DealDash Pets: Welcoming a 2nd Cat

If you’ve decided that it’s time to add a second cat to your household it might be more difficult than you thought. Read on for some tips from DealDash.

People often have more than one cat in their household. In fact, it’s actually recommended that you have more than one cat, especially if there isn’t a person home most of the day. Cats can get quite lonely, as they are pack animals. If you got two cats as littermates, great! You don’t have this problem. However, if you got one cat and then decide to add a second one later you might have an adjustment period. Here are some tips and tricks from DealDash to ease the transition.

If Possible, Add a Kitten

If you have a young to middle-aged cat, I suggest that you try to make your newest addition a kitten. Cats typically feel less threatened and inclined to “defend their turf” against a kitten rather than another adult. This is especially true if your cat is a female who has had kittens before.

However, the exemption to this is if you have a senior cat. If your cat is a senior then he is probably in no shape to keep up with a young kitten. In this situation another senior cat might be a better solution. However, if your cat is older and set in his ways he might never accept another cat and just be stressed out with your newest addition.

Don’t Introduce Them Right Away

Many people feel inclined to just bring the new cat home, open up the carrier, and let the cats sort it out for themselves. This really isn’t a good idea, as it can make a very bad impression on your resident cat.

A better way to introduce the two cats would be through a door at first. Have a single room in your house that has a door set up as the new cat’s “room”. Have their litter box, food, bed, and some toys waiting in this room for the new cat when he arrives. Let your cat live in this room for the first day or two. Give your resident cat access to “meet” the new cat through the closed door. After a few days, they should be ready to meet face to face.

Meet at Mealtime

For their first face to face meeting, have it occur during mealtime. Give each cat their own separate bowl of food in the same room but in different corners of the room. This way the cats will be occupied with the food and less likely to get into a fight with their first meeting. This will also help them both associate the other with something nice – mealtime.

Thanks for Reading

Keep all of these things in mind when you are looking to add a second cat to your household. This is so you know you are making the best choice not only for your new cat, but for your resident cat as well.

I hope that you found this DealDash article on adding a second cat to your family helpful. If you have any tips for pets and their owners please share them below in a comment.

DealDash has plenty pet auctions with items for cats. DealDash has a great selection of pet items. Visit DealDash now to check out the auctions. Have fun on DealDash, and happy bidding everyone!

This sponsored DealDash blog article was written by Dawn E, a mother of 3 who loves DealDash. Dawn was compensated for writing this article. Read even more at DealDashBlog.com, DealDashTips.com, or on her own blog, DawnBlogtopus.