definitiveguide2ragdolls.myfreeforum.org :: is two company three a crowd??

raggiefever · Just Begun

Hi all,

i am new to posting but have found reading the posts so helpful since getting my first ragdolls back in May.

I was hoping to gain some advice from the experience you all have!! I have two raggies, Sid and Tilly. they are 7 months now and altho not from the same litter they are from the same breeder so i got them at the same time. After a day or two of hissing from Tilly they have been inseparable ever since!!

My dilemma now is that i am dying to add to my little raggie family. I really really want a cream one but am worried about upsetting the apple cart. How have other people found introducing new kittens to a happy cat family? Are they likely to accept it after a while or is it a case of two being company and three is a crowd?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! i know cats are all individual but i really want to consider it properly as i would hate to rush in and make any of them unhappy!!!

Thanks so much!

Amy cat

michelle davies · Raggie Cat

Hi Amy,

i started with one then added another and then 2 more...mine are all fine the youngsters bug the oldies but they put them in their place tongue

my advise is just introduce slowly and allow them to make freinds on their own terms!!

also make sure that they have space to get away on their own if they feel it necessary!

hope this helps you,

Michelle
x x

Chris · Princess Pushy

I agree with Michelle on this. I think three will be fine AS LONG AS you have plenty of space, your house is large enough and the cats have room for themselves should they want it.

Some species of wild cats are actually solitary and do not mix only coming together for mating whilst there are many colonies of feral cats and that live happily as a family group so we have to bear this in mind!! Wanting a new fluffy little kitten is sometimes not what the two cats you already have would appreciate even though we want one for ourselves!!!

When you get another kitten, you must expect hissing and spitting, growling and upset to the household. This almost always settles down after a few days and little by little they will get together and usually peace returns.

You may find that one of the resident cats takes to the new addition better than the other does you may find that they ignore the new kitten and remain as close as ever!! Sometimes having another two does make things that much easier all round for that reason!!

There is not way of knowing how they will react so you will need to be about for a few days when the introduction takes place to ensure that no attacks take place!!

raggiefever · Just Begun

thank you michelle and chris,

thankfully we do have the space in the house and also we have had the garden secured so they have access to it whenever we are in to supervise and also the weather is not horrendous! they are not keen on the wet!

I absolutely agree regarding the issue that although i may want another kitten, my two happy cats may not and i guess this is what mainly prompted me to ask for advice.

I suppose i need to consider it very carefully, and your experience is very helpful, thank you. I have just been so completely won over well and truly by these amazing cats, that perhaps i need to aks myself if i will stop at three!!

thirzajane · Baby Raggie

My Sam's a little anti-social and I think he would very much prefer to be an only cat, but that doesn't stop me from coveting other Raggies.

A question for the breeders on the forum - would you take back a kitten or adult retiree that didn't work out in its new home for these sorts of reasons? Or ask the new owner to organise rehoming? How long would be the right amount of time to give the 'settling down' process?

raggiefever · Just Begun

ah good questions thank you!

my family cat when i was a child lived till 18 but in that time she definately wanted to be an only cat, she bullied her litter brother terribly! he unfortuntaley was stolen but she was so much happier when he was gone! i am not sure if she arrnaged his disappearance!!!!

Could my cats behaviour to one another now be an indicator of how accepting of other cats they would be or does this bear no relevance??

x

Chris · Princess Pushy

There really is no way of telling how any cat will react to a new addition to the family. I have sold many kittens to homes who have older cats and with my hand on my heart I have never had one come back because they didn't get on!! It can take a couple of weeks or so before normality returns even longer in some cases!! Some cats love one another after a week or so, some will just learn to live alongside one another and are happy with that!!!

It is always better to introduce a kitten than an older cat. There is something about a new 'baby' that almost always prevents real aggression whereas when an older neutered cat is brought in, things can be very different.

Earlier this year we sold a kitten to a lady who had a 4 year old absolutely spoiled rotten female Ragdoll. This lady really wanted a new baby but was petrified that her older cat would be badly affected and stressed. She dithered about it for a couple of weeks and in the end I told her that I was really worried that she would not give it enough time before panicking completely and wanting to bring the kitten back so therefore I was not happy about her taking him!

She thought about it carefully and decided that she really had fallen in love with him and wanted to take him home. I told her that IF things were bad and there was no sign of improvement after 4 weeks, then I would take him back.

Things were a little upside down for the first few days, the older cat wouldn't have anything to do with him and the lady was convinced that she ( the cat) was stressed and unhappy. I told her to just moniter the situation and let them get on with it. A pecking order needed to be put in place by the two cats and only they could settle it!! Within two weeks, the cats were getting on really well. The kitten had a few slaps from the older girl and she had put him in his place on more than one occassion!! Eventually, his innocence and playfulness brought out the kitten in HER and now the two get on famously and are happy as larry!!

lewisz · Raggie Cat

We brought our new kitten home last Sunday and all of our cats were put out. Its been a week now and theyre all settled and happy again and the baby is on the top of the cat tree.

However years ago i had a moggy who was never the same when we got our second cat.

You just never know - and will only find out by trying i s'pose....

Zo xx[/quote][/url]

shazza · Raggie Cat

I have 4 female moggies and when i bought home my gorgeous male raggie the two older ones where disgusted..lol. They are outdoor cats so for a couple of weeks they only came in for food, i was upset and i did wonder if i had done the wrong thing in getting Archie.....Four months on, you can find them all sleeping together on the bed, a foot apart but what a turn around! The oldest moggie will sometimes wash Archie, when she thinks im not watching..lol. It was deffo the best move ive made. sunny

Sharon. x