Expert: Ali - 5/20/2009

Question
Hi, I have a very happy, very spoiled cat, he has always been an indoor cat, he was fixed as soon as he was of age , he will be 5 years old in Sept 2009. I have read somewhere that sometimes getting a 2nd cat when your other cat has reached a certain age could result in the new addition getting hurt or even killed by the  older cat. My question is : , how old is too old to add a new addition to our family. We love our cat very much, and do not want to do anything that may result in him feeling hurt, or un-loved by us. I just feel that sometimes he may be happier if he had a friend to play with all the time , and company when we are away.
Thank you for your advice.

Answer
Wanda,

New cat introductions can be complex issues and because I commonly receive questions about appropriate new cat introductions I've provided some basic information that will help to give you a general idea about how the process works best. If you require further information or you have questions on the subject I would recommend that you consider reading my previous answers on this topic.

Cats are very territorial and they don't like change much, this can sometimes lead to problems with fighting or fearful behavior on the part of one or both cats if introductions aren't done carefully, with the needs of your resident cat and newly adoptive kitten in mind. Since you've already had your male cat sterilized you've taken a huge step towards minimizing his aggression levels. Cats that have been surgically sterilized tend to live longer, healthier lives, fewer behavioral problems and of course they don't contribute to the very serious pet overpopulation problem worldwide.

The information you read about a cat killing or seriously injuring a new addition was likely about introducing an intact male cat to a kitten under 8-10 weeks of age. Provided that you go ahead and introduce the new arrival properly there's every chance that the pair will get along. Sometimes older cats respond better to kittens being integrated into their homes than they would if an adult cat was introduced, but overall the important thing is that you introduce the new arrival to your resident cat gradually and avoid conflict by treating your resident cat as you always have so that he understands that the new addition isn't coming into your home as a replacement for him. If your older cat feels as though you're not paying him any attention he may become resentful of the kitten which could potentially cause ongoing problems with bullying which creates an unhealthy atmosphere for everyone involved.

I typically recommend that new cat introductions take place in a very structured way. It's important to take the new cat/kitten's age, medical and vaccine status into consideration when introducing him/her to your resident cat. It's normally a good idea to isolate new additions to your household for a minimum of 2-3 weeks. This isolation period serves a couple of purposes, firstly it allows for a quarantine period which will prevent your resident cat and newly adopted cat/kitten from spreading any contagious viral or bacterial infections to each other. Issues like upper respiratory infections are quite common in shelter cats, this makes it important to take your newly adopted family member to the veterinarian and confirm that s/he's healthy and free of chronic and potentially serious viral infections like feline leukemia and FIV which are similar to HIV and AIDS in people (don't worry though, they can't pass these viral infections on to human beings). Some cats infected with FIV or feline leukemia can become quite sick while others go on to live fairly healthy, normal lives. The main reason that these viral infections are a concern is because there is a chance that cats living together in a multiple cat household can potentially pass these infections on to their housemates or other cats in the neighborhood if they're allowed outside. FIV and feline leukemia can be transmitted from cat to cat via contact with blood or saliva and in the case of outdoor cats, stray/feral cats that get into frequent fights with may have an increased risk of becoming infected (which is another good reason to keep your kitty indoors or if you want to allow your cat access to the outdoors it's best to vaccinate according to your vet's recommendations).

Kittens under 12 weeks of age are quite vulnerable to viral and bacterial infections, especially if they've been weaned prematurely (mother cats don't need any help to wean their babies, they normally do so on their own within the first 10-12 weeks of age). If your new kitten is under 12 weeks of age it would be wise to have him/her examined, treated for internal/external parasites and completely vaccinated prior to introducing him/her to your adult cat, particularly if he goes outside and has contact with other animals.

A concern that I would have with an intact adult male cat being introduced to a kitten under 10 weeks of age is the potential for him to become aggressive and seriously injure the kitten. Adult male cats that haven't been sterilized have been known to attack and kill young kittens in the hopes of encouraging their mother to come into season earlier and possibly having the opportunity to mate with her. Serious injury is a possibility if your resident cat isn't neutered and your newly adopted kitten is very young. Since your male was neutered at an early age I'd recommend making sure that the kitten is at least 8-10 weeks old prior to allowing the new kitten unsupervised access to your household. It's very important that you kitten proof your home if you're thinking about adopting a young kitten to avoid serious injury or illness caused by little kittens getting into things they shouldn't.

