Well I work for a Humane Society and since they are all independant from
eachother, their policies differ. These are the things you need to worry
about.

FIV/FELV they should do testing or at least offer it. Take it if they do. I
can't tell you how many people have passed on this option because they don't
want to fork out the extra 15 bucks to do so. We can not test every cat,
because we our broke and have to pass that cost on to the adopter. Sure
enough, someone passed on it. Two other people adopted the littermates later
on. They both tested positive for FELV and FIV. We had to call the first
people who adopted the cat to have them bring it in to be tested. Positive.
Unfortionatly, they exposed their other cat to it.

Secondly, make sure your cat now is current on all vaccines.

Ask about Pan Luk. Has there been a reccent outbreak lately.

If all is clear, the only real thing ( besides ringworm lol ) a new cat could
bring home is upper respitory. (A kitty cold.) If this is the case, get the
anti-biotics from your vet to clear it up. I brought home foster kittens and
the all had upper respitory. Because my older cats were current on their
shots, they did sneeze a bit but there was no real illness to them. Clavamox
(sp? on that ) is a good anti-biotic, but there is an even better one out
there. Wish I could remember the name.

Anyway good luck with your adoption. I can't tell you what it means to rescue
a needy animal.

Well, I've never had any problems with my declawed cat and other clawed cats
I adopted.  Of course, she still has her back claws.

After the adjustment period, they play and play/fight just like any other 2
cats.
What you really need to look for when adopting another adult cat is - has
this cat lived with other cats before?.. If it was a one owner/one cat
situation, the adjustment will probably be harder.  If you're adding a 2nd
cat, IMO get one that's already used to a multicat home.

I've also been told that its better to adopt the opposite sex (fixed of
course).  So if you have a female, get a male & vice versa.

Usually, its easiest to add a kitten.  After the older cat gets used to the
kitten, they will often 'mother' it.  Your older cat will teach the kitten
manners.  Most adult cats are quite good with kittens.  (Once again, I'm
assuming everybody's fixed.  I don't know how an unfixed tomcat would react
to a strange kitten.)

But I've added several adult cats to my 'cat' house without any problems
after the 2-3 week initial adjustment period.  My 2 adult females have been
together for a year now, and after a few months they were real good
playmates.  (2nd female was a rescue kitty - she was going to be surrendered
to our local 'lets kill all the extras' pound.  The city pound's policy is
to put all adult cats surrendered by their owners to sleep immediately.
They just keep kittens and lost cats.)

-- maryjane

-- maryjane