I’ve been debating to myself if I should get a second cat, I already have a lovely cat in the house, Colette.
I guess there are positives and negatives to having 2 cats in the house.
A big negative is that the 2 cats won’t get along with each other.
I don’t know if I want to test the waters for this.
Another negative is more visits with the Vet and the mounting costs and more responsibility with “owning” more than one cat.
The positives is the sheer joy of surrounding myself to another furry friend, if things work out that is.
Someone told me you could bring your cat into the Humane Society (or whatever it’s called where you live) and hold it up to each of the caged cats, and see what type of reaction you get. This will help save time.
Colette is a pretty shy cat from what you described. I think You are better off getting another older cat with a very laid back personality. A young active high energy cat will be difficult to bond with for Colette. It might make her more withdrawn and anxious. There are a lot of big old softies out there who respect others space in need of homes.
I voted not to get another cat, but I may be biased on this based on my own experience.
I rescued a cat who had been dumped outside as a kitten. While he was very friendly to us, he was also terrified of other animals and the dark. We only found out after I rescued another cat.
Garret would literally try to kill Mondo every chance he got. He would not get past seeing Mondo as a predator.
It didn’t help that Mondo was a Maine Coon mix so he was twice the size of Garret. Garret was so threatened that we had to keep them separated at all times to protect the other cat. We had to pay more to rent a two bedroom apartment so each cat had his own bedroom, and we could take turns letting each one out.
It was a real headache. If Mondo meowed in his room, Garret would camp out outside the door hoping to sneak in when the door was opened so he could jump Mondo again. Luckily neither sprayed, or that would have really been hard. We were all too attached to consider giving one up, and besides, Mondo had been returned once already. I adored both, and there was no way I was going to part with either of them. Just tread carefully when it comes to integrating two cats!
I do agree with Joker that if you get one, you should rescue. I knew when there was such an adoption boom during the pandemic that too many people would dump their pets once the isolation was over. #&%$*#(.
I would see if you could find a fostered cat and have that cat brought over into Colette’s territory. It’s important that the cat come to you rather than the other way around, as it would be the new cat doing the integrating. Colette may freak out if taken to another location, and you want to see how both cats react to the space that would be their new home.
