# Should I get another cat?



## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

So about 5 weeks ago I moved in with my boyfriend, his twin brother, and his brother's fiance. I owned one cat, they owned two. The three are not getting along smashingly well--it is clear that my cat feels somewhat threatened by the other two, and while she will sleep on a couch with them, eat next to them, be in the same room as them without issues, if they approach her from the front she growls and gets worked up and they tend to think she's playing and will bat at her (without claws) which just intensifies her discomfort. 
So lately I've been toying with the idea of adding a fourth (a kitten) for her to get along with and I'm not quite sure if this is a good idea or not. All my research so far has told me that the number of cats you own depends on their personalities, your circumstances, etc, so I wanted to give a clear picture of my particular situation and see what you all thought. 
In terms of time and resources, we have plenty. We are four adults in our mid-twenties, two of us are graduate students and we spend most of our time at home between classes, the other two work 8-5 and are otherwise home. We currently have three litterboxes, four food bowls, and two water fountains and we are more than happy to get one more of each to accommodate the new cat. We also have two three-tiered cat trees, three couches, two beds, lots of boxes, closets, etc. 
The cats: Sake (my cat), 7 years old, front declawed, very mellow and affectionate (adopted by me two years ago). Tucker and Sonic (belong to my boyfriend's twin brother), both boys, about a year old, fully clawed, very playful and active, mildly affectionate when you can get them to slow down long enough for pets. They are also both big boys--neither is full grown and each is already bigger than Sake. They have all been living together for 5 weeks. 
Sake, who isn't very fond of the boys, was definitely socialized before I got her. The person who owned her before I adopted her had adopted her along with her littermate, but the littermate ran away at some point during his ownership of her. Last year Sake lived with two other cats, one was a foster cat about her age, also front declawed, whom she did not get along with. The foster cat developed urination issues from the stress and is now living as a lone pet and is very happy. The other cat was my roommate's cat, a boy about 4 years old, fully clawed, who she got along with just fine. They never cuddled or anything, but they would play on occasion, they never fought, and they enjoyed sharing space with each other. So I know it is possible for her to get along with other cats, but it seems generally she doesn't. 
My idea was to get a kitten for her, as the rescue I got her from said it was clear she'd had at least one litter before they spayed her, so it seems to me she would not feel at all threatened by a kitten, would know how to act around it, and might be able to develop a bond. Since the boys are so playful the kitten would have plenty of opportunity to play even if Sake was still feeling pretty mellow. 
However, I don't want to get another cat if it seems it would make things worse for Sake. My plan is to give her a buddy so she doesn't feel so threatened by the boys. Any thoughts?


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## Chuck (Jul 15, 2013)

Unlike rats and dogs, cats are not pack animals. Cats at times will live in communities but the cats are usually related a mother and daughter, sisters etc. Adding another cat may complicate an already tense situation. The new cat may bind with your cat, it may like the other roe still leaving your cat left out or it may try to stake out its own territory and leave you with 3 sets who want nothing to do with each other instead of two. I'd recommend Giving them time to adjust and figure things out.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

My advice is no. Very rarely does adding another animal into a volatile mix help calm things down, but rather intensifies the problem and it will quickly get out of hand. 


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