More cats or not?

lostinrates

gettingready wrote: »

With my glasses on I can confirm those are definitely 2 cats

They look lovely and comfy together..

My lot swap sleeping p[laces/partners all the time...

That must be nice. Ours have a routine. There are only subtle changes. E.g, when its really cold they sleep under the duvet, the darker one on the left of me, the liter one on the right. If i do not offe each an arm to use as a pillow and to snuggle in then they physically move it for me if i am on my back. If on my side they grump but settle for curling up together by my belly or back of my knees. When dh is home the darker one scurries further down in the bed and the other lies nearer the top in the middle. In the summer they might sleep with me, or they might sleep on their furry rug in a box under the window, if its really hot.

gettingready

The only one with a routine here is Teddy - Teddy ALWAYS waits for me and comes to bed with me, always at my feet, every single night.

The rest? Hmmmm Depends on the day - cat tree/sofa/bath/kitchen worktop....

Fridaycat

They are both absolutely gorgeous :T The dog is as well

rising_from_the_ashes

mmmm I can see your dilemma - tbh I'm not sure I would do it.

Big cat arrived as a kitten when my old cat was around 8 - they got on great while he was little but went through a dominance thing when he got old enough. Luckily they eventually got to the "let's pretend it's not there" stage and basically ignored each other (a bit sad but better than constant fighting).

However, there were 16 cats between the 4 cottages on the farm where I lived so he did grow up with loads of feline company and when I lost Smudge, big cat did seem lonely .... so I got another.

I've had to have them separated a couple of times (4 months at one point - total nightmare of keeping doors shut, 2 lots of food, litter trays etc and a pain in the butt tbh - and also difficult as the dog was used to being able to go where he wanted). It was total separation - if one went out (in/out front door) the other had to stay in until he came back (and then went in/out back door) but didn't have much option as it was serious fighting where real damage could've been done. Eventually with slow reintroduction they got back to being OK (ish) but it has happened again and they're already back to having spats that are increasing in nature.

It's not easy and tbh I would consider rehoming one of them if I thought it would work:

Big cat isn't really a people cat (having had Siamese in the past, his character is very much like one and if it wasn't for his colour, I'd say he was one!).

Wee cat is a people person but very unpredictable (call her the psycho cat) as she'll happily be lying getting petted & then attack you - and hiss and spit when you walk past her for absolutely no reason and absolute hates all other cats .... love her to pieces but she's not an easy cat to live with.


Sorry that's a bit long but it's such a hard and difficult decision and unfortunately until you introduce another, you've not really any idea of whether it will work - by which time, you've fallen in love with the newcomer(s).

I'd love another but with wee cat the way she is .....

Love the pics, they are gorgeous!

VoucherMan

I'll be interested to see how you get on if you decide to get some as I'm in a similar situation.

Been thing for a while about getting another couple of cats but not sure how my two boys would accept newcomers. They are always very close to each other so any cats coming into the house may struggle to be accepted.

Keep on delaying for various reasons but I've had some encouragement in the last couple of months. Next door neighbour has been letting her cats out and mine seem to get on quite well with them. Somewhere between accepting their presence / being quite chatty. Obviously a big difference between chatting over the back fence and sharing the settee but at least it makes me think there's chance they'll get on.

bacardi66

If I was you I would probably get two more cats whilst your other two are still fairly young.

I had two cats (brothers) who were devoted to each other, slept together, groomed each other etc etc one died at 14 and I've always felt bad the remaining one is on his own as I think he misses the feline company.

Part of wishes me I had got a couple more when they were younger, when my first one died, I thought because my remaining cat was 14 it was too old to introduce new cats and I also didn't realise that he still had a few more years in him - he is 18 now.

He loves hanging out with my neighbours cats and they sunbathe together in the garden - but its not quite the same as having another feline friend at home.

Obviously it depends on your cats personalities - Ive always had cats who loved other cats and never shown any signs of being territorial.

UKTigerlily

I'm sure i've read that Siamese accept newcomers pretty well, i've never had any but have always had cats & did spend 7 months living with my ex's Mum's 2 Siamese, all of hers always accepted new animals easily in the end. Could you try fostering or anything to see their reaction? Maybe a kitten would be annoying to them but a slightly older one & male may be ok? idk but they're beautiful!

lostinrates

We have had othercats, like the feral who had to come in. They were horrified, but so was the feral. They seem ok with the feral cats, but wary. Generally they just try and ignore each other.

I am finding the responses echo my thoughts for each argument, so its not looking much clearer to me what i should do!

lostinrates

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

mmmm I can see your dilemma - tbh I'm not sure I would do it.

Big cat arrived as a kitten when my old cat was around 8 - they got on great while he was little but went through a dominance thing when he got old enough. Luckily they eventually got to the "let's pretend it's not there" stage and basically ignored each other (a bit sad but better than constant fighting).

However, there were 16 cats between the 4 cottages on the farm where I lived so he did grow up with loads of feline company and when I lost Smudge, big cat did seem lonely .... so I got another.

I've had to have them separated a couple of times (4 months at one point - total nightmare of keeping doors shut, 2 lots of food, litter trays etc and a pain in the butt tbh - and also difficult as the dog was used to being able to go where he wanted). It was total separation - if one went out (in/out front door) the other had to stay in until he came back (and then went in/out back door) but didn't have much option as it was serious fighting where real damage could've been done. Eventually with slow reintroduction they got back to being OK (ish) but it has happened again and they're already back to having spats that are increasing in nature.

It's not easy and tbh I would consider rehoming one of them if I thought it would work:

Big cat isn't really a people cat (having had Siamese in the past, his character is very much like one and if it wasn't for his colour, I'd say he was one!).

Wee cat is a people person but very unpredictable (call her the psycho cat) as she'll happily be lying getting petted & then attack you - and hiss and spit when you walk past her for absolutely no reason and absolute hates all other cats .... love her to pieces but she's not an easy cat to live with.


Sorry that's a bit long but it's such a hard and difficult decision and unfortunately until you introduce another, you've not really any idea of whether it will work - by which time, you've fallen in love with the newcomer(s).

I'd love another but with wee cat the way she is .....

Love the pics, they are gorgeous!

Not a people cat? My siamese are very much people cats! New people get leapt upon and showered with attention. If people do not give enough attention the cat-choir-cacophony starts and they practically do the cancan until they get attention again. In fact. They are like nasty spoiled children when people come...showoffs. The also tolerate being mauled by friends children.

antw23uk

I say no. Enjoy them to the max, they clearly love you and love the home they are in so why spoil it! Good luck with your decision