I've had several cats, but they've always been solo cats. I tried once to
add a kitten to the mix, but the addition was unsuccessful and I lost a good
sofa in the battles. The kitten went to live with a friend and has had a
nice happy life, also as a solo kitten.

I have been thinking about getting a second cat. The current feline in the
house is a 9 year old domestic shorthair. He has been passed around from
home to home, and we rescued him from a grad student of mine a bit over a
year ago. He's totally adjusted to his new life and seems happy and content.
His issues are few, other than being overweight, and peeing outside his
litter box on occasion. That seems to happen in the spring, and when other
cats come onto our property. We live on a couple of acres, and he has just
recently started to be brave enough to go outside during the daytime. He
doesn't stray at all from the house, mostly spending a goodly amount of time
under the screened porch watching the world pass by. We don't have a road
nearby, and there are no other animals on the property.

I'm wondering if it would be fair to him to try and introduce another cat
into the mixture. He's always been a solo cat, and he seems quite content
being the boss of the humans.

I know people add cats to their homes all the time, but I'm wondering if
this is the right thing to do to an only of advanced age. Would a kitten be
more or less stressful for him? What about a female cat instead of a male?

I've read up on introducing new cats into the home, and we do have the
perfect setup, as our cat has his own 'room' in our huge downstairs
bathroom. His food, litter box, basket and scratching post are all there, so
he could be separated from another cat fairly easily, and of course he does
the outdoor thing on and off during the day.

I'm home all day, so I could supervise. My question is, is it worth the
effort? Would he resent the new cat, or would he eventually get used to it?

Marjorie