Will adopting another cat upset existing cat?

[Fozzleyplum]

We have just lost 1 of our cats - killed on the road. We still have his brother, who is 2 years old and neutered. They had been abandoned at about 4 weeks old and were together at the rescue centre until they came to us at about 8 or 9 weeks. Prior to adopting them, we had only ever had one cat at a time.

Our remaining cat is the introvert of the 2. He is not a lap cat and dislikes being touched anywhere but on his head. He is however friendly and very attached to one of our sons. The other cat was not a lap cat either, but was happy to be handled to the extent that our younger son (12) used to carry him around everywhere and misses him terribly. The cats cohabited well together, although, as you would expect, they had separate "beats" that they walked at different times in the evening.

I would really appreciate some advice on whether it would be better to stay as a one cat family, or to try to find a suitable second cat/kitten. I really don't want to upset our remaining cat.

TIA for your help.

[Fozzleyplum]

Might be worth adding that we have a large free range rabbit in our garden which the remaining cat more than tolerates - they lie together. I mention this to show that the cat is quite sociable with other animals.

[cozietoesie]

Cats know what is and isn't another cat though. My own current boy, for example, will tolerate dogs - although he despises them - but won't tolerate other cats in the household, however sociable and placid they are.

I think it depends on the cat. There have been some great success stories on this board with people moving from one cat to two, particularly where the cat to be introduced is a kitten and the resident cat can act all avuncular.

Your own cat would likely be perfectly happy as a singleton though - are you thinking about DS2 really?

[Fozzleyplum]

cozietoesie I am thinking about DS2, as it is "his" adored cat we have lost.

A friend has recommended that if we have another, it should be a kitten as you have suggested, as that would be easier to introduce. If we do, I would propose overnighting the kitten in the part of the house our cat does not frequent. Our existing cat is not aggressive in the slightest, so I suspect that a slow introduction of a much smaller cat might be the best solution. DS1's room is very much the territory of our cat, and that would remain the case.

[cozietoesie]

Trouble is - what if any new cat also preferred DS1? You can't tell cats who they are supposed to go with - they pick their person without fear or favour.

[Atenco]

I say go for it, OP. I find my cats will not accept another adult cat, but will accept a new kitten after a couple of days.

[PassiveAgressiveQueen]

when my 2 nuetured male cats were 1 i adopted a single (fertile as it turned out) female cat.
Maybe i should have done it better but my house smelled of cat piss the rest of their lives, as that day they started spraying the house and never stopped.

[Fozzleyplum]

Thanks all. I really can't see us as a 1 cat household for long, so I think I'm going to look at adopting a kitten, as that seems likely to be the least upsetting for our cat.

[Skullyton]

i think you should, he's young enough to accept a newcomer more readily than an older cat might!