Current Events > Getting a third cat, feeling kind of nervous

(+) Yeah! (+)

my wife has her cat and I have my cat and they're both about 7 years old, but we saw this adorable kitten we really want to rescue. Just really scared it's going to drive our cats away from us :(

Does anyone have experience with this?

---

I brought a kitten into the home of cats that were 4, 3 and 2 years old

You've just gotta introduce the new one slowly, and don't neglect your other cats. You wont drive them away
---

Rescue? Is it being held hostage?

---

MarqueeSeries posted...

I brought a kitten into the home of cats that were 4, 3 and 2 years old

You've just gotta introduce the new one slowly, and don't neglect your other cats. You wont drive them away

Were the other cats really close to you or kind of off doing their own thing most of the time? Ours are like always by our side, my wife's cat literally sits next to her in her home office all day lol.

---

I got a third cat earlier this year after ~4 or 5 years of having two cats. It's been great, he doesn't get along with one of them too well but they just avoid each other, no big deal.

Trick is to introduce them properly. Keep new kitty in its own room for a while, sometimes it can require a couple weeks. Once new cat is comfortable ( a good sign is trying to follow you out of the room) try cracking the door a bit and introducing the cats that way. Slowly work up from that to just letting new kitty free roam.

---

Just continue to give your other cats love and attention. I used to own tons of cats, I think we had upwards of 6 or 8 at once at one point, I never had a problem with cats becoming distant with us. The issue we did have is some of the cats wouldn't get along, that's the thing you have to worry about.

---

Get the kitten man, I've owned cats my whole life and the older cats will be fine with a kitten in the house.

---

Introduce the new cat slowly, and continue to give plenty of attention to your current cats. Keep the kitten in its own room for at least a week.

---

i had 2 cats that were cool, when we introduced a third it took about a week or 2 for the other two to be kind to it but now they are all friendly

---

OP you got your advice, now it's time for you to provide cat pics

---

BewmHedshot posted...

OP you got your advice, now it's time for you to provide cat pics

Here's a picture of the little girl we want to adopt. The shelter called me in the middle of a conference call though and now I'm trying to return the call to figure out the options. Don't know if we'll be able to pick her up today since it's already 3 PM and it's apparently an hour drive there


---

TC This could be your cats!

https://v.redd.it/t71lqqwsk8b51

Ruvan22 posted...

TC This could be your cats!

https://v.redd.it/t71lqqwsk8b51

lmfao that is too cute. I think that's what our big boy would do, he likes to try to clean the other cat and us all the time.

---

That is an acceptably cute kitten.

---

It might spark a youthfulness back into your current cats. The jealousy thing tends to be more of a dog issue, as stated above, i've had cats all my life and there was never a problem with the older cats in the home when we brought new ones in. They might hiss and growl at them for a couple weeks but they will iron out their differences in time. They won't turn their back on you, I can say that pretty confidently.

---

BewmHedshot posted...

That is an acceptably cute kitten.

Thanks! She reminded us of a little desert fox, and she was too cute. Really vocal, and grabbing my finger with her tiny claws and trying to pull my hand into the cage/trying to squeeze out of the cage, and she wanted to get out so bad she was standing in her bowl of water and everything. We've seen cute kittens before and joked about getting another cat but this one was just too sweet, and her siblings had already been adopted out and it was too heart breaking.

She was sneezing/wheezing so we reported that to the PetSmart folks and they took her back to the shelter for treatment, took a good two weeks... I imagine they did the spaying, too. ALSO No indication on her FIV status, hopefully it's negative - I imagine they would have told us if she were positive.

MabusIncarnate posted...

It might spark a youthfulness back into your current cats. The jealousy thing tends to be more of a dog issue, as stated above, i've had cats all my life and there was never a problem with the older cats in the home when we brought new ones in. They might hiss and growl at them for a couple weeks but they will iron out their differences in time. They won't turn their back on you, I can say that pretty confidently.

That's really reassuring, I love cuddling with my little bear.

---

Hexenherz posted...

MarqueeSeries posted...

I brought a kitten into the home of cats that were 4, 3 and 2 years old

You've just gotta introduce the new one slowly, and don't neglect your other cats. You wont drive them away

Were the other cats really close to you or kind of off doing their own thing most of the time? Ours are like always by our side, my wife's cat literally sits next to her in her home office all day lol.

