Hi Everyone,
I know there have been many posts stating that it is good for your ragdolls to have another to play with. To me it doesn't seem like it would be much more work to have two. My Charlie is a little over a year now. My husband and I both work during the day and sometimes have lots on the go, so I feel like we aren't always there for Charlie. I am thinking that it would be nice for him to have a friend.
My husband isn't so sure. I think that his concerns are that Charlie wouldn't like another kitty. We do travel to go camping (5th wheel trailer) and we always take Charlie with us. He is a good traveler. He has a big crate for the vehichle and sleeps most of the travel time. Could you put both of them in the kennel together or would I need two? If I need two that would take up most of the backseat of the truck.
Would they use the same litter boxes? Charlie has never not used his litter box and we are concerned that if you introduce another cat into the house this could cause issues.
The other concern that I know my husband would have would be the hair. Not sure how I could convince him that this isn't an issue.
I really want another fur baby but I am not sure that I can sell this to my husband. Any advice or thoughts on my concerns?
Who is the one who does the majority of the caretaking? (litter box, feeding, brushing etc?) That's what I use, I'm the one that does all of those things so he didn't argue w/ me when I told him I wanted another. We do have a 14 yr old domestic short-hair calico and we recently lost our male long-haired cat, so I felt an emptiness, the hubby wasn't too thrilled w/ the idea, but caved & said it was fine, I think he's mostly worried about jealousy w/ our current kitty.
So we will be picking our new raggie kitten in 3 weeks! Of course I did push to adopt 2 at the same time, but that didn't go over well!!!!
Oh, and I would get one more litter box, we always had 2 when we had both kitties. As far as the crate thing goes, I'm not sure as we don't travel w/ them, but I would guess one crate and put them both in it if there's room????
Good luck!!
I had only one cat (Simon) for about 6 years (he died suddenly). When he did, it was amazing how empty our house seemed. I knew I wanted a ragdoll then because Simon had had the characteristics of one, and luckily I found Simone. I had planned to only have one cat. Then my husband was the one who said "If you have one, you've got to have two because I would hate to think that Simon was as lonely when we left the house as we were after he died". This from a husband who isn't wild about cats, and definitely not about cat fur (cats are banned from his office area at the house). Ask your husband to put himself in the position of Charlie and see if that helps any.
What Teresa says makes good sense. If you get your husband to think how Charlie must feel when he's left alone all day maybe he'll come round. Personally I have the opposite problem, it's me who has to think rationally and say we can't keep any more kittens, Stan would keep them all if I let him!!
I really hope you do manage to convince your husband because two definitely is better than one.
I think that all of your concerns are valid ones. Hershey travels well where as Moby always gets car sick on the way to the cottage. But we still go every weekend. Both of mine use the same litter box (I only have 1) but if I needed to I would have found a place for a second. I don't notice any more fur around the house when I got Hershey - the swifer vac takes care of that. And Moby HATED Hershey at first and now they are best of friends. I guess what I am getting at is that things always find a way of working themselves out. If you want a second then get one and the additional love he/she brings into house will make all of your concerns, worries and issues seem small!
We have two also. Chloe is the older of the two...Leo joined us 5 months after Chloe. Let me say they are great together....but when we first brought Leo home, we did the safe room etc...I thought OMG what did I do, my pretty little Chole was hissing and spitting-it was awful for the first 3-4 days....but from then on...they play, rough house, snuggle. It's great company. Chloe may have been ok being an "only" but you can see she enjoys the company. We have two litter boxes, in seperate areas and they go back and forth as to which one they use. Go for it!
It is simple mathematics... Two is of coz better than one.... Hahaha... Just kidding... But it is true that two ragdolls is better than one... But it will mean additional time/effort to clean their litter boxes, groom them, play with them, bathe them, pay for their vaccination and vet bills, buy lots more cat toys, etc etc... Two ragdolls is twice the fun but also twice the responsibility...
If you really decided to go ahead and get one more kitten, take note that for the initial few weeks that you have to spend alot more time with your new furrball and also your resident cat Charlie, coz you have to let your new kitten to settle down in a new environment, put him/her in a safe room first, introduce him/her to Charlie, make sure Charlie don't feel neglected, etc... Introduction of a new kitten to a resident cat usually takes quite a while and require lotsa patience... There are many members here who can share with you their experience of introducing a new kitten to resident cat...
I have two all so,,,,, and I'm so happy that we do there company for each other.
But I hated the introduction time my cello was so upset with me, he made up with Leyla and the two would play but he stayed mad at me,,, just me no other family member for well over a week after they where friends,,,I guess I hurt his little feelings.
There are definitely some risks, but if they can work it out (and most do) then there is also great reward. The initial stage is definitely the toughest as you do have to stretch yourself between the two like WilsonG says. Have I had issues bringing Pyjamas home? Sure...I hated feeling like we were alienating Ruby. Do I regret it now? Not for one second!
I think it would be fine to put them in the crate together if it's big enough to accommodate them both comfortably and if the drive isn't too long. Also you should probably wait until they are used to eachother and can be that close.
I think aside from basic worries, such as vet costs and etc, it really isn't a huge risk and not nearly as scary as it seems. Remember, you can always have alone time with each one so you know you're giving them both the attention they deserve.
With the hair....yeaaaaah. I hate it myself. But it's just what you get with a raggie. It's a small price to pay to have such a wonderful companion/s. My bf has long long hair that sheds constantly and is the bane of my existence, so the kitten hair didn't seem like a huge deal to me with all that hair I have to clean up already, LOL. Maybe if you put a plan in place with how to help control the hair, then he'll be more accepting?
Also...if he's a sucker for cute kitten faces...maybe try finding some photos and casually showing him from time to time..... ;-)
I wish you good luck with your mission!
We got another one for the exact same reasons as you. Albus is so much happier with Fawkes around. There really isn't much difference in the work we have to do with them. We have two litter boxes, two self feeders, two water dishes and 2x the toys/groomers etc but it's all well worth it!