How do you know?

[kitten645]

Hobbes has been gone nearly nine months now. Calvin seems happy enough. He sees Hobbes all the time but I think he might be lonely. I can't really tell. Sometimes I think he loves having me all to himself then others I think maybe a brofur would do him good. He's 13 and I don't want to upset him. Vet said he is fine. I'm just torn between adding a family member and upsetting the apple cart.
I keep thinking when the right one appears I'll know. I'd want a male blackie younger than him so he could still be king of the castle. I've looked at kittens but I think it would be too stressful for him to have a ball of energy around. Then I thought of two kittens he could lord over and they could entertain each other and not bother Callie.
Today I saw a blackie 8 months old named James. He stuck his paw out to me just like Calvin & Hobbes did 13 years ago. He was quite vocal which I'm not sure of. I think Calvin likes his peace as do I.
Any thoughts? The last "foster" I brought in was 18 and Calvin & Hobbes really did abuse him. There were pee'ing issues with Smudge and it wasn't the right thing to do but I didn't have a choice. I just don't want to make the wrong choice agian.
Calvin is my heart kitty and I want to do right by him. Thoughts?

[Taz_Zoee]

I went through this exact same thing with Taz. I debated for years. But the instant I saw Paizly here on Pet Talk I knew I had to have her. I did feel bad for Taz, he was also 13 at the time. But he took it pretty well. He didn't bond with her, but he just dealt with her presence. He hissed and growled at her sometimes, but I did catch him playing with her once or twice.
I am also going through a similar situation with Paizly and Jax. Except Paizly is only 2 years old. She's doing the same thing Taz did to her. She plays with Jax a LOT more than Taz played with her (but then Taz was sick). Again, I stressed out (I posted it here) about getting another cat. But I could tell Paizly was not stressed about him being here. Sure she gets pissy with him, but she is calm overall.

You never know, since Hobbes is gone, maybe Calvin would like a friend. Just consider what your options are if you find out it does stress Calvin out and you just can't keep the newbie. I knew I could take Jax back to ARF if it didn't work. As much as it would have killed me (thank goodness I didn't have to).
Perhaps two youngsters would be a better idea. Like Alani & Blaze for Tracey. They keep each other occupied so the elder kitty can be left alone and join in only when they want to.

I'm sure my post didn't help you at all, sorry. But good luck and just do what feels right to you.

[krazyaboutkatz]

This is a tough one to answer because all I can say is that you'll know when the time is right. I kept telling myself that I wasn't going to add any more cats to my furfamily because I wanted to get down to only 2 cats. The problem was that I was still missing not having an orangie around because I'm a huge orangie fan and they always have the best personalities. I then decided to look at Petfinder to see if there were any long haired orange males out there and I found my widdle boys the same night.

I really only wanted one more cat but since they were very bonded the rescue lady said that they had to be adopted out together. This has actually worked out much better because they have each other to play and wrestle with and they tire each other out. They bug my big cats much less than they would if I only had one of them. If you do decide to adopt a kitten please adopt 2 together. It would help Calvin out a lot because he wouldn't have to interact with them as much and he could still have his peace. My Storm is 14 1/2, Sky is 8, Pearl is 5, and Ziggy is 4 years old. My older boys actully do better with my new kittens than the girls do. If you do decide to adopt a younger adult cat then be sure it's a very laid back non-alpha type of cat. Good luck.

[moosmom]

I just adopted a blackie, a 3 month old hairless (sphynx) who I named Austin (after Austin Powers). I had 5 other cats at the time and they couldn't care less about him. My oldest just wants to be left alone. There is some hissing, which is perfectly normal, but absolutely not bad!!! Austin backs right down when the other cats hiss or growl, which is good cuz it shows him where he fits in the "food chain".

Give it a try! Ya never know!

[catmandu]

The one time that I only had one Cat was when Pouncer passed on and Mr Scrappy was the lone Cat early in 1993 , and then Michael moved in.Little Purr and Mr Scrappy had some rough spats inthe first week, but from then on they were buddies!!!
Then My Princess came in and all three were Friends.
I think thatCalvin might like company, maybe not at first and a quite female Cat might be better than an 8 month old Kitten who's satrting to feel his oats.
We pray that he's the Right Cat of The Future and he nad Calvin hit it off.

[Taz_Zoee]

Claudia, I just saw on the ARF website we are having a special "two-fur" Fridays on kittens. You can adopt two kitties for the price of one. It is only for two more Friday's though. August 27th and Sept 3rd.

Here is the link. Click on Adoptable Pets on the left of the screen to see the animals for adoption.

