Internal debate...

[silverthorne]

Okay, so I have Foot, whom I love to death.

Foot is also on her own on average, 9 hours a day Monday through Friday. She is also starting to get a tiny bit pudgy, and sleeps most of the day, even when I'm home, and a good portion of the evening.

I'm thinking maybe of getting a second cat.
Actually, I'm thinking of a specific cat, who was up for adoption at the local Petco a week after I got Foot, and who is still up for adoption two months later. She'll be out again this coming weekend at the Petco in Lewisville where I used to live--a 20 minute drive.

I am seriously considering getting her. She is an adult, spayed, has her shots and stuff up to date.

Here's my concerns.

1) I'd need to double check and make sure I could get a second cat.
2) I think I need another $400 for a secondary deposit (a little difficult at the moment unless I get a decent chunk of B-day money).
3) The adoption fee is another $119, but it covers everything I would have had to do on my own in regards to a vet visit for a new pet anyway.
4) At least one new cat bed.
5) I'm not sure how Foot would take it, although she's seemed curious about cats outside the window, and not threatened. The cat I'm thinking of getting is fostered in a home with other dogs and cats.
6) I'm not sure my apartment is big enough for two cats.
7) A little bigger cat budget will be needed. Once the initial fees are handled though, that's not such a big deal (and it's only a big deal right now because I'm still playing 'catch up' from the goof on the bank account. By the time the big stuff rolls around again next year, I should be good to go).

Anyone have any opinions?

ETA: Here's the girl in question. Her name is Ula.

Comments

[skywardprodigal.livejournal.com]

Ulla is pretty.

Your icon is made of win.

Um. I think you should go for her.

Oh! http://syndicated.livejournal.com/gothamist/6831525.html

[cluegirl.livejournal.com]

Cats really are social creatures, despite the flexible, mercurial nature of their interactions, and they really do much better when they have someone around on their own level with whom to interact.

Think of a cat as a twelve year old kid; they're susceptible to the same kind of boredom and isolation problems that human kids are, and they attain around the same intellectual capacity as kids that age (differing a bit dependent on the animal in question. Yasha was around 15 mental age, whereas Tully was around 7, you know?)

Anyway, I think Foot would absolutely benefit from a companion. You just need to be ready to be patient, and allow she and the new cat to have their battles and their hissing contests, and settle out their pecking order in their own time. So long as each of them has a place they can go to be alone, and so long as you take care to be equal, and focused on each of them, to forestall the 'mom likes HER more' blues, it should work out just fine.

Now there will be a bit less initial fighting if you get a boy, but the duration of the fighting will last a little longer, because boys stay playful later into their lives, when the girls start to calm down and get a bit sedate. Also? Try not to get another calico or tortoiseshell -- those tend to have an 'excess of personality', and it can be hard to maintain peace with two bitchy torties at war for alpha bitch rights. (Believe me, it was like that bringing Hilfy into Grenade's house!)

[silverthorne.livejournal.com]

It's looking very probable at this point. :)

[silverthorne.livejournal.com]

And of course, what am I looking at? Another tortie. :P

Do you think it would help that Foot seems to be more tabby than tortie in personality?

[cluegirl.livejournal.com]

Heh! Of course!

I honestly can't tell you though. With cats, there are no sound generalizations, because they make a habit of jossing all expectations as soon as they become aware of them. So let the Foot tell you what will fly with her.

Try introducing the other cat, and see what happens, but be ready to set up an extra litterbox and food station in the bedroom so you can separate them if they get too hostile toward one another. In fact, a friend of mine who owns like six cats, and still fosters others, makes a habit of separating all new cats that come into the house for at least a couple of days, so they get the chance to growl and hiss at each other through the door first, and keep the physical damage to a minimum.

[silverthorne.livejournal.com]

Yeah. :)

I was thinking of getting a larger box anyway--the one I bought when I snagged Foot was a 'OMG I HAVE A CAT IN THE HOUSE!!!' purchase, and Foot's gotten a litte bigger since then. She can't turn around in the first one so easy. So mayhaps, especially with kitty#2 joining the household, I will get a larger box. And then keep the first one in the 'other room' at least until everyone is settled and okay with each other.

[silverthorne.livejournal.com]

Jon! With his hair dyed! Again!

:)

[janewt.livejournal.com]

I'm about to get a second cat, now that we've moved. Even though I'm home a lot, I think Timmy will do better with some feline company. We couldn't have done it in our old apartment, though--rules, for one thing, but it would have been cramped.