Advise on a second cat.

Question
Hi kalla,

Thanks again for taking the time to answer my question.  My roomates (2 girls) and I just recently adopted an 8 month old domestic shorthair from our local animal shelter and he has been doing great adjusting to his new home.  He is still a tiny bit jumpy at times and still hides from time to time, but is very cuddly and is just starting to seem comfortable walking around the apartment. We love him so much that we were thinking about introducing another cat around the same age, but were unsure what the best time would be to do this.  We figured that since everything is all relativly new and it seems like he is a pretty easy going cat that now would be a good time to do it (as long as the other cat is just as loving of course), but a few friends were saying it may be too early to do it.  

Would you suggest introducing the new cat now while the first cat is relativly young and not set in its ways? What tips could you suggest age wise, time the cats been at our home, etc.

Thanks again for your advise,
Emil

Answer
Hi Emil,

I think you're right- this would be a good time to bring a second cat into the house while everything is still new. What I'd suggest is doing a slow introduction, keep new kitty restricted to a few rooms while the existing cat has the rest of the house. Swap blankets between them so they get used to each others scent, then introduce supervised play time.

Your cat is also probably more used to having other cats around as he's come from a shelter, so I'd get a new cat before he adapts to being the only cat in the household.

Good luck and congrats on the kitty! :)