Pal for an anxious 5 year old boy cat

[TeslaGirls]

We have had our adorable boy for 3 years now, having adopted him from a rescue (he'd had a sad time before ) and due to his anxiety he remained at the rescue for over a year as he just wouldn't show any interest in people. I'm a sucker for a hard luck story so took a chance on him and he has slowly morphed into the most affectionate and loving moggy.

We have been considering getting a pal for him, but he can often struggle around certain other cats - not all though. We were thinking of an older cat, but rescue centre said he may find a very young kitten easier because he won't see her as a threat? I'm a bit gutted tbh as I really wanted an older cat, but obviously our existing cat's happiness is the priority.

Does anyone have any experience to either back up or dispute the advice to get a kitten please?

When you say he's nervous, who is he nervous round? If it's people then you've got definite possibility of getting an older cat. If it's other animals then an older one might be too much. But a younger one might be too!
My old cat Fizzle absolutely hated kittens in the house (we adopted a pregnant mama so they were born at my house). She didn't come downstairs the whole 9 weeks they were with us.
But then again, she hated older cats too. She weed and sprayed everywhere all the time. She just didn't like other cats really.
What is your cat like with other cats he comes across in the garden?

Cats don't really have pals in my experience. If they've always been together (siblings or mother/kitten) they can be close, but cats introduced as adults tend to ignore each other at best, stress each other out at worst.

If your chap seems happy at the moment I'd avoid another cat.

Ime, most cats are happier as an only cat. We've had two sisters who hated each other. At one point, they divided up the house between them, with one upstairs and one downstairs. There were spraying incidents on the stairs over border disputes. When one died, the remaining cat really blossomed. She was far more friendly to the neighbours' cats than with her sister.

I'd think twice about introducing a rival, especially to a rescue with a sad back-story.

I adopted a 6 year old. To go with my 8 year old after her sister died. They live in peace with each other and are slowly becoming friends. My two are exceptionally docile though a d new cat is another Persian. I don't thinks she'd have got on with a moggy. So it doesn't have to be a kitten.

Hmmmm, a lot to think about. He originally went into the rescue as part of of pair but the female was adopted pretty much straight away.

Out of the five local cats, there is one that he was really friendly with (boy slightly younger) but just tolerate some the others, with outright aggression with one. He is slightly better with people than he was, but likes to do things in his own time.

I shall consider all your points thank you

We introduced a new cat as a kitten and our older cat at the time was very unwelcoming. We kept them apart at first, then put the kitten out in a cage to let them meeting each other, fed them together to help them bond.

At first, the older cat was really angry at us for doing this, but then went from ignoring the kitten to tolerating it to sleeping together with it. It helped that the kitten had a very passive personality,

They did wind up as buddies (both females, which may have helped too). There's really no way to know if it will work without trying. Just make sure the older one has place to retreat to when he wants alone time if you're going to try this.

It depends on the cat. Our Biggie was very lonely after Jennette took off (she eventually reappeared and now lives with my parents), so we adopted a second cat. He likes her. Then when we brought Gatsby home, Jayda started mothering him (he was only 2 months old) and Biggie had a "WTF is THIS?" look on his face. Once he discovered he wasn't being replaced he decided Gatsby was okay