Two’s A Pair? Deciding Whether to Get Another Cat

Photo: Ivan Radic

Deciding whether to bring a new pet into your home can be a big decision for many people. Sometimes cats find us and we take them in, and sometimes we go out looking for a cat to bring home. Either way, if you already have a resident cat, deciding to permanently adopt a new cat should be considered carefully. 

There are several reasons people decide to bring in a new cat. Often, someone will come across a free-roaming cat needing medical attention or a kitten that has been orphaned and that person will want to care for them in their home. Other times a cat is intentionally adopted to provide a “friend” for the resident cat who may seem bored, overly energetic, or appears to miss the owner who is away from the home for most of the day. In this article we will talk about the three major considerations for bringing home an additional cat, and add nuance to some of the misconceptions about what really happens when you add a second (...or third or fourth) cat.

Disclaimer: No single one of these reasons for or against getting another cat can be guaranteed to describe your specific situation. It’s important to take each recommendation into context for your specific lifestyle and the cat(s) you have at home.

Considerations Before Adding Another Cat

Ability to Provide Five Pillars of Healthy Multicat Environment

One of the most important parts of caring for any number of cats is providing a proper environment for your cat. We consider this to be the non-negotiables for optimal cat wellbeing. Validated by the American Association of Feline Practitioners and the International Society of Feline Medicine, a healthy multicat environment includes 1) Safe places to hide/be alone, 2) multiples of key resources, 3) opportunities for play/predatory behavior, 4) positive, consistent human interactions individualized to each cat’s preferences, and 5) respect for the feline senses (Rodan et al., 2024).

Let’s quickly break these pillars down. Safe places should be spots where each cat can go to be away from other cats and humans without being disturbed. They should be able to hide behind something such as the walls of a box, but can also escape if cornered, and there should be elevated safe places (as tall as your head!).

Key resources include areas for food, water, toileting, resting, playing, and scratching. The AAFP and ISFM guidelines stress that multicat households need these resources to be ample and separated to prevent tension between cats. The recommendation is that you have one of each resource per cat plus one more (i.e. 2 cats = 3 litter boxes) and that they are kept separate from each other (3 litter boxes lined up = 1 litter box).

Daily opportunities for play and human interaction should be available to the cats individually. Respect for the feline senses in the context of multicat homes is complex and does not fit into the scope of this article, but you should know it is important to consider how your cat feels about scents, touch, sounds, and certain sights.

Age, Sex, Health, and Neuter Status of Resident Cat

Generally speaking, the younger your resident cat is, the better the likelihood of a successful introduction. It’s recommended that males be neutered before being introduced to each other, and if the male has not been neutered before 6 months of age, he may have more trouble sharing the home with another cat, especially another male (Bradshaw & Ellis, 2016). 

It’s also important to understand how future life stages may impact the relationship of your cats. If you adopt a 5 month old kitten while your resident cat is 18 months old and they integrate well, you may notice your older cat becomes less interested in the younger cat around 2 years of age, due to the onset of social maturity. At this point, however, the younger cat is still very young and may pester the older cat, causing tension. 

The health status of your resident cat is also important to consider. Caring for a cat with certain health conditions can take up more time and money, which may strain your ability to care for the other cat. Even if your current cat’s condition is stable right now, consider whether a worsening of their condition would impact things.

Ability to Facilitate a Slow Introduction

The need for very slow and intentional introductions between cats is often overlooked by many cat caregivers. It is very important to understand that most cat introductions take between 3 weeks and 3 months, with some cat duos needing several months to fully integrate. At the minimum, most caregivers will find themselves needing tools such as treats, toys, and baby gates for the process. But more complicated introductions may also need leashes and harnesses, additional gates, pheromone diffusers, and professional guidance. 

Every introduction will need a “safe room” where you keep the new cat until they are coexisting 24/7, and that means you will have to keep all those key resources in the safe room too. For people living in small homes, this may cause one room to temporarily be crowded if it is share with humans (such as a primary bedroom). More complicated introductions may require you to section off parts of the home for each cat while you work on the coexisting stage. It is important to understand what you may be getting into when introducing new cats. Some people may not be willing to go to such lengths if the introduction does not go perfectly, and that is okay!

Misconceptions About the Benefits of Adding a Second Cat

For Your Mature or Senior Cat to be More Active

Many caregivers with good intentions want to see their mature (7-10) or senior (11+) cat be happy and active, so they adopt a kitten thinking it will bring back the previous pep in her step. We generally don’t recommend adding a kitten for a mature cat unless the caregiver has ample resources for physically and mentally exercising the kitten as well as ample environmental resources for the mature cat to avoid the kitten when she pleases.

For senior cats, we advise against bringing a kitten into the home permanently unless they can be kept separate while still meeting both cats’ needs. In either case, you should not expect a kitten to increase a mature or senior cat’s activity. Instead, you should focus on proper enrichment, medical care, nutrition, and comfort for your aging cat.

Your Adult Cat is Too Rambunctious/Destructive

Some caregivers at their wits’ end want to bring home another cat to calm down their resident cat. This can be beneficial with young kittens, but the benefits are limited in certain other cases. Many cats have excess energy because certain needs have not been met such as daily interactive play and foraging opportunities, and places to release tension through scratching. In this case, adding a cat is not guaranteed to work for long or at all because these are things that every cat needs and adding a cat cannot substitute for these provisions.

If you have made sure your cat has all five pillars in the home and their energy is still excessive, it may be okay to add another energetic and playful cat as long as you can provide those five pillars for the new cat too. If you think it would be hard to provide that, pursuing training/behavior modification would be the better next step.

You are Away From Home For Long Periods

Some caregivers may notice that their cat struggles when they are away from home for long periods and want to get someone to keep them company. This is another situation where evaluating those five pillars for your resident cat should be the first step. Are you providing positive, consistent, and predictable human interactions each day? Interactive play sessions? These things can’t be traded for time with another cat.

This isn’t to say your cat wouldn’t also enjoy having a feline companion, but many cats will still want your attention too. So in this case we return to the same warning that you may add the new cat and see some improvement, but still need to address the five pillars that are missing.

Conclusion

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, it is very important to take this all into the context of your specific household, lifestyle and the resident cat(s). Assessing your capacity for providing a healthy multicat environment and to be patient through the introduction process is just as important as evaluating your resident cat’s ability to adapt to the new cat. If you still aren’t sure whether adding a new cat is right for you, or you’ve decided and you want help making the introduction process go as smoothly as possible, we highly recommend reaching out to us at Purrfect Paws University or another qualified feline behavior professional.

Sources:

Rodan, I., Ramos, D., Carney, H., DePorter, T., Horwitz, D. F., Mills, D., & Vitale, K. (2024). 2024 AAFP intercat Tension Guidelines: Recognition, prevention and management. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 26(7).

Bradshaw, J., & Ellis, S. (2016a). Chapter 5. In The Trainable Cat: A Practical Guide to Making Life Happier for You and Your Cat (pp. 116–117). essay, Basic Books.