Would you get a kitten? With a grumpy older cat..

[OutingMyself]

I have a 12 year old grump who doesn't really like anyone/thing but me. I used to have two, but my other cat sadly died in the summer. They tolerated each other but we're never really friends. The grump also used to have a teritorial problem with a cat that used to look in through the glass by our front door - he would prowl up and down the windows and door and sometimes start a fight with my other cat when he couldn't get to the peeping cat. This all resolved when the peeping cat stopped coming though.

I've been thinking about getting another cat, but don't want to do anything that's going to upset the grump too much. I'm thinking he might see a kitten as less of a threat than a fully grown cat?

Any thoughts? Should I not do it at all?

No. And no. And no again. Let old grumpy cat have his retirement in peace. Cats aren't social creatures. They have no need for the company of other cats. I think introducing a new kitten could be successful but is equally likely to be a disaster and I'd not risk it especially with an older resident cat.

In this scenario I got 2 kittens.

Kittens amused each other. Grumpy Old Lady Cat was severely pissed off but eventually got over it and made peace if not love.

We were careful to enforce that Old Lady Cat was in charge and not to be messed with.

Sadly one kitten got too interested in the fish across the road age 2 so it's now a very old cat and one young cat - there's love, toleration and fisticuffs from both sides but I would do it again.

I would think very carefully. I have a 6 year old cat and last November got a kitten. It was tough to begin with as older cat was territorial. I took lots of advice and did a very slow intro where they were apart for 90% of the time. I'm pleased I did as they now seem to get on pretty well, they play, sleep on same bed and head bump/groom a lot. They don't cuddle up but do seem fond of each other. What you need to think about is whether you are prepared to put in the time and effort to the intro process. The kitten will def want to play with older cat so you will need to entertain it.. maybe two kittens might be better so they can play together..

Definitely not. Older cats don’t want or need any friends they don’t already have.

Definitely not. Wouldn't be fair on your existing cat.

To be clear, I wasn't thinking about it as a friend for grumpy. We are just cat lovers and I'd like to adopt some.

I'm thinking you're all right and it's probably a no go though.

Thanks :)

I have just made the painful decision (under v similar circumstances) not to get a pair of kittens. Old grump was perfectly happy with his sister but he's too set in his ways to deal with kittens even if they get their energy out by beating each other up and not him. The lovely breeder went through her method for introducing cats to each other (takes months if done "correctly" according to her) and lookin gat it objectively, it was a remarkable amount of effort and would be a compromise for both old grump and new kittens. Old grump is enjoying his run of the place and being king, and in due course the kittens will get to rule the roost all by themselves and without anyone curtailing them. (i am quite gutted though)

A playful mischievous kitten will probably annoy the life out of him.

We lost one of our cats at 12 and we adopted a 5 month old cat. The new one was quite feral and bouncy after a slow introduction they got on fine and after a year they would curl up together. The older one passed away in November and it really affected the younger cat.

I did and it was a disaster, so much so that we had to return the kitten to the local family we got him from They did say bring him back if it doesn't work out.I loved him within minutes and was so upset to take him back.Our old cat beat him up several times then retreated to live in the garden.
I wanted to keep the kitten.

The only way id ever get another pet is if i felt that there was a real benefit to my existing pet. Now my kids are getting older we would love a dog but we have a cat who despises dogs. It would be really selfish to get a dog when we know it would stress her out. Our first responsibility is to her.

It also depends on your house - how much space you have, etc.
I've introduced 2 kittens to an existing (not terribly friendly) cat and it's been ok. It's taken a while and I would say we seem to have turned a bit more of a corner recently. Sometimes a kitten/young cat can be a good thing and the cats take to each other. Sometimes not...
With ours we decided on 2 kittens so they would play/annoy each other - this works really well. But we have had a very protracted period of territory adjustment. Older cat used to sleep in the spare room, kitten 1 has now effectively taken top floor of house as hers, kitten 2 has bagsied the middle floor and cat now has the ground floor. Peace has finally broken out. Everyone has their own favoured space.
It has taken about 18 months though. There has been hissing and a bit of biffing, but no fighting. I did segregate them at night for a long time to give priority to the original cat.

We recently got a rescue kitten and slowly introduced her to our resident cat. Resident cat wasn't happy to start with and would hiss and growl. They now tolerate each other but aren't friends, and may never be.
The thing is we have quite a bit of space. The kitten has her food, bed and litter tray in my daughter's room upstairs, resident cat never spent any time in this room so seemed like a good option. Resident cat has her litter tray in the basement and eats in the kitchen and sleeps where she pleases. At night the kitten is shut in my daughter's room and happily sleeps there, and the resident cat has the rest of the house to herself.

We had to get another cat tree as they both liked the one we had and it was causing disagreements. We now have two in the living room and they quite happily nap fairly close to each other in them.

So think it depends on the amount of space and resources you have as well.

Another no.

Heya new cat when your old one dies

I agree do not do it and I can speak from experience.
One of my elderly cat's died and I assumed my orther cat was missing him and indeed actually just becoming lazy as he had no one to chase around and hang out with.
I waited several months then brought a kitten home and whilst the introduction was fairly smooth considering, my established cat had an angry look on his face for a few months.
It turns out I had brought home a kitten who was as mad as a hatter and 2 years down the line she still terrorises him and he has had little peace.
She is now 2 years old and is better but still randomly attacks him for fun a few times a day.
If I could turn back the clock I certainly would not have put my cat through it.
Luckily he has been very tolerant of her, but you certainly wont find them snuggling up
Possibly she is company for him now, who knows but on the other hand I do think she keeps him young.

I think it’s a bad idea too. He sounds the territorial sort.

It’s a bit like your husband coming home with a younger woman and saying “I love you so much I wanted a younger version of your this is Amy from accounting, she lives here now”.

I don't think it's really fair on your older cat. I've seen it ruin old cats' twilight years and you could be setting yourself up for all sorts of territorial and behavioural issues including inappropriate toileting and spraying which beleive me, you don't need the complication of in your life! He'll be much happier if you save the kittens til after he's gone.