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Will two ragdoll brothers get along?

15:52:12

Question
Two months ago My wife and I purchased a 6 month old male neutered Ragdoll kitten from a breeder.  It took him about a month to become comfortable around us and the house.  We are now thinking about purchasing his brother that was born in the same litter.  Would the transition go well or would there be a lot of jealousy and fighting. Our cat loves our attention and likes to be held. I would hate to make him jealous and mad. Would bringing his brother home now cause problems and what should we do about litter if we get him? Should we get another litter box or will they use just one?

Answer
TC,

Yes they should, but only if introduced correctly.  Here is a way to introduce them

Start out your new kitten in one room with a litter pan and water dish. Ideally, the one room should be a bedroom with yourself or another human resident. This accomplishes a couple of things. Your new kitten will not be overwhelmed by its new surroundings and get "lost", and thusly will have no problem finding the litter pan (often kittens have been confined and are somewhat daunted by wide open spaces!). You will feed the new kitten in this room and keep the established kitten out. It allows the new kitten to bond with you or another human being and also build up some self assurance in its new surroundings since it will not have to compete for food or attention right away. Finally, it allows the new kitten and the established kitten to sniff each other under the door and get familiar with each others' scents.

After 3-5 days of being in its one room, it is time to let them meet each other. Be prepared for some posturing, some spitting and hissing, and the like. IGNORE IT! After a while, they should begin chasing each other about and still have the occasional hiss or spit as they get accustomed to each other. Cats tend to make a whole lot of noise and even loosen up some fur. Rarely will two cats hurt each other.

Once they are introduced, there are a couple of things you must remember. Do not separate them again, they will get along! Do not interfere in their "discussions" as they need to sort it out amongst themselves!

It does not hurt to give the established cat treats and extra attention after the new cat or kitten is introduced (yes, cats do get jealous!).

A couple of things you may have to do are to feed them on separate dishes. Provide more than one litter pan in different areas of the household (as cats can be very territorial about litter pans).

All, in all, this method seems to have had great success in the past and makes for a fairly smooth introduction. Please remember that they may make up immediately, or it may take a few weeks

Please let me know how it goes.

Best regards... Norm.