We were thinking about adding a new member to our family of three. I would really like to get another kitty to keep Alfie company, but since I´m a relatively inexperienced cat owner I would appreciate some advise. Alfie is the baby of the house and he gets all his mommy & daddy´s attention.

How would he react to a kitten in the house if he´s not the centre of attention anymore? (He is normally extremely sociable and friendly, more so than any other cats I´ve come across). Do cats even get jealous? Should we wait until he is a bit older? Will it make any difference whether we get a boy or a girl? (He has been sterilized).

Any advise will be appreciated!

Edited: Caption according to rules

Cats often dislike each other. Usually they manage to work it out and get on, but not always. A kitten is more likely to be accepted than an adult cat. I would go for a girl, as toms often do not get on even when neutered. Quite frankly, I would not get another cat in your situation.

Absolutely ....get another kitten. The baby will probably love it. However, since you already have two boys, I would get a girl. I just added a little girl to my family so now have four.

It does take a little time to introduce a new kitten so be patient. Tigger was always the baby in the family and was totally spoiled by the two siamese cats but they have all adjusted to Miracle very well and love her to pieces.

If you read Miracle´s diary ..you will get some insight as to what went on for the first week.

Hi there, Alfie looks awfully sweet, and he´s young, friendly sounding and neutered...all those things are very promising. My feeling is that now, while he´s young and adaptable, is probably a really good time to adopt a new family member. I agree that a female may be a good choice - it´s a general rule that male/female combinations work out best (though that´s not always true depending on the cats) but it´s a good bet. I´d look for a female around his age (a bit older or younger is fine). I imagine he probably has the energy for a kitten so that might be a possibility if you can kitten proof your place (and are up for the extra challenges). Kittens do find homes fairly easily so you´d be doing a slightly older girl a big favour. I´d start by seeing if your local shelter or rescue societies have a friendly, young female (even better if she has a known history of getting along with other cats). If she´s spayed that´s good, if not it´s easily taken care of (sooner rather than later so you and Alfie don´t have to put up with her being in season).

There are other threads with advice on introducing two cats. Above all, you should continue to pet and spoil him (even more than usual!) during introductions so he associates good things with the new arrival. Katprson is right...take it slow. Check out: http://www.unitedcats.com/forum/31/fl/107/t/3009 for solid introduction techniques.
Good luck!

I agree with MichyD, Alfie is young. Tigger was 5 when bj came into his life and for about 3 weeks he did not like her at all, he would swipe her a few times but he was scolded for it, and our family made sure he got all the attention he needed after a while he loved her and they did everything together, he went into father mode and began caring for her. Tigger was a Tom cat and bjs is a tortie. Alfie will be upset at first but you just have to make sure that he still get the attention he needs and is still made to feel just as special as the new kitty. i also agree that a female would be much easier than another male and Alfie might become very domanint. im not sure about others but from my past experience with our cats and kittens the males always seem to be the head of the house no matter if they are older of younger lol.

and idea is when the kitten comes home, buy Alfie something like his fav food, a toy or a new blanket, and make sure nothing of his, including bowls toys ect is given to the kitten, that way he knows that hes not being pushed aside or replaced.

i think cats do become jealous, Nem is bjs baby but she gets very jealous when i pay attention to bj instead of her lol and they are mother and daughter.

best of luck with adding a new addition to your family, i cant wait to see pictures of your little one.

take care

Elisha, Mark, Bj and Nem

Mini-Me was also the loving, friendly baby of the family until we recently got Princess Isis. He hated her for the first two weeks and seemed to withdraw from us. We made sure he still got lots of attention and after a few weeks I started making sure there was always fun and treats when they were in the same room. I would drag a piece of string past the one cat, then the other. Gradually they became encouraged to play. Six weeks later, they are best friends and they play together so sweetly. I think it´s a great idea to get another kitten for company for Alfie. Good luck

Thanks for the great advise! I´m so excited to get a new kitty and this will help a lot in deciding how to go about it

Yea, I was abit worried when maomao & mewmew hissed at my lilttle Pig. Well, I was wilful and wanted to have a ginger tabby. But it was alright. For me, it took 3days before the hissing stopped.