The second purpose behind gradually introducing the new kitty after a quarantine period is to prevent any disputes over territory or any undesirable aggression due to the change in your household. Young kittens that lack confidence or are fearful may exhibit aggression in the form of hissing or swatting at an unfamiliar adult cat when they haven't been properly introduced. If your adult cat decided to react aggressively to the presence of his newly adopted brother or sister s/he'd be unlikely to defend him/herself successfully against a dedicated offensive attack. After a 2-3 week isolation period and making sure to familiarize the resident cat and his younger brother/sister to each other's scents and presence there's minimal risk of serious aggression between the two cats.

I routinely use a safe, effective homeopathic remedy called Bach's Rescue Remedy which is a blend of flower essences designed to calm and reassure. In my opinion Rescue Remedy is a great tool to help cats in stressful situations. In this situation you could make use of this remedy to help ease your kitten's transition away from her mom and siblings and into your family. Rescue Remedy might be quite useful in this situation to help to keep your older cat as calm as possible throughout the potentially stressful introduction to his new little sister. I've used this remedy to tip the balance in my favor in tough situations as well as routine stuff like new cat introductions and I really believe that it's worth using as it's likely to help keep everyone as stress free as possible - this will help to ensure that the introduction process is as gentle and smooth as possible for all involved.

I normally suggest adding a dose of about 5-7 drops of Rescue Remedy to fresh bowls of water for each cat every morning and you can start that immediately. Rescue Remedy can be administered by rubbing a drop onto the relatively hair free area in front of your cats' ears, however it's important to make sure you don't get any inside of the ear canal because it can sting, especially if either kitty has an ear infection or scratches their ears frequently - the flower essences are preserved in a grape alcohol solution. Incidentally if either cat scratches their ears or shakes their head frequently it's well worth having your vet check to ensure that there aren't any ear mites present, these are tiny parasites that live in a pet's ear canal and they can be quite irritating for cats. If ear mites are present your vet will prescribe the appropriate treatment to kill the offending parasites. You can often find Rescue Remedy in health food stores, naturopathic pharmacies, some mainstream pharmacies in the aisle with vitamins and nutritional supplements and I believe that you can also purchase this remedy online. Rescue Remedy is often used by pet parents and some veterinarians worldwide to treat injured, abused, traumatized, abandoned, anxious, fearful or timid animals and help them to recover from their special circumstances quite successfully. I have used Rescue Remedy in addition to TLC, patience and in some cases the use of conventional medical treatments for many years, it's worked some minor miracles in a variety of situations for cats and kittens that might not have otherwise coped with whatever rehabilitation they required.

In the unlikely event that a serious fight did break out it's very important not to get between fighting cats because cat scratches and bites can be serious and require medical attention because they can become infected. On the day of the first face to face meeting of the two cats I'd recommend having a water pistol/spray bottle, a heavy towel and a broom nearby just in case something goes drastically wrong during the introduction and a fight breaks out. Squirting the cats with the spray bottle might be enough to split up a mild fight. In the event that water doesn't stop the fighting a heavy towel can be tossed over one of the cats to stop them from striking out and they can be carefully separated that way although a broom can also be used to gently guide feuding felines apart so that nobody gets hurt. If a bit of hissing and swatting happens I'd recommend supervising closely to ensure that nothing serious comes out of the posturing, if a fight breaks out then it's best to stop the introduction for that day, wait until everyone calms down and try the face to face introductions again in a few days.

In general the best way to start introducing the new cat/kitten to your resident cat in a gradual and non confrontational manner once everyone's healthy and ready for the introductions is to work with transferring scents back and forth between the two cats. You can do this by switching litter boxes, beds or toys, however it's best not to do those sorts of things until your newly adopted cat/kitten has been given a clean bill of health by your vet. Another way to accomplish the exchange of scents in a non-threatening way is to start off by rubbing the kitten down with a hand towel, then rubbing the older cat all over with the same towel and lastly going back to the kitten for a final rub down. This first step allows the older cat and his new feline brother/sister to gradually become accustomed to each other's unique scent and can minimize the risk of aggression between the two cats because they will be familiar with each other's scent. Scent provides a fair bit of information to a cat, for instance it can provide basic information about health, age, sex, reproductive status, illnesses, diet, etc. I'd recommend that you begin the towel scent exchanges as soon as possible and that you go through the entire process at least twice daily.

