Advice on a second cat

[pollysproggle]

I have one 3 1/2 year old female cat and would like to get another. I've had her from 8 weeks old and she's never lived with another cat.
My cat goes outdoors and has access to lots of back to back secure gardens where there are other cats.
There is one other female cat she doesn't seem to get along with but otherwise has no problems with other cats.

Obviously you can't predict how cats will get along but I don't want to make any obvious mistakes so do I go for a kitten or an older rescue cat?
We have a 2 year old who loves our cat, follows her around all the time but 2 year olds can be quite noisy so I'm wondering if that'll be frightening to an older unfamiliar cat.
Our cat is used to him now but was very wary of the baby for about a year.

If she doesn't get on with the neighbours female cat should I go for a male?

[Itsear]

I have 2 x female cats, having previously had 1 male and 1 female that got along famously. When my male died I got a female and although both of my cats are from multi cat backgrounds they loath each other. So my advice is to get a cat if the opposite sex. The rescue told me that sex makes no difference but my experience tells me different......

[pollysproggle]

That's interesting!
I think maybe the different sex too especially as she doesn't like the neighbours cat. I wasn't sure if it was because she's female or because she's just the local bully!

[Benji13]

Totally agree I've had 3 male cats, all got along fine. When they passed we got 2 females and they loathed each other. I'd go for a freindly adult male from a rescue who gets on with other cats and is confident for your little one. Rescues can give you lots of info on their cats especially ones that have the cats in foster homes. X

[viccat]

I think your best bet is a male kitten, or if possible, two kittens! That way they can get used to your child from a young age, and have the best chance of being accepted by your resident cat. Two kittens would be ideal because they can keep each other company and leave the older one in peace if she so chooses.