Yes, hissing, are expected. And, growling. maomao growled when I hugged him and he refused to come to bed with me for a few days, But hey, before 1week is up, all is back to normal.

I got two guys, and I jus added Pig, a lady to the family.

Guess what, maomao is grooming the lil kid already.

Hi Everyone!

We´ve decided to adopt a very special (+/-) 11 month old female kitty (same age as Alfie. I´m sooo excited! We will hopefully get her tonight. Apparently she is also very loving (like Alfie) and used to being around other cats. And she´s been vaccinated and spayed. Which is excellent, because there are a lot of cats in our neighbourhood.

There´s just one problem.. She was rescued by some wonderful people, but no one knows her name.

Any suggestions for a lovely/happy female name? And perhaps how to make her feel extra welcome on her first night with us..?

xXx

Congratulations! Sounds like you found a perfect companion for the lovely Alfie! Take it slow and be patient if the first meeting doesn´t go as well as you hoped, as everyone said, it takes a little time but I am sure they will be the best of the buddies in no time!! Good luck and keep us posted!

You could contact your local animal shelter and see if you could do some kitten fostering - which involves caring for kittens without commitment. If it all goes pear shaped you have our answer!

Or you could take a blanket from Alfie to the kitten and then take a blanket from the kitten to Alfie and get them used to eachother´s smell.

I´m sure you´ve got enough love for two but it could be tricky at first. Good advice from Mew Mew and Mao Maos Mum who did it recently with little Pig. Let us know how you get on!

We are really excited for you and are looking forward to meeting your new addition, we hope Alfie likes his new sister and they get on well

Weeeell... we got our new kitty! We named her Maiya. She has the most beautiful green eyes and is extremely loving. My parents came over to meet her and she likes the attention!

As expected, Alfie is not too keen on this new addition. He is steering clear of Maiya, but doesn´t seem to be feeling too sorry for himself . Poor Alfie tried to get closer a few times to inspect Maiya, but she is mostly the one doing the hissing and swiping. He also doesn´t want to be picked up or cuddled as he normally would, but still plays with his toys and with us. Alfie looks very confused , but I´m sure they will get on great once they get to know each other. They are both social cats, so I have high hopes!

I will create a profile for little Maiya soon and post all the pictures of her very first night with us!

Quick update:

Alfie is completely back to his normal loving self! If anything, he is seeking out even more attention from us. He is trying really hard to make friends with Maiya.

Maiya is still very shy, but loves being touched. Both cats sleep with us on the bed, but mostly avoid each other. No fights or hissing.

Just one question:

Maiya is eating, but hasn´t touched her water since she got here. Should I be worried yet?

Put Maiya on the site!!!! we want to see her. I think they drink less water if they are on wet food ... I would guess you have her on that rather than the dried? (I am no expert at kittens ... ) great news!

Maiya plus some of the pictures of her first night with us and with Alfie are all on the site.. Yey!

Princess Isis also didn´t seem to drink for the first 24 hours. Neither did she use her sand box, but she soon settled and started. I am sure Maiya will drink when she feels thirsty. I don´t think you should worry about that at this early stage. Congratulations on your new addition!!!

My Ex and I had 4 cats when we adopted Scout. The 4 were a close-knt family who did NOT appreciate our bringing another cat into the house and they were very hostile about it. I had to keep Scout with me in my ´room´ of the house. Even then, if I left the door open for a second a fight would break out. We were going to take Scout back to the Shelter but the Ex called our Vet for advice first. Following that advice, we purchased a fairly large rabbit cage, set it up in the living room and would bring Scout out and keep her in that. The cage was big enough to have a litter box at one end and food/water bowls at the other. This allowed the cats to get used to each other and keep them separate at the same time. It took a few months, but the cats did learn to get along.