Ragdoll Cat Forums

Ugh, I suck. I knew this would happen.

So I'm in the process of warming my husband up to the idea of an additional kitten. I wanted a dog now that we are buying a house (moving in just under a month) and I still do. But, dogs are a lot harder than cats. I'm not sure I really want dog-level responsibility at this point yet, any more than I'd want to have children right now.

Atrus is such a good boy if we are gone overnight or something. Do you think he would like having a friend? My only concern is that he is fairly timid, but would another cat (especially if we got it as a kitten) really intimidate him? Now he just loves me and I can pick him up and carry him around and smooch his face. Atrus adores my husband as well, but it less likely to come to him if called. He just has to be in whatever room we are in; even if we both get up to go get a drink and he is sleeping, he will usually get up and follow or meow in complaint when we come back.

But he does seem to be timid when we have people over. This makes sense, as as long as we've had him, we have lived literally in the middle of nowhere with me traveling 80 miles (one way) to university in one direction and my husband driving 50mi in the other, so having guests over does not happen often. In fact, I can probably almost count on two hands how often we have had guests over while we have had Atrus. Most of our friends and my husband's family live in Columbus, and that is where he works, so when we have managed to find the time to be social we usually go there rather than people coming to us. But Atrus has probably seen my parents like twice, Corey's parents once or twice, and our friends maybe two or three times. He is just not used to other people. I suspect this will change once we move and he sees others more often? He is a good boy and curious about new people, but doesn't seem to get that he is such a pretty thing that people want to ooh and ahh over.

I just do not want to get a new kitten if Atrus would prefer being an only cat, but I don't know how to tell if that is the case. He is only like 1.5 years old, so I would think it would be easy to introduce a new pet. And everyone always asks this, but I have to as well, if we get a new kitten will he like it too much and ignore us? Would the new kitten be less interested in us? I admit, I would be jealous. I'm only human.

Atrus's breeder has litters coming up at the beginning and end of August, so by the time they would be ready to go we'd have been in our house for over two months. Maybe that would be too soon. I do like the idea of getting pets in the summer (since I work in education) because I am reliably home all the time (and bored to death). I suppose it may take some time if I feel like waiting for a specific color/pattern (I want a seal mitted little girl this time, or maybe a colorpoint, but I really want mitted)

So I'm getting myself into a mortgage and moving into a 3 bedroom house from a 1 bedroom apartment (we have like, not nearly enough furniture at all), and of course I want to drop several hundred on a new kitten. Of course.

Sorry for the rambles.

Very few cats do not prefer feline companionship - and that is even more typical of Ragdolls. In general, the younger the resident cats, the easier the introductions. I wouid always recommend having at least two cats - or a dog companion for a cat.

I used to have only one cat - Simon, and when he died I ended up getting two. The reason.... my husband. When Simon died our house was truly missing something and when I went to get another cat, my husband said I had to get two because if Simon was as lonely when we left him, as we were after he died, then he didn't want another single cat again that might be lonely.

Only you can truly answer whether Atrus is happy as an only cat, but as much as I think Samantha would appreciate not having Simone around, I don't think I will ever go back to just one cat again.

Even cats who do not seem to get along all that well seem to prefer the other cat being there. Not sure what it is. Perhaps they say to themselves: "Brother is here. This is a safe place for cats." One can see this by the discomfort when the other cat is gone to the vet, etc. The other cat may be more timid or unsure, seeming to think: "Where have the cats gone? And WHY!"

I must say I feel less guilty leaving for the day now that Moby has a little brother. I did not find Moby's personality to change - he is still very confident and enhoys being close to where the action is in the house. Moby only purrs when there is food around. Hershey on the other hand is a more dependent and gentle kitten who purrs when someone looks at him. He loves giving kisses. Initially he always wanted to be with Moby but now I find he will leave him to seek human contact. That is until Moby gets jelous and meows until Hershey comes back to him! I wish Moby would stop doing that!

The introduction was not too difficult - I rushed things a bit in the beginning and then I had to pull back and start over and take things very slowly. At first my husband thought that we would have to give Hershey away because they were not getting along. There was no way that was going to happen and with persistance, patience and time they are the BEST of friends.

I used to have only cats... and they seemed content especially Glamour who obliviously hated other cats. Then Cyrano came and I rapidly discovered he was unhappy alone as my working hours were way too long for my little one. So Diwan came and I certainly don't regret it. Now I wonder how I even could only have one cat... It's so much fun to have two. I love to see when they play and cuddle and just interact with each other

Yep, nothing but good stories here too. Jake's problem with strangers has even become minimal now the kittens have been here for a while, he is first to go up for a good snuggle and smooch. I truely believe the kittens are the reason he is okay with them now.

The boys are all great friends and snuggle together and always love to have a good play and although we never doubted we wouldnt get a friend for jake it took longer then we thought. So poor Jake was alone for a fair chunk of the day and I worried constantly about him, although he didnt seem unhappy. I think I am more happy to stay out for a bit longer now, knowing that he has company.

So i definately recommend getting Atrus a friend and I cant wait to hear all about him/her in the coming months....

Well it is good that I thought perhaps the two litters that are about to be born by Atrus's breeder might be a little soon to get a second cat, as they would be ready to go at the beginning and end of November, and we are moving in late August, since both litters will be all bicolors. I hate to be picky, but I was hoping to get a colorpoint or mitted. That seems a fairly superficial reason, but the litter to be born in a week most likely is reserved already anyway. Her breeding cats are mostly bicolors though, so I suppose other patterns are a lot less likely?

Yes, other patterns are less likely. However, the breeder can tell you the pattern expectations for each pairing. (High mitted bicolors mated to high mitted bicolors, who are the most prevalent genetic bicolor in the US, will have ALL bicolor kittens.)

Her two litters coming in August will be ALL bicolors, but she let me know the next female she intends to breed should produce all mitteds. I'm not opposed to waiting a bit, we will need to get settled and I'm sure Atrus will need some time to adjust to having over double the square footage to roam around in. But I am impatient, it's true. For a long time I did not want another kitten, but once the idea enters your mind again it is difficult to get rid of it.