Hello everyone,

We (actually more my husband!?) have now decided to take another kitten, so that Atari would have a friend around all the time. We tried to find a snow, but it seems impossible.
Anyway, my breeder still has 2 marble ones (also very sweet) to offer and actually one of the available kittens is the brother of Atari.
The brother Asterix is very confident and energetic, used to be around many other cats and knows the way to be the king of the castle. His markings are also flawless.
The other kitten is very sweet, has a soft and calm character - more like Atari. Even his face has softer strikes. He is smaller, being 1,5 month younger than Atari`s litter. His fur markings are not so perfect as by Ataris brother. Funny, that the name of this kitten is Bakari, which rimes so well with Atari
Long story short - which one would you prefer - the perfect, but maybe too dominant brother, or character-wise more closer and softer younger kitten?
As we would like Atari to still feel confident when the new kitten arrives, we think more about Bakari, not Asterix. Maybe also important - Atari now is neutered, both potential kittens not yet.

Whom would you choose?

PS: We are quite in a hurry, as one of the kittens is shipped to Germany on Saturday.

Lulu

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Thanks for your advice.
Actually the coat and general apperance are not the first priority for us since we are not going to show or breed them.
I called our Breeder and said, that we go and pick one up today and the one who runs to us first, is the one to come with us
I will keep you posted, how the story goes.

Lulu

Ooh - this is exciting, I can't wait to find out which one wins the race

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What a good strategy! How exciting you're going to have another cat so soon!

Yes, it is very exciting, since I have never had two or more cats. It is good, that its Friday today, so we can introduce them to each other the whole weekend and dont have to leave them alone right away.

A practical question - do I need another litter tray and how about dishes - do they have to have separate dishes and maybe even separate eating places/areas where the dishes are?

Lulu

The general rule is one litter tray per cat, plus a spare but that's not always practical. I would definitely recommend a second litter tray though so that you can separate them if you need to and to avoid any problems if one tray gets lots of use. Same for feeding bowls - one each with perhaps a shared one for dry food.

Be prepared that you may need to keep the two of them separate for a short while, especially at times when you're not there to supervise. Even though one of the ones you pick might be Atari's brother, it doesn't mean they'll still remember each other so there may be some aggression. So long as there's no damaging violence, my strategy is to leave them to get on with it but some people prefer to take it a bit more slowly.

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Yes, especially at the start you'll wan to give them the option of claiming a tray and dish each. When you introduce them you don't want to get them territorial or it could cause problems. Also some cats won't eat near each other at first so it'll make your life easier if you can put bowls on other ends of the room till they're more comfortable with each other.

Second litter tray will probably be a good permanent option unless you're able to scoop twice a day. But the generally rule is a tray per cat and then one on top, so for two cats three trays. But mine have been fine with two trays and a daily scoop.

ah you just beat me to it ginny