Would ten your old female cats accept a kitten moving in?

[Chuckiegg]

We have 2 sisters aged 10.
Nice natured with humans.
We introduced a puppy when they were about 3 which displeased them initially but now they either ignore her or swat her sometimes to keep her in her place.
I wondered how they might react if we acquired a new kitten - no specific plans at the moment but a rescue page I follow quite often has some that need rehoming.
I don't want to upset them in their later years but was wondering if anyone had any experience?
Thanks

We did this. She was fine and just did the cat equivalent of rolling her eyes for a few days.

They’ll be really pissed off for a few days/weeks but as they’re already used to other cats in the form of each other I think they would be totally fine.

we have two cats, one about 15, and we got a puppy. I felt terrible as 15 year old became even more anti social. 6 months down the line and she’s finally warmed up and is back to being a regular old lap cat, so I do think cats are very good at making a point!

Thanks both.
Do you think it matters whether we got a male or female?

They were just like "oh it's a kitten" and put it in its place when required.

Anecdotally, I've found that male cats tend to be more accepting in general and of females even more so (including when the older ones have been neutered from young), whereas female cats are less impressed, particularly if it's a male kitten - who usually turns into a bit of a knob from 5 months for the next eight years.

I agree with other pp that female cats in general are less accepting from my experience so not sure it will make a huge difference.

I think it's more that female cats pull rank more. They only want to play on their terms and spend a fair amount of time telling any newbies to F off before they even start trying to play.

Could you get a pair of kittens, so they mainly annoy each other rather than the older members of the household?

Friend (AKA FWK, friend with kittens) is going through this. He lost his boy about 18 months ago, and got 2 male kittens about 5 months ago. Existing female cat is very disdainful of them, and when one of the boys tried to play with her growls and swipes. Otherwise they just seem to avoid each other still.

My girls (siblings) were 8 when I introduced a male kitten. I personally found it didn't go down well till I got another male kitten two yrs later so they had someone young to play with. I'd recommend 2 kittens.

Our girl was five when we got her brother. She still hisses at him and tries to smack him on occasions. She's 15 now but the pair of them do curl up on the bed together. To be fair she hates all other cats.

My 12 year old cat loves my kitten, its given her a new lease of life.

Our older cat welcomed the new kitten. It was actually our medium aged one that gave us real trouble. We had to supervise them for over a year, until the kitten got big enough and developed the confidence to give her a lesson or two. Until then we had to keep them separated whenever we weren’t around. We still don’t put them on the same locked enclosed space if we have to put away for a bit for any reason.

My 12 year old gentleman hates our kitten. Our kitten is an utter knob though. Once he calms down I think they’ll get in fine. I’d get 2 kittens as he wants to play and grumpy old man is having non of it.

I know of 2 kitten sisters currently looking for a home...

Seems very variable. My two are 11 and 12 and hate all cats except each other. I don't know if they've ever seen a kitten though (since they were kittens themselves). I think one would run away and the other might splat the kitten.

Just one thing to think about....I have two older cats (13/14) I would love a kitten as well as like you see loads needing homing however my boy cat hates being locked in (he had a bad incident being trapped somewhere) and so I just cannot get one as I know the combinations of being kept in the house while it acclimatises and a new cat in his territory would not end well.

I don't have space to be able to let them in and out while keeping kitten inside.

It is usually fine, there are ways of doing it that will make it easier but I would also, if you are able, advise two kittens as they play so much it can get annoying.

Thanks everyone.
Food for thought!