A few questions for the cat people

[littlebit]

I mentioned to my best friend a few days ago that I was looking for a buddy for Artie. One of his neighbors had a 10 week old kitten that she was trying to find a home for. I am picking him up in a few hours. So do I need to get separate food and water bowls for them? Should I get another litter box? Since both of them are very young is there a chance that they will be very aggressive with each other?

I'm sure there will be more questions. But those are the big ones for now.

[Rhiannon12866]

1. I'm not an expert, but when I had two kitties, I had two litter boxes for them

They both seemed to prefer one over the other, but I was told it was important for them to have the option. Litter boxes are important.

I'm not sure about the food dishes, think it depends on the cats. I've had separate dishes for mine, especially for the wet food, but it depends on the cats. They all have different personalities. And my cats preferred different foods.

Getting a "buddy" when Artie is so young is probably the best idea. All cats are different. I think my Felix would welcome someone to play with, but I also found him like you found Artie. My housemate has two older cats and he's tried to play with them, but he's way too aggressive and they avoid him. I worried when he was little and kept them separate. Without another cat friend, Felix has bonded with my dog (I have one of each) who's pretty tolerant of anyone, but they don't play. I'd watch them closely in the beginning to see how they react. Good luck!

[MissB]

2. My two have separate food bowls

but share a water dish and litter box and occasionally a bed.

My orange kitty was about five years old when we brought in our now three year old kitty. Orange kitty had been alone for six months but before that our very old tortie (since deceased) was his not-companion. She hated his very being.

Needless to say it took many months for him to adapt to our new (young) tortie. They are now best buddies and chase each other playfully around the house and yard. They also groom each other (tho mostly she lowers her head so he can lick her.)

There were exchanges of hisses, swipes of paws and downright wrestling until then. Let it be unless one is clearly getting injured. They will work it out. Not as fast as chickens but they do establish a pecking order.

[Contrary1]

3. I read somewher that there should be a separate litter box for each kitty...

especially, if there are males. I was the neighborhood Crazy Cat Lady, so I wasn't able to follow that advice.

One thing that worked very well for me was to use a plastic tote with a lid instead. I cut a square out for entry about 6 inches from the bottom, so they couldn't kick the litter out. I got a second smaller tote and did the same thing, and then stacked them. Not nearly as messy, and much easier to clean.

I would get another food bowl, so they could eat at the same time. I wouldn't worry about the water bowl so much.

[applegrove]

4. Get separate bowls for them. Water they can share. If the 10 week old kitten was born at your

best friend's neighbours house then it may not be that aggressive. Kittens that are adopted out before 8 weeks can be very aggressive, the earlier the worse. You are lucky if the cat lived for 10 weeks in the same place after it was born. Try separating them by a door when you first move it in. They can play with each others paws and smell each other through the gap between the door and the floor for a few hours. Then they'll be dying to see each other. Enjoy.

[cwydro]

5. I've never had a problem with a new cat coming in the house.

Make sure they both gets lots of love.

Separate bowls are good, at least to begin with. You'll see that most likely they'll eat out of whichever one is full lol.

[littlebit]

6. Thank you all

I really do appreciate it. I am off to pick the little guy up. Will post pics as soon as I can.

[DemonGoddess]

7. I've never even separated out the food

I do maintain extra litter boxes, as cats can be quite territorial about them. The GOOD thing is, when they're very young, they adapt to each other much faster.

[TexasBushwhacker]

8. 2 litter boxes

If your place has 2 stories, be sure to have one upstairs and downstairs.

[DLCWIdem]

9. I had 2 cats which I got from my sister one was the mother of the other one

I Had 2 litter boxes and 2 food bowls, but both cats would eat out of the other's bowl so that didnt last long. They both sharedvthe water dish.

[SheriffBob]

10. Use good clumping litter

It costs more than the non clumping but is cheaper and more sanitary in the long run.

[DemonGoddess]

11. Less stinky, too!