Advice on adopting kitten / effect on senior sugar cat

My sister's newly adopted cat just had kittens (new cat came with a bit of a surprise!) :shock:

We are considering adopting one of the kittens but we are concerned about introducing a new kitten to Goodie our diabetic cat. Does anyone know if the stress of introducing a new cat to the older cat affects their glucose levels?

Goodie is our only cat right now. She lost her brother that she loved 3 years ago, and her step sister she-never-really-liked-but-tolerated 1 year ago. We would like her to have a companion but our concerned about upsetting her.

Also any advice on what would provide better chances of success a kitten or an adult cat?

 

Well, I want to see the kittens get adopted, of course.

But our experience has been less than ideal in getting a friend for Tommy.

Tommy is about 6-12 years old. Pretty laid back.

We adopted a 1-year-old back in January. A girl kitty. She is
very dominant and so energetic. Tommy gets really PO'd at her and
they get into fights once or twice per week.

Also, you have no idea how demanding a young kitten can be...they
are into everything.

If I had it to do over again, I'd have adopted an older male cat for Tommy.

They say if you already have a male cat get another male cat (neutered of course).
They usually get along better than a boy & girl cat, or two girl cats.
Girl kitty's can be very territorial.

 

Well, about 4 years ago, Mishka and Hope would have been about 7 1/2 yrs. old, I ended up with a wee little girl. Mishka thought I had given her a new toy, loved it, still does....Hope hissed and to this day does not bother with Whereisit. Not quite a year ago I ended up again with a baby boy, 5-6 weeks old. Kept him separate till testing was done then let him loose with H & M....both now 11 1/2 ........Hope tolerates him and, once again, Mishka has a new toy. Roofus will be a year old in August and he and Mishka play rough but she never tries to get away from him and I have never seen an effect on her bg numbers. Mishka certainly gets her exercise with Roofus and my elderly cats just ignore him. Kittens learn quickly who to ignore and who to jump on.

 

I haven't noticed a difference in Esse's sugars whatsoever with Eeyore's introduction/moving in. And he's a big boy, and was thrown right into the mix.

When I brought 4-5 week old Simon home, however, Esse bit my face; it got infected, and I needed to have it lanced (it was right below my right eye. Lucky...). I was on Cipro for 10 days. I am sure it affected MY blood sugars, but not hers ('course, she wasn't diagnosed then, either, so I don't know). LOL. Luckily, she did not have the same reaction to Malachi...or I managed to keep my face away from her. Not sure which. LOL.

My technique of introduction is 10 minutes in the carrier, then out, carry the new one around and show them where things are (usually followed by a parade of felines), and then it's game on. I don't separate them, because I believe that it only makes things 'harder', and the residents think "well, they're the enemy". Everyone is upset for a few days, and then they all get over it.

I vote to get the kitten. It'll do you good, it will do good for the baby, and who knows - maybe the extra exercise will beneficially affect your sugarbaby's numbers...

and yes, post photos...

Best-
Michele

 

Kittens have a high level of activity that may annoy a senior cat. But two kittens can be a source of entertainment without demanding a lot of action from the senior, They will keep one another company, reducing the demands on your older girl.

 

I agree, take two. Since their energy levels will be compatible, they will play with each other instead of trying to play with the older cat.

 

I say get one or even two kittens.
It is much easier to accept a kitten than an older cat. The resident cat can lay down the laws and it's more likely a kitten will listen, but there may be friction between older cats.
If you get one, then the kitten's going to want to play, and if you get the two, they will play with each other and leave the older one alone more.

 

Match energy level, not age. If you have a 15 yr old couch potato, it is not likely that the kitten will make that 15 yr old play more. You will have to play referee and play with kitten/s if they bother the older cat.

My conor loves cats.. but hes very proper about intros, and kittens are NOT proper! and he thought the one batch of fosters I had were demon spawn. conor wasnt even that old at the time.

We have at the shelter, seen success doing old/kitten matches, and horribly gone bad old/kitten matches.

 

Try it . You never know your kitty may love it. And if it does not work out, you can give the kitten back to your sister

I foster kittens. This set is out and with the population. I have Mickey OTJ...and 6 others. Some like them, some do not.

The problem with my OTJ cat is not the kittens but Thomas FIV+, which I think after 1 year of breaking them up between 3-5am every morning has thrown him back to high numbers. I noticed him sleeping on the water bowl yesterday. Gotta get the meter out after work today. :sad:

Good luck with whatever you decide :smile:

 

thank you all for your responses.
I did think about getting 2 kittens but I have to convince Hubby about that idea. :roll:
Goodie is 12 and she is the Queen of the House. So we'll see what happens.
It would be great to see her enjoying another kitty's company, she actually became diabetic after her brother passed away. She grieved immensely. So it would be absolutely great to see her bonding again.

thanks~

 

I'm of the two-kitten midset as well. Several summers ago, I ended up caring for three stray kittens who landed on my doorstep over the course of several months (I was NOT accepting newcomers, but when a young kitten drops onto the roof out of nowhere and gets stuck and another is a runt who's near death, it ups the ante a bit). ;-)

Anyway, one immediately bonded with Chip and has been surgically attached to my grumpy old man since. Surprised the heck out of me as Chip has never really bonded with any of the other cats. However, she won him over. The other two kittens bonded with each other and proceeded to decimate my plants and run hell-bent around at all hours. Charlie ignored them. My tortie laid down the law. And everyone else went in search of a straightjacket for me as I'm sure they believed I was crazy.

I think the adjustment would have been much harder on everyone, however, had there been only one kitten. Because their energy levels matched, the kittens wore each other out and the older residents seemed to sit back and watch, entertained, and only join in the fracas occasionally. As much as I didn't want more cats, I was truly fortunate that I ended up with multiples.

You could certainly try an adult cat if you prefer not to go the kitten route. Sometimes it works and the cats become fast friends; sometimes they simply tolerate each other; and sometimes they fight. The fact that Goodie had house mates previously is a good sign, but it's really a variable of the personalities of the two cats as to how good it'll work. Kind of like human roommates -- sometimes it works great, other times not so much.