by Sarah Williams

Created on: August 06, 2007

A couple of years ago my husband and I adopted a little black alley cat as a kitten. She had been abandoned behind a supermarket. After about six months of TLC, she had become a part of the family, but inevitably, my husband and I got the idea that she "needed a friend". We had two dogs, but she seemed lonely in some way, as though she wanted to play with one of her own kind. It just so happened that my husband's sister had a cat that she could no longer keep anymore and we decided to give him a home.

We read up on how to "introduce" a second cat into a household; we did the research, probably more than most. We brought home the new cat and kept him in our computer room with his own bed and litter box, his own food and his own water, and most importantly a towel that had been thoroughly covered in the other cat's scent. After a few days of allowing the two cats to "sniff" at each other under the door, we decided it was time to allow them to meet...the "fight sounds" could be heard from down the street! They absolutely hated each other, snarling, hissing, batting, running, hiding...it was awful. My husband and I were both distraught.

I called a local "cat shelter" when I was finally at my wits end...thinking that I was doing both of the cats a disservice by forcing them to co-habitate. It had been a week and our newest cat wouldn't even come out of "his room". The lady I spoke to was very knowledgeable and reassuring. She said that the only thing to do was give them time, that sometimes it took weeks or even months for cats to get acquainted, as they are very territorial creatures. Both of our cats were "indoor" cats, but she suggested that we allow them to venture out our "dog door" so that they could escape one another when necessary. I was hesitant at first, afraid that they would run away, get hurt or lost...but they both had thier shots and were "fixed", so I reluctantly followed the experts advice. The woman told me to call her back in a couple of months if things hadn't worked themselves out and she would help me place one of my cats.

After about three weeks the hissing died down, and after about two months my husband and I got one of the most amazing surprises...the two cats were laying together on their cat tree grooming one another! We had to grab the camera and get a picture to even really believe it!

So...in the end, you should think long and hard about your reasoning behind getting a second cat if you have one that has already established his or her territory in your household; think about if you are doing it for the cat, or for yourself. Cat's are perfectly happy to "live alone" with only human companionship; they are independent creatures. Unless you get two kittens at the very same time, you are probably going to have to deal with the same type of transition that I described above. You may have better luck, or worse luck, but be ready to go through some problems and transitions.

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