Anybody with experience with kittens????

[AmberK]

So we have an 11 week old male kitten right now. We are looking into getting another kitten so they can play together and stop using us for his teething toys. We are trying to decide if we should get a male or female kitten. Would it be better for 2 males to grow up together or a male and female? Which do you think would get along better?

[jessica31876]

I think it really does not matter as long as you plan on spaying/neutering. It is better to do while he is young though as the older he gets the more territorial he will be. My daughter got a kitten and has a three year old cat and her cat has been hiding from her for the past week. She thinks the house is hers and does not like sharing it now tht she has been alone for so long.

(ETA neutering is easier on the cat for recovery so Id probably go the route of two males)

[AmberK]

well, Toby is going in for the big snip tomorrow so Im getting that taken care of! We are doing the low cost neuter clinic at the humane society so while we are there we can take a look at the kittens they have. Toby is my first male kitten- I've always had females so Im not sure about temperments and personalities. Although my vet told us that male kittens are generally sweeter and more lap cats than females. And thats what Im looking for.

[kendallt]

Have you thought about calling your local shelter and asking what they recommend? A while back when we were entertaining the idea of getting another kitten, that's what we did. They gave us lots of helpful info. about adding another cat into the mix. Good luck...and I wanna see pics when the time comes!

[AmberK]

yeah- the lady i was on the phone with today said its better for male/female. IDK- i think if they are this young if probably wouldnt matter. We are looking at a kitten around the same age as Toby. And both would be fixed so babies wont be an issue. I guess for me it will probably come down to personality and color of the kitten!

[lynnirene]

Generally, I have always thought that males were friendlier (growing up, the only unfriendly cats we had were female, and the males were all super-sweet), so when I went into the shelter a few months ago to get two cats for DH and me, I was expecting to pick up two males.

But, we ended up with a female kitten and an older (8yo) male that got along great. There was a little room we could test them out together, and they got along fine. It is harder to tell with kittens if they will get along, but if there is any way to test them out together, to make sure that they don't completely hate one another from the start? That's what I would try if possible.

If there are any behavioral issues (fighting, spraying, not using the litter, , territorial scratching, scared/nervous cats, etc), I definitely recommend Feliway diffusers. My parents had issues with their two male neutered cats spraying and it helped a lot. We also use it now to help our one scaredy-cat be less anxious, and I think it helps with scratching too.

[maryinaz]

We just cat-sat for a friend of mine. She had 3 - 2 females and 1 male. The male was definitely more cuddly and wanting to be petted. And when I was young, we had lots of cats and mine was a male and he was very lovable. Ugly, but lovable.

[jessica31876]

I have both and to be quite honest female/female fight more then male/female or male/male.

[AmberK]

Thanks for the info on the Feliway! Might need that with Toby- he will use his litter but likes to go other places as well. Silly boy.

Originally Posted by lynnirene

Generally, I have always thought that males were friendlier (growing up, the only unfriendly cats we had were female, and the males were all super-sweet), so when I went into the shelter a few months ago to get two cats for DH and me, I was expecting to pick up two males.

But, we ended up with a female kitten and an older (8yo) male that got along great. There was a little room we could test them out together, and they got along fine. It is harder to tell with kittens if they will get along, but if there is any way to test them out together, to make sure that they don't completely hate one another from the start? That's what I would try if possible.

If there are any behavioral issues (fighting, spraying, not using the litter, , territorial scratching, scared/nervous cats, etc), I definitely recommend Feliway diffusers. My parents had issues with their two male neutered cats spraying and it helped a lot. We also use it now to help our one scaredy-cat be less anxious, and I think it helps with scratching too.

[pewtertm]

We've currently got 2 males (12 yr old Toby and 11 yr old Max) and 1 female (~16 yr old Rusty). The boys are pretty easy-going and will sit in our laps...the girl used to be a MAJOR grouch (putting it mildly), but now at her age she's pretty much a loner who comes up and nuzzles us every once in a while.

I think that with the young age of the kittens, it won't matter all that much...they will learn to get along with each other no matter their gender.