Our cats are extremely close to us, usually rotating out for lap time/play time
---

So I stayed the night in the room with her, it is obvious she is not used to larger spaces or people but eventually she warmed up to me and started cuddling on the blanket and let me hold her. Wife is going to sleep with her tonight. Our two older kitties slept with her downstairs so that made me feel better.

I still have a really big sense of anxiety/dread for some reason like "Omg what did we do??" But I think that will pass once everyone gets used to everyone else. Our other cats are really, really chill so I'm not worried about them getting used to her at all, though they are a lot bigger so I worry about if they get to playing too rough.

---

3 cats is too many imo >_> Thats edging in crazy cat lady territory
---

NeonOctopus posted...

3 cats is too many imo >_> Thats edging in crazy cat lady territory

shut up there's no such thing as too many cats

---

I'm just saying. Too much pussy isn't always a good thing
---

NeonOctopus posted...

3 cats is too many imo >_> Thats edging in crazy cat lady territory

Well we have a two story house with furnished basement. 3 is the absolute max we will take though, I don't even want to think about the moving logistics if/when that time comes.

---

Choco posted...

shut up there's no such thing as too many cats

3 is okay. anything after that is pushing it :( imo.
not so much as the number of pets but the costs in general multiplied by x3. vet bills can get high in some cases.
---

Another shitty part about this is that she has the upstairs bedrooms to herself which is a lot of space and will help her get familiar with a good third of the house, BUT we also don't really go up there often (I mean we do now that she's there, but in general we haven't lived up there for a long time). So our other cats don't really go up there too often and I don't know how much that's going to impact the acquaintanceship process.

---

My parents got a third cat, it is rambunctious and the other two cats absolutely hate it and just hide away all day. My parents feel bad because the two older cats used to always be so loving and sit on their laps but now they are nowhere to be found because the new cat demands all the attention.

---

BignutzisBack posted...

My parents got a third cat, it is rambunctious and the other two cats absolutely hate it and just hide away all day. My parents feel bad because the two older cats used to always be so loving and sit on their laps but now they are nowhere to be found because the new cat demands all the attention.

Man we're so worried about that but so far they've been chilling like usual when we're downstairs with them. One of us can stay with the two older cats and it's fine.

---

BignutzisBack posted...

My parents got a third cat, it is rambunctious and the other two cats absolutely hate it and just hide away all day. My parents feel bad because the two older cats used to always be so loving and sit on their laps but now they are nowhere to be found because the new cat demands all the attention.

:(

---

dolomedes posted...

i had 3 cats for a while and it taught me that 2 cats is a good cat cap.

lol
---

This is the first work day we've had her - we are teleworking so no big deal but my wife's cat is always by her side during work so I'm probably going to be the one to hang out with her during the day.

Don't have any power up there so that's gonna be a pain for the laptops lol.

Also the door doesn't close for some reason, we tried wedging a piece of paper in there to keep the other cats from getting out but of course the big boy just puts his weight on it and it's done. He did that this morning when I was still asleep -_- He's really chill about everything though, he just wants to play like a big kitten and chase toys like she does.

---

Hexenherz posted...

This is the first work day we've had her - we are teleworking so no big deal but my wife's cat is always by her side during work so I'm probably going to be the one to hang out with her during the day.

Don't have any power up there so that's gonna be a pain for the laptops lol.

Also the door doesn't close for some reason, we tried wedging a piece of paper in there to keep the other cats from getting out but of course the big boy just puts his weight on it and it's done. He did that this morning when I was still asleep -_- He's really chill about everything though, he just wants to play like a big kitten and chase toys like she does.

What happened to the power?

We had a general contractor do some work and they screwed it up and didn't get a permit or anything, so we're getting all the work redone. Thankfully it's just a two day job and this new company we found is legit.

The little kitten is so funny, she is throwing the litter all over the friggin' bathroom right now holy cow. And she doesn't know to pick her tail up apparently -_- Aaaand she still has the runs but I imagine that's because of stress + a new diet.

