We have 2 and I want another 2

[CrinolineFrou]

Hi! I don't think I have posted here before.

We have 2 caribbean strays , we adopted at 10 weeks old and they have been with us for almost 7 years, they have moved across the ocean with us. We (husband and 3-yo son) love them to bits and they are the queens at home, they sleep on our bed, they have the run of the house, we don't have a cat flap so they ask to go out every 5 mins and we oblige.

After much discussion, husband and I have agreed we are ready to welcome a new cat, we have decided it should be female and a kitten. I am going to see a little persian-cross girl tomorrow lunch, only she has a sister in the litter.

The house is 2000sq ft and I am home a lot.

Husband says 4 cats in total is too many.

What do you think?

Four is a very good number - we have 2 eight year old siblings and 2 one year old siblings.

I'm with your DH. My house is the same size as yours & I found that two cats was more than enough, even with a cat flap at each end of the house & lots of space.

We actually only have one cat now since the old one died, & our remaining cat has come out of his shell & is much happier as an 'only'.

Obviously that's only my opinion & it's totally up to you.

How did the introduction of the kitten go with your older cats?

I was thinking we would:

• keep the kitten(s) in our ensuite - it has a solid door, it's in our bedroom and it can be cleaned - for 5 days as that's the advice we were giving by the lady who gave us our fur babies. It's worked brilliantly at every house move we did. The girls have never got lost or too bewildered.

• plug in some feliway diffusers a few days before arrival

• get kitten its own litter tray/food bowl etc

• introduce the baby to the girls when baby is our hands and smells like us etc.

Any other tips?

I've got 7 of my own and a long term foster. They're pretty much fine all the time, the odd hiss but that's all

We have three.

We originally had two and it took a really long time for them to accept the new cat.
One of them is still not as happy as she was before. They tolerate each other but I'd never heard them hiss before and now it's every day.

I love my 3rd cat and wouldn't change her but if I'm honest it was selfish of me to get her.

Adult cats prefer to be solitary so the sensible answer is not to do it. They may tolerate but they don't like it much as a rule

Agree cats prefer to live alone.

I have four - two sibling pairs. They love spending time together even though there's plenty of space not to if they prefer distance - most nights they all sleep in my bedroom, go outside together etc.

As your adult cats are 7, that's a big difference in energy levels and behaviour to a kitten - getting two kittens would be much better as they will keep each other entertained and not bother the adults so much.

Most cats are fine living with other cats - just look at feral cats and how they choose to live in colonies.