Is it ok to introduce a new cat/kitten to an 8 year old cat that has lived alone?

[Sinister]

Ive been talking to my mom about getting another cat. We have one cat right now. Hes 8 years old and has lived alone in our house for all his life. If my mom is at work, dad is sleeping (3rd shift) my sister at college and im at school, he will be alone for most of the day.

But how will he take it? For sure, no doubt, he will hiss and growl. Then go hide somewhere for a while. But i think he will learn to except the new cat. We once did drop him off at a friends how who has a cat because we were going on vacation. When we came back (like 3 weeks) he was sitting with the other cat. But that was like 4-5 years ago.

Idk what do you think? is it ok to get a new one? Our cat is a male and fixed. What gender should the other cat be?

Thanks

 

[Mykayla]

ok well you should put the new kitten in a different room and have someone hold your older cat and you hold the new kitten,and slowly show them to each other.if one hisses then just try it the next day and the next.however long it takes.and then when they start to like each other and then you just might wanna set them down togetherthat's what i did with my new kitten.i was really scared that the older cat would hurt the little one but they were fine

 

[Bob]

Yes just seperate them then after a week show them to each other for a bit then icreace the time and after a while the will get along.

 

[Rapid Fire]

NOT RECOMMENDED AT THIS TIME - cats that are being introduced require supervision, especially an older cat with a kitten. 90% of these introductions go of with a little hissing and scratching until order is established. However, an older cat is very capable of inflicting serious damage to a small cat that it does not accept.
Unless you can keep these cats totally separated when no one is available to supervise them, I recommend that you hold off on the new cat.

 

[Shafiq]

Its ok to get a new one. It should be a female but make sure it is kind. Put the cats in a room together for a few minutes and let them try to get to know each other. Don't let them out of the room until they are happy and don't let them fight.

 

[cheshirekat260]

I have a bunch of kitties. Slow introduction is best. It is better to have a designated room for the new kitty and slowly introduce the kitties over a few days to a week under supervision of course. Things should be fine. Have the new kitty looked at by a vet first though before bringing it into your home.

 

[Cats rule.]

It does not matter what gender cat you get, he will fight with it unless you get a kitten. A male kitten is better then he wont fight with it when it grows up. But if you get a grown female he will spray all over your house...it happened with us!! But our male does not seem to mind the female kitten we got, but he charges at the adult female we got and we got to keep them separate which is not easy!

 

[mountainbabe]

It would be great to get a new kitten! When you bring the new kitty home, put it in a room with the litter box, food, and water. Keep the door closed. Go and visit it often and give it plenty of love. In 2-3 days, open the door and let it venture out. If it gets frightened, it will go back to the "safe room". This will allow both cats to get aquainted with each others scent. If you notice the older cat smelling the door where the new kitty is, don't worry, he's just trying to get used to the other cat. If you get a female, you won't have to worry about problems with dominance. Good luck!