Another great tip to help get the cat and cat/kitten accustomed to one another is to feed them on either side of a closed door. This will allow both your resident cat and the new cat/kitten to get the nutrition appropriate to their age and needs. Feeding the cats on opposite sides of a closed door will also help your new "siblings" to associate each others' scent with something positive - food. Often times resident cats and new additions will begin to show curiosity about each other and even play together under the door before they ever see each other. This is a great sign and should be encouraged. Play and food are wonderful tools to help facilitate a healthy relationship between the new cat/kitten and your resident cat as well as being an awesome way to strengthen the bond between you and your cats. Interactive toys like kitty teases and laser lights (do be careful to avoid shining the light into anyone's eyes as these toys can do damage) are great in terms of getting cats to play with you and each other. Special treats work well as a form of bribery to help an uncertain kitty become more comfortable with the presence of another cat in his/her territory. I find that cheese, chicken, fish or lamb work well and which foods you will need to use will depend upon what your cats prefer.

The last bits of information that I wanted to make for your furry family members aren't really about new cat introductions so much as the general health and wellbeing of both of your feline friends. Nutrition is a highly charged issue, especially in light of the Menu Foods catastrophe which claimed the lives of thousands of pets and made countless others seriously ill as a result of melamine ending up in a significant percentage of pet food brands. I believe that it's important to do your own research on the type of food that you want to feed your pet without accepting the pretty pictures that advertisers want you to see or the recommendations of less than ethical people who profit from any health crises that your pets may have as a result of poor quality nutrition.

I highly recommend that you consider checking out the following website which my vet recommended to me, this site was written by a veterinarian and it's information that I think every pet parent should be aware of. The web address is www.catinfo.org. I've thoroughly read the material on this site and I think it's impressive that this veterinarian cares enough about the health of cats to take the time to educate their caregivers when it comes to the unique nutritional requirements of our carnivorous feline friends. I often recommend that pet parents consider feeding a high quality, holistic pet food made from human grade ingredients as opposed to lower quality foods that aren't as healthy for cats in the long run. I know of two high quality commercially produced cat foods that are made from human grade ingredients, Wellness and Spot's Stew by Halo. There are also a number of high quality raw diets on the market, but they can be difficult to find and expensive to feed. Wellness is formulated with the expectation that pet parents will be feeding a combination of canned and dry food, not all caregivers want to go this route and it can get costly. I have some fascinating information on the pet food industry if you're interested in learning more about the subject.

I feed a combination of a homemade raw diet and Spot's Stew Sensitive Cat by Halo and I find it to be a high quality, healthy food and it's reasonably priced. One 6 lb bag of Spot's Stew costs about $25 CAN and lasts my 3 resident cats for about a month. I've taken the liberty of including the ingredient list for the formula of Spot's Stew that I feed my cats and I would urge you to compare it to your current food so that you can have an overall picture of the differences between the quality of ingredients in various commercially produced pet foods.

The ingredient list of Spot's Stew Sensitive Cat is as follows: Turkey, Pea Protein, Whole Dried Eggs, Oats, Pearled Barley, Pea Flour, Turkey Liver, Salmon, Flaxseed, Salmon Oil, Pea Fiber, Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Blueberries, Green Beans, Carrots, Cranberries, Zucchini, Alfalfa, Inulin, Calcium Sulfate, Potassium Chloride, Taurine, Salt, Folic Acid, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Cobalt Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Bitartrate, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Riboflavin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Bifidobacterium Longum, Enterococcus Faecium, Lactobacillus Plantarum, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite.

Cats being fed high quality holistic foods tend to live longer, healthier lives. Another bonus when it comes to high quality food for cats is that litter box deposits don't tend to smell as foul and they are fewer in quantity, this is because the cat is using more of the food s/he's taking in and as a result s/he's producing less waste. Other perks of feeding high quality diets is that you'll find your cats' coats are softer and silkier, they'll be healthier, happier, have more energy and be less likely to become overweight.