[Randi]

I think it's with cats like with humans - some get along and some don't. I can imagine how difficult it must be to bring a new cat home, who you fell in love with but who your resident cat can't stand the sight of. It would be so much easier if you could take different cats home and let the one you have choose his new friend. Then, it would be hard to bring back the other ones. OK, enough blabbering!

I wish you luck finding Calvin new friend.

[Taz_Zoee]

I don't mean to keep bugging about this. But I just looked at the kittens on ARF and there are 8 blackies!!! 8 out of 13 kittens available right now.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Claudia, I just saw on the ARF website we are having a special "two-fur" Fridays on kittens. You can adopt two kitties for the price of one. It is only for two more Friday's though. August 27th and Sept 3rd.

Here is the link. Click on Adoptable Pets on the left of the screen to see the animals for adoption.

I took a look and the kittens that caught my eye were two white ones with gorgeous blue eyes named Coconut and Moose Tracks. I think they must be brothers even though it didn't say. They're both 13 weeks old and look very similar. Polarbear a 7 year old senior also caught my eye but it says he's a borderline diabetic and needs to be on special food. He sure is gorgeous though.

Who ever named many of these cats must've been hungry at the time because many have food names. This is a great 2 for 1 deal and hopefully it'll help get many of these cats adopted out to wonderful loving forever homes.

[Taz_Zoee]

I took a look and the kittens that caught my eye were two white ones with gorgeous blue eyes named Coconut and Moose Tracks. I think they must be brothers even though it didn't say. They're both 13 weeks old and look very similar. Polarbear a 7 year old senior also caught my eye but it says he's a borderline diabetic and needs to be on special food. He sure is gorgeous though.

Who ever named many of these cats must've been hungry at the time because many have food names. This is a great 2 for 1 deal and hopefully it'll help get many of these cats adopted out to wonderful loving forever homes.

Yes, the names they give them are really out there sometimes. They go with themes. This one is an ice cream theme. There was cookies and cream, pralines and cream and others.
Well, 6 kittens went home today.
I looked at the blackies we have and there are two that look to be medium or long haired. There were two of them that were about 19 weeks old in a condo with another 4 month old blackie. The two young ones were playing, chasing each other and rolling around on the floor together while the older one sat in a cylinder on a cat tree watching them. LOL

Oh, and I misunderstood the kitten deal going on. All kittens are half off every day, but on Friday if you get two they are half off again! So a kitten (under 6 months old) is normally $125. Until the date specified they are only $62.50. On Friday's (the next two Friday's) if you get two they are only $31.25 each. If you just get one on Friday it is $62.50. A little confusing, but a very good deal. Apparently we still have lots of kittens in foster care that are not ready for adoption yet.

[kitten645]

Thanks every one for the replies. I've pondered the one or two kitty options. I've come to two conclusions...well three actually. Must be younger than Calvin. Must be a boy. MUST be a blackie. That sort of narrows my options. I'm working with a rescue group (Safe Cat Foundation). I could foster thru them and test run the situation. See if there's a fit.
I ADORE ARF. I think they do such good work (including you Cindy of course)
I'm on staycation next week so maybe that would be the time to try out a friend for Calvin.
Thanks again for all your thoughts. I've followed the new adoptees stories on PT and maybe that sort of put the "kitty bug" in me So nice to see sucess stories!
Claudia & Calvin

[Taz_Zoee]

We had discussed fostering to try out a kitten first too. But I just never went to the class you have to do at ARF. And I knew once we had a kitten in here it wouldn't be going anywhere.

Also, I knew your requirements and I had similar requirements when getting a new kitten also (except for the color).

I don't care where you get your newbie. I'm just excited for you and Calvin to be getting a little brother.

So, I will be hoping that the foster you get will work out wonderfullly in your house and Calvin will take to him.

[kitten645]

My concern with fostering is that I work weekends so getting them to adoption fairs would be hard. I don't think I could EVER take them to PetSmart and leave them in cages during the week. I'm thinking more and more that adoption is the way to go.
I went to the Dublin Shelter today to take James to a "Get Aquainted Room" Both rooms were taken. One by a baby blackie named Zepplin. I asked the volunteer if I could come in and Zepplin is just the cutest thing. A real snuggler and shmoozer. Came right to my lap and loved all over me. He's three months old.
I asked the volunteer to bring in James to see how he was out of the cage. He's a really outgoing kitty. Volunteer said she was cleaning the cage next to him and felt a thumping on her butt... She's said WTH? turned around and James was the thumper!
He's eight months old so some of the climbing up your leg kittenish behaviour is over. He's a lover too. Reminds me alot of Calvin. Sleek and loves his head bumpies.
I think I'll wait until my vacation starts on Sat and if either or both are there, it was meant to be. They are so outgoing that I hope they charm someone and get a forever home before that. But if not, we'll see what happens.