Dilemma-Please Help

Question
I am needing help to determine if two cat breeds would get alone as friends.  I currently have a cat, Hugo, who is a purebred Persian.  He is 1 year 2 months old.  He is a GREAT cat!  Very good attitude...not afraid of anyone or anything (except the vacuum clearner)...very loving.  He is very spoiled kitty.
A lady at my work has a 7 month old Chocolate Point Siamese needing a good home.  I am such a sucker when it comes to cats that I am wanting to get this Siamese kitty.
My question:  I am afraid Hugo will be upset and jealous -or- he would love to have a friend around?  They are both still pretty young that this might not be a problem...but, Hugo is my baby and I dont want to upset him.  What do you think about the situation of getting another cat?  Would these 2 purebred breeds get along or would they clash?  I need an option...please help.
Thanks!!


Answer
Well, this seems to me to be worth a try but I can't give you any guarantees. I think that the Siamese is likely to become the dominant cat and I can't tell you how Hugo will take that. I CAN tell you how to introduce them to minimize the friction, and say that if you have them for a week and things haven't evolved to a certain level of "detente" then you should probably give the Siamese back. If he needs a home, hopefully his current owner will be willing to let you take him on this sort of a trial basis.

So, bring the Siamese in to your house and put him into a separate room that you can close off. Don't let Hugo see him if possible. Keep him there for 24 hours. Give him his own box, dish, etc.  Then, after 24 hours, put him into a carrier and let Hugo into "his" room to investigate (he will be absolutely overcome with curiosity at this point). You do it this way because cats are less aggressive on somebody else's turf and the room will have become "new cat turf."  Hugo can sniff the new cat and call him nasty things in Persian but the new cat won't be able to retaliate in any meaningful way since he's in a carrier.

After this, you need to play it by ear. Usually it is best to remove the resident cat after the first meeting and let everyone relax. Then a few hours later, put the new cat back into a carrier, bring Hugo back in and open the carrier door to allow some interaction. Expect hissing and "fluffing."  Hugo will obviously win the fluffing contest hands down :-). This is normal. So is a bit of growling. But if you hear howling or screaming, be prepared to separate them with a broom or water gun or some other sort of emergency measure.

It's also usually best to separate them after this first physical interaction, and repeat it after an interval -- whether this is an hour or a day is sort of up to you and how upset everyone is. But if all that is happening is hissing, then you should be able to let the new cat out into the house and monitor them. It will probably take several days of hissing before things settle down, but I have never known this method to fail given a reasonable amount of patience.

hope this helps

iris