She doesn't automatically come cuddle yet, she goes to a pair of pants that I have on the bed when she wants to lay down and then I come pick her up and bring her close to me and then on her own terms she wanders over and lays down on me. It's really cute. I just hope she warms up to the other cats soon it is hard dividing time up between the three.

---

Hexenherz posted...

We had a general contractor do some work and they screwed it up and didn't get a permit or anything, so we're getting all the work redone. Thankfully it's just a two day job and this new company we found is legit.

The little kitten is so funny, she is throwing the litter all over the friggin' bathroom right now holy cow. And she doesn't know to pick her tail up apparently -_- Aaaand she still has the runs but I imagine that's because of stress + a new diet.

She doesn't automatically come cuddle yet, she goes to a pair of pants that I have on the bed when she wants to lay down and then I come pick her up and bring her close to me and then on her own terms she wanders over and lays down on me. It's really cute. I just hope she warms up to the other cats soon it is hard dividing time up between the three.

I'm glad she's at least laying down on you! Pics of the other two cats

It's really not so bad until you get 4 cats. That's where crazy cat lady starts. 3 is still okay.
---

Ruvan22 posted...

I'm glad she's at least laying down on you! Pics of the other two cats

I will when I have a chance to find and post them lol. I feel like a boomer now when it comes to technology.

nfearurspecimn posted...

It's really not so bad until you get 4 cats. That's where crazy cat lady starts. 3 is still okay.

It's hard though. Our boy cat Mulder does just fine with her, though she's scared and hisses at him and growls at him. Scully is just straight up jealous, saw her once the very first day and now you can tell she's afraid things are going to change a lot.

---

Laying on the bed doing the Sophia US History course and she's passed out next to me, guess history isn't just boring for humans lawl.

I feel guilty leaving her alone for any amount of time but she's got the main bedroom and bathroom to herself so it's a pretty big space, plus I remember when we got Mulder we were driving across the country and had to leave him at the hotel when we went out to sight-see.

---

Hopefully itll instead trigger their parental instincts.
---

GiftedACIII posted...

Hopefully itll instead trigger their parental instincts.

I think that's what Mulder is thinking when he sees her, he just watches her and does everything kittenly possible to show that he is friendly.

And she's already climbing under the blanket to lay on my legs like he does. Hoping they get along then I can have two cats to cuddle with aw yeah

---

Ugh she is sleeping so peacefully and I had to go to check my other computer and get ready for this meeting. I feel so bad leaving her alone :(

---

Hexenherz posted...

Ugh she is sleeping so peacefully and I had to go to check my other computer and get ready for this meeting. I feel so bad leaving her alone :(

I thought cat owners had a universal "I can't move, there's a cat asleep on me" excuse

I mean yes but I also need to stay employed to make sure the cat has a house and food lol.

But yes I've oftentimes gone through great discomfort when needing the bathroom just to keep my cat comfortable

---

As promised, pictures of the other cats:

This is Mulder, he's my little cuddle bear. We got *really* lucky when we got him, we were staying at my sister's house when we were PCSing back from Cali to the east coast and we decided we would check out the animals at PetCo because we weren't allowed to have any cats at our apartment. Mulder had just been there for less than a day and we played with him and he was so cute, doing this swooping motion with his paw to pick up the toys. And then he fell asleep on my lap and that was that. We had to wait for him to get his surgery and then we got him, hung out for a few more days and then hit the road. He visited the Grand Canyon and Roswell on the travels and he's just a really loving boy all around. Whenever we watch other peoples' animals he's always the first to come out and greet them and boop them on the snoot and everything.


And this is our pocket panther Scully. She is *really* sweet and loving but it took her years to warm up to us. We got her a couple months after we got Mulder, we realized he was going to be a wild kitten who wouldn't settle down by himself and we realized he needed someone his size to play with. The local shelter had an adoption day at PetSmart which is where we saw Scully, but she was staying with her siblings and mother at a gentleman's house - we asked if we could bring Mulder over to see how he got along with them. Honestly there was a little black kitten that he fell in love with instantly, buuuut my wife saw this little grey and white killer and knew that was the one. I know cats are good hunters but Scully takes the cake, she is lightning fast and has brought in lizards and stuff from outside (though we stopped letting her go outside, she was getting too feral, using the houseplants as a litter box, and I don't like all the insects out there).



