third cat

Question
we have two cats, 1 female and 1 male botH~9 YEARS old.  Recently we had a third cat pass away~ 5 YEAR old but she only lived with them for 2 years or so.  The two females never really got along but tolerated and the male was more easy going.  The 5 year old female was always like an odd girl out.  Since I live with my parents and the 2 cats are theirs i am looking for the companionship of another cat since it has been 6 months.  I am looking at adult cats around 2 years and wonder what would be best.  Is an adult the best bet or a kitten and any difference for gender?  We wonder what will keep the female happy and if she would be aggressive toward a male. As a side note she also has hyperthyroid recently diagnosed and being treated with methimazole. Our current male seems like he would be ok.  We have a separate section in the house so there could always be separation if needed.

Answer
Hi anupear,

Introducing a new cat can really depend on your own cats - sometimes a kitten is easier, but a kitten is going to attack and play rough with your older cats. In my experience many older cats get fed up with a kitten's energy and get annoyed with them. THe best idea might be to adopt 2 young kittens, so that they have a play mate to wrestle with and will leave the older cats alone at least some of the time. If 2 kittens is not practical for you, then I would go with a male cat who is known to get along well with other cats. Your resident female seems to prefer your male cat better than she did the other female, and some female cats are like this - they don't want any other female cats around. Since she has already shown her preference for one male cat, you're more likely to have success with another male.

Advice on introducing a new cat to the home:

http://catnet.stanford.edu/articles/introducing_cats.html

Good luck!