Should I get another new kitten?

[Mayrain]

I have a gorgeous Tom aged 16 this year, had a couple of issues last year where he started pooing and weeing inside (never done that before) but that seems to have stopped and he’s in good health.

About 18 months ago we bought a kitten who was with us for a year but then sadly was killed when he ran into the road. As you can imagine we were all totally devastated and our lovely cat seemed to really miss him (as did we, still do actually) as they got on really well.

We’ve (me and DC not me and cat) recently started having conversations about getting a new kitten but part of me thinks we should wait but then I remember how lovely they we’re together although it did take a couple of months to get to that point.

Any advice would be great.

thank you

I always give the same answer to this sort of question: get a kitten if you want a kitten, don't get a kitten for your cat. They're not pack animals: they don't pine for other cats the way dogs pine for other dogs. Sometimes they bond, as yours did (and my two are bonded), but often they don't. My friends' two cats have lived together for 12 years and they pretty much just tolerate each other. They can be in the same room, but they don't interact.

Then there's the matter of the road. I think you need to consider how you're going to have a safe situation for your cat. Personally, my two cats go out, but a) they are spayed females who barely go further than the neighbours and b) we live rurally and the nearest busy road is quite a way outside their territory. You might consider, for example, cat proofing your garden or building an outdoor enclosure - that's what I did when I lived in the city.

Thank you, it really was a fluke accident with the road, where we live backs onto gardens and we’re 15 gardens down from main road but he ran out of the front door so it was just an awful accident.

I think I do want a new kitten, in fact I’d quite like 2 😉 but my cat seems really happy in his dotage and I’m a bit worried new kittens might upset him a bit as he’s a bit older than when we originally got the kitten. He’s not an aggressive or territorial cat.

I’m very much going round in circles with this one.

Get two!😻

Get two as they can play with each other.

Ha, really tempted but worried about how my other cat will be having 2 kittens in the house.

Get two kittens, they'll entertain each other and your old boy will be able to ignore them or interact with them as he pleases. If you get one kitten, it will always want to interact with your old boy and he may feel more stressed by a kitten always wanting to play and snuggle with him.

You won't know what they'll be like together until you do it. It's a situation where you can go ahead and it might work out perfectly, or it might be tricky and the older one is annoyed by the little one.

Either way is fine though - if it's a bit tricky and they don't love one another, you will work out a way to give the older one a bit of space from the kitten. You're not damaging your older cat by getting a kitten, your just changing the environment a bit and that's ok.

That's a good point - I hadn't thought about it like that.

I think if I was going to get a kitten (that may/may not annoy DCat) and wanted two, I'd get two, as hopefully they'll entertain each other and then are somewhat less likely to bother DCat. However, that might backfire as DCat & kittens might not be as likely to bond.

so hard to know isn't it?! I personally don't think I'd risk upsetting DCat by getting a kitten or kittens.

If you do though, id definitely make some spaces off limits to the kitten/s so that DCat has places he can retreat to.