all his attention on the kitten and pester it instead. Then hubby mentioned 2 kittens. Divide his focus so to speak. But would it work or am I crazy for even thinking about it? LOL
Good to know they are so well kept. 3 or 4 years back I bought home a pair of kittens, they mutiplied to 15 cats and now we have 8. At first my sis-in-law named them but as they increased she stopped naming them, I think she herself got confused. They're everywhere so we're working out things for them and our safety too.
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Old June 25th, 2010, 02:20 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lindapalm View Post
I'll warn you, the more cats you have, the greater the chance one or more will start spraying. I was find at six, got two more, and all hell broke loose. I now have two that have to live in their own rooms because of continous spraying.
That was a concern of mine.. expecially adding 2 more males to the 3 we already have.

But just to update this... I don't think we are getting the kittens. They decided to keep the 2 we wanted. That could change in the coming weeks since they are not quite ready to go yet.
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Old June 25th, 2010, 02:23 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by turtlesdove3 View Post
Good to know they are so well kept. 3 or 4 years back I bought home a pair of kittens, they mutiplied to 15 cats and now we have 8. At first my sis-in-law named them but as they increased she stopped naming them, I think she herself got confused. They're everywhere so we're working out things for them and our safety too.
That is why it is so very very important to get your cats fixed asap.
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Old July 5th, 2010, 12:20 PM
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Another update!

We are suppose to be picking up an approx. 8-10 week old calico girl later today once my hubby gets done work.

Don't worry I'll take pics!

I'm a little worried though.. as I have nowhere to seperate her from my pack. She is vet checked and is healthy.. no infectious diseases. But I usually seperate the newcomer for a week or so. The rec-room is all open other than my bedroom which is tiny.. expecially with 2 Saint bernards taking up the floor. LOL I can't shut Bubba and Lola out of the bedroom to make room for kitty without them whining all night long.

I could put her in the bathroom upstairs but then she would be getting used to the smell of the upstairs kitties, Louie and Demon instead of Gibson and Lucy. I'm more worried about Gibson bothering her. He's not aggressive per say to new cats just more of a pain in the rear end. Following them around.. pounce, swat and run kind of behaviour with the odd hiss. Gibson is still very kitten-ish himself which might account for alot of his behaviour. But he's the reason why I wanted 2 kittens... to divert his attention. LOL

Hubby just wants to try them together.. supervised of course and worry about seperating them if we need to. I'm the one stressing about it.
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Old July 5th, 2010, 12:28 PM
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I have never owned a kitty, but this is what I have gathered from other threads on the subject that I have read.

It's a good idea to seperate them for a while. Also, a large dog crate could work well if you have one kicking around.

I'm sure you'll be given lots of advice promptly by all the cat experts!

Looking forward to your pictures
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Old July 5th, 2010, 01:01 PM
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Here is my take:

You know your pets, you know if any have a high prey drive or are aggressive. I have found older cats with kittens are generally quite good, they may hiss and run, but they are putting the kitten in it's place and that is OK as long as the kitten is not getting hurt. Very different story if you are putting two adult cats together. Soooooo, what I am saying is: supervise your cat's reaction to the new kitten, if there is no down and out fighting, I would let them be. Hopefully Gibson will be distracted with the little one and will now leave Lucy alone, so all three will be happy .

Boy if you saw my house at times when I have foster kittens running all over the house. I have never had an adult attack a kitten, just discipline.

I am sorry I can't comment on your dogs as I don't have experience with dog cat interactions.
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Jasper RIP (2001-2018)
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Old July 5th, 2010, 01:29 PM
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I know Lucy will sniff, hiss and then ignore the kitten. She played with Gibson for the first month or so until he started getting too rough with her. So after a few days she may play with the kitten. When we brought Gibson home he was introduced to her right away.

Gibson is very playful.. He's rough and tumble.. all boy. Likes to pounce and bite when he plays. He will for sure follow the kitten everywhere for the first little bit. But he's not an all out attack kinda guy. I'm worried about the pouncing and biting mainly.

My dogs LOVE cats. Bubba expecially will be a pain in the rear until he gets used to seeing her. She will be covered in drool constantly until he does. He gets all excited like I brought home a new kitty just for him. Lola is very mother like with kittens. So no worries at all with her. Luckily the kitten was raised with dogs so that's a plus.

I guess we will give it a shot and see. Who knows Gibson may surprise me. He's pesters Louie and Demon when he sees them but they are also adults.. not a kitten.
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Old July 5th, 2010, 02:06 PM
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If you can not separate them at all then bring kitten in in her crate. Set the crate in the middle of the room where the cats will spend the most time in, and let your resident cats come over and sniff the kitten through the door. And, of course, visa versa. Then you can open the door slowly and see how they do with the baby. I would still find a spot to separate them at night when you can't supervise.
If you see an adverse reaction then you will have to find some small area for the kitten, even a large closet will do, and do proper introductions.
My favourite site is: http://www.squidoo.com/multi-cat-management
There is so much useful information there you will be reading the whole thing!
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Old July 5th, 2010, 02:28 PM
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I'm thinking we will just put her in our bedroom at night with the dogs. Her food and water can be put under the bed where the dogs can't fit their big heads. Litterbox will fit under my end table. I'll make it work somehow.
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Old July 5th, 2010, 03:52 PM
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Rayne,how exciting
One thing though we need pics,I don't think we have seen your pups and kitties for a loooong time,if I just missed them,I apologize
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Old July 5th, 2010, 04:28 PM
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I've always found calicos pretty spunky and usually end up being the boss cat of a household. So I wouldn't worry too much about her. Before long, she'll probbly be putting Gibson in his place. Putting her in your bedroom with the dogs sounds like a good plan. The dogs will think it's their kitty and if Gibson gets too out of line, I'm sure they'll intervene.
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Old July 8th, 2010, 11:26 PM
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A little frustrated but the kitten did not come home with us. Apparently she was first come first serve.
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