---

Hexenherz posted...

As promised, pictures of the other cats:

This is Mulder, he's my little cuddle bear. We got *really* lucky when we got him, we were staying at my sister's house when we were PCSing back from Cali to the east coast and we decided we would check out the animals at PetCo because we weren't allowed to have any cats at our apartment. Mulder had just been there for less than a day and we played with him and he was so cute, doing this swooping motion with his paw to pick up the toys. And then he fell asleep on my lap and that was that. We had to wait for him to get his surgery and then we got him, hung out for a few more days and then hit the road. He visited the Grand Canyon and Roswell on the travels and he's just a really loving boy all around. Whenever we watch other peoples' animals he's always the first to come out and greet them and boop them on the snoot and everything.


And this is our pocket panther Scully. She is *really* sweet and loving but it took her years to warm up to us. We got her a couple months after we got Mulder, we realized he was going to be a wild kitten who wouldn't settle down by himself and we realized he needed someone his size to play with. The local shelter had an adoption day at PetSmart which is where we saw Scully, but she was staying with her siblings and mother at a gentleman's house - we asked if we could bring Mulder over to see how he got along with them. Honestly there was a little black kitten that he fell in love with instantly, buuuut my wife saw this little grey and white killer and knew that was the one. I know cats are good hunters but Scully takes the cake, she is lightning fast and has brought in lizards and stuff from outside (though we stopped letting her go outside, she was getting too feral, using the houseplants as a litter box, and I don't like all the insects out there).

I like the names!! Was Mulder also an indoor/outdoor cat for a while?

They've both basically been indoor cats, when we moved to the house we let them go outside for a little bit on the back porch under supervision but Scully started going a little *too* far, plus there's been a lot of ticks out there so we decided to nix that.

Scariest thing was when those contractors I mentioned earlier left the door open and Scully got out... we spent half an hour looking for her. Thankfully she is a sausage addict so as soon as she heard the snack package crinkling she ran right back.

---

Hexenherz posted...

They've both basically been indoor cats, when we moved to the house we let them go outside for a little bit on the back porch under supervision but Scully started going a little *too* far, plus there's been a lot of ticks out there so we decided to nix that.

Scariest thing was when those contractors I mentioned earlier left the door open and Scully got out... we spent half an hour looking for her. Thankfully she is a sausage addict so as soon as she heard the snack package crinkling she ran right back.

I'm glad there was a good ending to that story. I've only been around indoor/outdoor cats (never really my own) but always thought if I *did* get a cat I'd want it to have *some* outdoor exposure, obviously without letting it decimate wildlife etc.

It's hard man lol. When they've been inside for so many years they are really cautious and slow and just hang out close to the house and you're like "OK that's not too bad". Then they start wandering away... and bringing back wild animals and everything.

Stopped doing that when the vet said that cats can get heartworm from mosquitoes. They do make topical medicines to prevent that but ugh. Don't even want to risk it!!

You can get them used to things at a young age, like walks on leashes and stuff. If they're used to wearing collars as a kitten they won't even sweat it when you put one on as an adult, and some crave that exercise like a dog.

---

Hexenherz posted...

this is such a great pic omg

---

2 cats really is the sweet spot, but I have no room to talk, we have like 5 cats and might be adopting another neighborhood cat
---

Choco posted...

this is such a great pic omg

lmao thanks, it was a random thing that he jumped up there (great, now I sound like one of those IG girls who's like "lol was grabbing my phone first thing this morning and accidentally snapped this PERFECT selfie!!")

nfearurspecimn posted...

2 cats really is the sweet spot, but I have no room to talk, we have like 5 cats and might be adopting another neighborhood cat

Yeah I am cuddling with kitten and I wonder like "What did we do??" I feel so guilty.

How do your 5 cats do with each other? How did you deal with the two week quarantine period?? That's the hardest part. I'm so scared she might be sick and pass something along to the other cats; also feel really bad that I usually cuddle with Mulder at night and my wife and I were going to take turns watching the kitten but Scully is FREAKING out that my wife is off in her own room.

Also the kitten is feeling warm (her paws are warm and nose is kind of dry), I know it could be like a million things but ugh.

---