lauranc Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 We have a 12 year old cat whose brother died about year and a half ago. We are considering getting a kitten next summer. If you've brought a kitten into your family when you already have an older cat, I'd like to hear how you made it work or if you wouldn't recommend it. TIA, Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 We were in a similar situation and ended up getting two kittens, a male and female sibling pair. It worked out perfectly. The two kittens played together and kept each other busy, and our older kitty didn't have to put up with being pestered. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Code Lyoko Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 (edited) Agreed, a kitten will have a ton of energy and want to play.all.day. (or at least most do). That could drive an older cat nuts and honestly cause them extreme stress. Two kittens can keep each other occupied while offering a bit of entertainment and companionship for the older cat. And eventually, when the older cat passes on, the other two cats will still have each other. Just keep an eye on things. The older cat may need down time and some space without kittens periodically. Personalities are going to be a factor, though. It will be hard to predict ahead of time if any of the cats will have issues with each other that go beyond normal rivalry. We have a sibling pair here that started genuinely hating each other and trying to rip each other to pieces (flesh ripped off, going for the literal throat, etc.). We had to permanently separate them. However, a new kitten we unintentionally acquired last fall gets along beautifully with the two aggressive siblings. Edited November 7, 2016 by Code Lyoko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Another vote for two kittens! We have two younger cats (litter mates) that we got as kittens and an older cat (she was 12 when we brought the kittens home). Even now, they can be too busy for her. We make sure she gets regular "spa days" where she is alone in our master bedroom suite and that seems to reset her. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2samlibby Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 We were in a similar situation and ended up getting two kittens, a male and female sibling pair. It worked out perfectly. The two kittens played together and kept each other busy, and our older kitty didn't have to put up with being pestered. Yes, do it this way. We had an older cat and brought home a kitten at my daughter's insistence. The kitten wanted to play with the older cat and it did not go well. The following year, we brought home a pair of kittens (step siblings of the previous kitten). The three of them play fabulously together and now leave the older one alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Definitely 2 kittens! We have a 14 year old and 2 growing but crazy kittens right now. The 14 year old enjoys watching the kittens and is tolerating them more and more. But wouldn't want to be tussled as much as a single kitty would need. I don't think I'll ever adopt a single kitten/young cat again. My 14 year old cat had a buddy too, but he died in August. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 We had an older cat and brought home a kitten at my daughter's insistence. The kitten wanted to play with the older cat and it did not go well. This was our experience with one kitten and an older cat. We have a two-cat philosophical limit though! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Peregrine Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 We got a kitten in June because dd was moving to college and our older cat was basically hers. We knew it was a crap shoot whether they got along or not. They do. Most of the time. Buster gets plenty of time alone. He also is overweight and the running and chasing has made him a little slimmer and more active, which he needed. They fight, but they also cuddle together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Two kittens is easier. I think whether the kitten is a problem for the older cat might just come down to personality. One of our younger cats got on with our elderly cat from day one because she has a mellow personality. Just kind of ignores him with the odd moment of greeting. There's no friction. We've had a couple of other kittens/young cats in the past few years (who have unfortunately died young) but they've all been much more annoying to the older cat. They just had big personalities and invaded his space, wanted to play a lot more. It does still down settle after a few months as long as everyone has their space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauranc Posted November 7, 2016 Author Share Posted November 7, 2016 Thanks! Question: when we had 2 cats we had 2 litter boxes. Those of you who have 3 cats-- do you have 3 litter boxes as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Code Lyoko Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 (edited) No, you don't normally need a separate litter box for each cat, but it absolutely helps to have two. We have two litter boxes and actually we have 3 full time indoor cats and a couple of part time indoor/outdoor cats. Two works fine as long as they are scooped daily (we use crystal litter so it cuts down on the odor and we just scoop the poop at the end of each day, change out the whole thing every Sunday) for the upstairs regular litter box. We have an automatic litter box in the laundry room that scoops and cleans itself. You may not have seen the last sentence. I clarified what I was posting as you were reading my post. Edited November 7, 2016 by Code Lyoko 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Two kittens! Twice the cuteness! Yes, two litter boxes will be plenty for 3 cats unless you have a weirdo. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Thanks! Question: when we had 2 cats we had 2 litter boxes. Those of you who have 3 cats-- do you have 3 litter boxes as well? The most often cited guideline is one box per cat plus one more. So ideally with three cats you'd have four litter boxes. The reason behind that is that it's not unusual for cats to guard boxes so you always want one extra so they can't all be guarded at once.. But I'd hazard a guess that most multi-cat homes do fine with fewer boxes than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Code Lyoko Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 The most often cited guideline is one box per cat plus one more. So ideally with three cats you'd have four litter boxes. The reason behind that is that it's not unusual for cats to guard boxes so you always want one extra so they can't all be guarded at once.. But I'd hazard a guess that most multi-cat homes do fine with fewer boxes than that. Yeah, long time multiple cat owner here and 2 litter boxes has worked fine for even 4 cats at our house. Once we were over 4 cats (and yes at one point we were over 4 indoor cats even though I prefer not to have that many inside) we added a 3rd litter box. We just had to keep an eye out when a new cat was introduced. Sometimes existing cats DO try to block newbies from using a litter box. Depending on the situation there are several ways to address that. Usually they work. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Yes, two litter boxes should be fine for three cats. We have five cats now (full-time indoors) and three litter boxes. We used to have five litter boxes, but two of them never got used so I got rid of them. Of the three remaining boxes, only two of them get used on a daily basis, and someone will use the third box maybe twice a week or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Thanks! Question: when we had 2 cats we had 2 litter boxes. Those of you who have 3 cats-- do you have 3 litter boxes as well? No, we have two litter boxes, one upstairs and one downstairs. The "experts" say that you should have one per cat plus one extra. We've never had any problems though, so I we are sticking with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 I also vote 2 kittens. We brought in one kitten with our older cats, and eventually brought in another kitten to play with our first kitten. We had 3 litter boxes for awhile, and went down to two. Kelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauranc Posted November 7, 2016 Author Share Posted November 7, 2016 Thanks everyone! It's helpful to know that it can be done successfully. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 No, you don't normally need a separate litter box for each cat, but it absolutely helps to have two. We have two litter boxes and actually we have 3 full time indoor cats and a couple of part time indoor/outdoor cats. Two works fine as long as they are scooped daily (we use crystal litter so it cuts down on the odor and we just scoop the poop at the end of each day, change out the whole thing every Sunday) for the upstairs regular litter box. We have an automatic litter box in the laundry room that scoops and cleans itself. You may not have seen the last sentence. I clarified what I was posting as you were reading my post. Whaaat? How did I not know these exist?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauranc Posted November 7, 2016 Author Share Posted November 7, 2016 Automatic litter box would be great! I need to check that out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 We actually had a couple older cats when we brought in a (slightly older) kitten. He really bonded w/ our 12yo cat. (Of course, now he's way bigger than our 12yo cat!) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs_JWM Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 We have one very large litter box for four cats - two of whom we got as kittens when we had an older cat already. They are all grown up now, and one fights with everyone, but is so sweet to me that he is forgiven every time. Everyone will be fine. Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 Actually, adult cats nearly always readily accept kittens. Bringing multiple ADULT cat together is really hard, but the vast majority of time, adult cats accept kittens. They may never be great buddies, but they will very likely peaceably coexist. Anyway, my suggestion is to get a new/second cat tree/home base for the new kitten, this gives the new kitten an escape/home base and leaves your cats' current tree/etc alone. Likewise, feed in a different area, and add a (at least one) new litter box. My dh is a vet, and he spend a couple days a few weeks ago doing continuing ed on, and went to a bunch of cat talks, one of which mentioned that no matter how many cats you have, they will only form a bond/unit with others they have been with since birth. So, littermates +/- momma cat are "one" unit. But, other than that, every cat you get will be its own little world. (Relevant to this talk in that means each UNIT needs its own food/litter/sleeping area on each floor of your home . . . So, if you wanna' be a cat lady, get families, lol). SOOO, anyway, that's just to say that loads of people have gazillions of cats, and usually few are related. :) It works fine. We have 3 adult (elderly) unrelated cats. Last weekend we adopted a new pair of kittens. <3 <3 They make my heart sing. <3 <3 Our house is huge, and one of our adult cats lives in the "guest wing" and never interacts with the rest of our pets (she was my deceased mom's cat). She essentially lives in her own house, with her own cat tree/litter box/feeding area. The other two cats co-exist happily in the rest of the house -- which has a litter box on each floor (so, three), and each has his/her own feeding area. Now, we added a pair of littermate kittens! They got two new cat trees, their own litter box, their own water and feeding area. We've had them 9 days so far, and the other adult cats are still avoiding them like the plague. It's hysterical to see these giant 10-14 lb cats skitter around the room to avoid these 8 ounce balls of fur. We also have 2 dogs. All this has gone on and there's been no trouble at all ... The trick to peaceful co-existence, I think, is to have plenty of resources (sleeping spots/trees, food areas, litter boxes) so that there's never any competition for those sorts of things, and if one cat tosses another off a favored location, there are always good options . . . In general, the big cats will ignore the babies. The babies may want to play with the adult cats, which could be annoying for the adult . .. so have plenty of toys/play time with the kitten to minimize that. Better yet, get a pair of littermates, and you'll have the best of all worlds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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