adding a new cat to the household

Question
I have a neutered 3+ year old male cat (indoor only). He gets along pretty well with my 1+ year shepherd-mix spayed female dog. Now I would like to add another cat to the household, mainly because I just want an orange cat. My cat is black/white. I would hope they would keep each other company when I am away. (The dog stays outside when I'm gone.)

Should the new cat be male or female? What age?

Thank you.

Answer
Syvia,

My advice would be to get a 4 or 5 month old kitten from your local humane society.  At this age, kittens are usually mature enough to handle new situations; they should have had all their shots; and their immune systems should be fully developed. Once they are neutered male vs. female should not matter.  Also, kittens of this age (or older, of course) can be neutered or spayed.  Most established pets will more easily take to a kitten than to an older cat.  BTW, if your local humane society or no kill shelter has what you want but it is under 8 months, you will probably still be O.K..  Older cats can work out, but it will take much longer for the established pets and the new cat to accept each other.  The important thing is to have it neutered before you get it, if at all possible.  Research has shown that cats/kittens can be neutered or spayed as young as 3 months of age with no ill effects!!!!!


Here is a technique we have used and had our pet buyers use for introducing a new cat or kitten into a household with already established pets:
 

Start out your new cat or 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 cat or kitten will not be overwhelmed by its new surroundings and get "lost", and thusly will have no problem finding the litter pan (often kittens or rescue cats have been confined and are somewhat daunted by wide open spaces!). You will feed the new cat or kitten in this room and keep the established cat out. It allows the new cat or 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 cat or kitten and the established cat 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 acustomed 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 pets extra treats and extra attention after the new cat or kitten is introduced (yes, cats and dogs 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. One caveat, like people, some cats take an immediate like or dislike to each other (for no apparent reason). With a kitten, the dislike aspect is much less likely.


Best regards... Norm.