[calvinawalsh]

We've adopted 4 stray cats- our first male is 9 years old, he was on the streets for a full year before he came to our house. He was my very first cat and is such a gentleman and a loving kitty (I think he is so thankful he doesn't have to fend for himself anymore!). Our female cat is 2 and 1/2 and is my personal attendant-she goes everywhere I do! Of all the cats she does get the crankiest and has a hard time with changes-if one of the boys goes to the vets, she attacks them and hisses at them for about a day (I'm guessing they smell like the vets or other animals and she DOESN't like it one bit.) Our last 2 cats are just two and were dropped off as kittens. We assumed they were from the the same litter but not sure. They are and always have been the best buds! They grew up together and have an extra special relationship-I was so glad that we kept both of them because they did have a lot of fun playing with each other as kittens. All are cats get along for the most part-it took awhile but they all have affection for each other. They each have different personalities.
It probably doesn't make any difference if you get another male or female-it would be to hard to predict which would be better. My female cat is only a half year older than the brothers, but has always kind of "mothered" the one who was the runt (he is now bigger than her).
Make sure you show us some photos!
Good luck!
-----------
Calvina

[nun69]

I have alsmot always had a male/female gorwing up together (whether they were brother/sister or not) but right now we just adopted another mae kitty (5 years old) and even though it has taken awhile and they aren't super cozy he seems to be gettign along with my 9 y/o male kitty

[sthomas215]

I have five cats ranging from 14 years old to 8 months old--what I have found is that gender isn't an issue but rather age is. The younger cats seem to either really bug the older ones, or cause jealousy in the middle kitteh, who prior to the arrival of the youngest two, was the very spoiled baby. Now they pretty much all get along, but it wasn't like that when they were tiny.

[Sherri Tierney]

Its so hard to say, it really depends on the cats themselves. I will say that in most cases the males have been way more friendly than the females though there have been a few exceptions. Growing up we had a variety of both. We never had any cat fight issues with any of the combinations of genders though. We had trouble with our cats fighting neighborhood cats but never one another.

Over the years we've had 4 of each if I count correctly. Our first cat, a stray, had kittens within a few months of us adopting her. Since then we've pretty much always had at least 2 cats at a time. Most of the time we've had 3. For a while we had 4. We've always a mix of genders and we've never had a fight between our cats, even when some weren't fixed (the females have generally all been fixed right away with one exception). To be honest though, I've always preferred the male cats. Right now we have 3 cats. We have an old female who is 13 now. She is my step-son's cat to get technical. Long story, but don't tell a kid at the pet store they can have a cat if they can buy it because sometimes cats at pet stores are free. She is an odd duck really. She loves being outdoors more than indoors. She only wants to be around us when she wants, not when we want her to. She prefers climbing on the roof, trees, etc. to being petted. She likes the dogs better than the other cats but tolerates them. The other two cats are siblings. We thought we had two males. I mean, I was SURE we had two males. Then we went to get them fixed and when I picked them up I was informed that Peep is female. LOL Peep is shy and skittish and really doesn't have a lot to do with the humans in the house. She lays with my son when he's sleeping and my daughter when she's reading. Once in a great while she will visit one of us but only as long as we seem disinterested. If we show her some attention she'll take off. She does, however, adore the rabbits. We find her curled up asleep with the babies more often than not. She has taken over the room we keep the adult rabbits in and if one of their cages is open she's in it. Baby (her brother), on the other hand is a people pleaser. He will chase down our German Shepherd like some big bad @ss but he's as cuddly as they get. He is always laying on someone. He's at my feet right now. He also likes the baby bunnies and can often be found with them so that is one thing they both have in common. He isn't as fond of the adult bunnies though.

[AmberK]

so, I have only ever had female kittens and do not remember them being as sweet as my little Toby. He is certainly rambunctious when he is in his "crazy" mode but when he is tired he comes and sleeps on my desk right in front of me- right in between my arms as Im typing. He also likes to "nurse" on my neck or fingers but usually my neck. Poor guy was taken from his mama too early so I became his pacifier. If all males are this sweet then I definitely want another male! I want a cat who will let me love on him and climb up in my lap.

[Leontine78]

I have experience with both....

We first started with a male and female (brother/sister). This went fine. But keep in mind to help the little guy a little sooner than you normally would, otherwise you will have a lot more kittens in the future.

After our female kitten died at 9 months we added an extra two male kittens to the house. And this goes fine too. Cats also have characters...and our cats get a long 90% of the time. The other 10% they are playing/fighting/eating LOL

They say male cats are more lap cats than females.

[calvinawalsh]

When are 2 stray kittens ended up on our doorstep we showed them a LOT of affection while they were small-picked them up, carried them around on our shoulder, scratched their necks, and gave them belly rubs! They are the most affectionate of our cats. When I am out in the yard the biggest cat will run from wherever he is at to come see me and get his belly rubbed and wait for me to pick him up-I love that!