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I think it's a great idea to get a playmate for TJ, but you should
make sure you get one soon before TJ is set in his ways and has
more trouble accepting an addition to the family. (I got Ivory
when Ebony was almost 3, and boy, did it take a long time for Ebony
to accept her).
I'm not sure getting a CAT (as apposed to a kitten) is a good idea
for the reasons I mentioned above (this is the reverse situation
though) - the older they are the harder it is for them to accept
another cat or kitten.
Although males tend to be more affectionate (my opinion), I've found
that having 1 of each works out pretty good.
RE: Introducing the new kitten -- just put them together and let
them get to know eachother on their own. Most likely there will be
hissing, spitting, and a few swats at eachother, but they'll soon
get over it once the older one realizes the kitten is there to stay.
One other thing, look at the previous notes, I noticed there's an
awful lot of kitties that need a home.
Best of luck and let us know what you end up doing.
Barbara, Ebony, and Ivory
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| We adopted a big brother for Pooh (that's what happens when you
let your 3yr old name the kitten!) last October. Pooh was a little
over 7mos when Trigger came to live with us. Trigger was about
1yr 3mos at the time. Both are males, Pooh had just been neutered
at the end of September, Trigger was already neutered. This
combination has worked out great!
Trigger was very shy - hid for the first week behind a file cabinet
in the study - and scared when he first came. With the change and
then throw in a three year old to boot and it was not his idea of
a good time! I left Trigger in the study with the door shut for
the first ten days or so - until he asked to come out. I would
spend time in the room, just sitting quietly reading, talking softly
to him etc. After the first week he would come out of hidding when
I was in the room and gradually would come over for pets. All the
time Pooh would sit outside the door crying, and extend his paw
under the door into the study.
Finally one night - about 3am, I could sleep - I was in the living
room reading when Trigger started to cry at the door. I put Pooh
in the bathroom and shut the door - my husband is NOT a cat lover
so I didn't want to make the introductions at 3am 8^)! - and let
Trigger explore for a little while. The next day when I got home
from work I decided the time had come. I opened the study door
and decided to let the two cats work it out. Well Pooh immediately
went into the room and his tail grew to three times it normally
size, and he let out one hiss. I walked away, they were still five
feet apart and Trigger didn't look like he was going to move. A
little while later I went into the study to find Pooh curled up
about eight inches from Trigger sleeping! Trigger was uninterested
in Pooh, but Pooh followed Trigger around like a little brother!
Pooh is still more interested in Trigger than Trigger is in Pooh
but they get along. The will sleep close to each other, clean each
other while playing and romp around the house together - even eat
out of the same bowl at the same time! I was told that Trigger
was not a lap cat and wasn't real affectionate, whereas Pooh is
overly affectionate almost - Mike thinks so 8^) - But although Trigger
will not sit on my lap he will sit next to me on the couch and
definitely likes to be patted, scrached etc. He has even started
to get up on the end of the bed at night, and will sit on my chest
if I am reading in bed.
So I have had great luck - and I do beleive it was luck! - with
adding an older cat with a kitten. (Thank the powers that be! I
didn't dare even mention Trigger was comming until the night before
he was being dropped off! Actually Mike likes Trigger for the very
reason that he is not very affectionate and ignores Mike!) Trigger
has even adjusted to our son, and will stay in the same room and
let Sam pat him for about 2 seconds!
I do think that having one very affectionate cat has played a big
part in having things work out so well!
Good luck!
Kathy
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| I think it has a lot to do with the total environment...
We've got NINE dogs and 2 and 3/4's Cats, and I really do believe
that if I were to bring a camel or a hippo into our house not one
of the current residents would do more than glance the direction
of the newcomer and think..."Well, it was inevitable...Oh well,
just so he doesn't get into my supper dish!"
We recently introduced our latest cat..."Spooky" "Silver" "Grey
Ghost"....haven't quite decided on his final name...will probably
call him all three.. We already have a calico cat that was found
abandoned at birth by it's natural mother, (Yes, even animals can
be terrible parents...Unfortunately, this girl's brother was dead
already when our two Dachshunds found them...Willi, one of our
Dachsy's, actually BIT my friend on the ankle when he wouldn't let
"his" cat loose when she didn't want to be held...) and another
pure white cat that was tossed out of a car in front of our house...
("Miss Meow" tests POSITIVE every year for Feline Leukemia, but
she does NOT have it...Vet says she probably caries the virus, but
has a system that immunizes her from ever catching it. Our others
are fine as long as we make sure their shots are current...which
we are very careful about..)
Anyway, when we brought "Spooky" into the house, the calico,
"Bitch-Mew", totally ignored him. (Don't send me "nasty-grams" about
her name...it's NOT that bad once you know the story... This cat
has NEVER uttered a sound in her entire life except when she is
'complaining'...or 'bitchin'...so hence her name...(actually we
usually call her "The Mew",))
But back to the story... Anyhow, Miss Meow didn't like him AT
ALL, so for the first week or so we'd hear this terrible growling
and crying and when we'd find these two, they'd be facing each other
at about six feet distance, just cussin' up a storm at each other...
hissing, growling, tails whipping back and forth...but NEVER any
closer than about six feet. After a week or two of that, we found
them curled up together in the laundry basket one morning...
(O.K., I'll explain the 3/4's cat...."Spooky" was caught in the
fan-belt of an auto when he was only six weeks old. His original
ownere decided to "get rid of him" when they found out that Vets
don't work for free, so a close friend of mine who works at this
Vets asked if she could have him. She paid to have his leg amputated
since it was damaged beyond repair, and had his other cuts and
abrasions fixed. With only one front leg, they had to de-claw the
other front paw, as there was fear that he'd get "hung-up" somewhere
if he tried to climb... But after he grew up--he's about a
year-and-a-half now---he figured out how to open a doggie-door,
and she was terrified of him getting out and confronting a strange
dog...with no climbing ability, no defensive claws in his front
legs, he'd have been easy pickins for a mean dog.....so she asked
us if we'd help to find it a home....so we die!! OURS!!...
"Spooky" has NO IDEA he's handicapped. He hops a little bit funny
as he has to "push-off" with his back legs to get along, but he
has no problem hopping up on the table or countertop when there's
"people" food around... The day after Thaanksgiving he "helped"
me cut up turkey and make sandwiches. He prefers to "steal" rather
than take a piece that I give him...so I cut small pieces and left
them near the edge of the plate where he could "steal" them.....
He sleeps between my legs every night, and usually is sacked out
with one or the other of the nine dogs most other times. I think
he may really believe he's a dog, since after his injuries healed,
when he was about 4 months old, one of his rescuer's Bassett Hounds
had a litter of pups, and Spook "raised" those puppies. He ate,
slept with and dominated those Bassett puppies until they became
full grown. No problem introducing him to our "Zoo"!!!
JM
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| Hi!
Just wanted to let you know that I found her! "Tasha" is exactly
what I was looking for - VERY affectionate and mellow. In fact,
she must have spent a good 4 hours last night just cuddling up to
me!
(I did check out the kitten in #2006, but unfortunately it didn't
work out - she was really nervous around me)
At any rate, thanks to everyone who responded - and if you're still
willing to follow with this, please check note #2030 - now that
I've got Tasha, I could use some advice on getting TJ to accept
her......
Lauren
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