SO Santa and I this year are in a bit of a pickle as some of "chat room" companions have read

Originally "A" said he wanted a new iphone since his home button is well dead to put it nicely. 
I was totally for this idea because it would mean I could "guilt free" upgrade to an 8 and just pay off my 7 and give him it.

Turns out he doesn't want a phone anymore. In fact he wants a kitten -.-

He wants a kitten so much that instead of writing santa a letter as per usual he is planning on "finding santa" at the store and flat out telling him that he wants the cat for christmas. 

My issue is we have a 3yo altered male cat. I have only ever had one cat at a time AND I am quite clueless on how to introduce another cat. I assume getting a baby or less than 6mo would be easier. But I do not know if another male or a female would be better. In fact I've never had an "inside" the house female cat, growing up my parents would not allow me to have inside animals. 

Pasha has been around a few females before when he was younger that were "outside adopted strays" that would bolt into the house every now and then, but he has never been around another male. He was altered at 1yo and annoyingly started "spraying" 4 days before his alter appointment, thankfully he stopped after he was altered. 

Secondly, has anyone ever had a cat or dog shipped?

I'm loving the Orientals out of Russia and surrounding area's more so then ones in the states. 
I'm one of the random oddballs that doesn't mind paying for a "breed" kitten, I mean people pay for "breed" dogs so I don't see much difference especially as I have absolutly no luck catching kittens and random strays lately.

I am currently crushing on Oriental Shorthairs, Cornish Rex, Siamese, Peterbald, Lykoi, Havana Brown and maybe Sphynx 
I'll probably end up with a local rescue, but a girl can dream. 

But yea any tips on moving from a one cat household to two would be awesome.

I'm definitely not an expert on introducing cats, but Noodle was a tiny kitten (6 weeks) when we found him, and Mr. Doo (who was maybe 6 years old at the time) basically just adopted him as his own.

I think it helps when the new cat is a young kitten who is not yet territorial. Obviously not as young as 6 weeks, but I wouldn't get close to 6 months or neutering age. I also think keeping them the same gender helps. I know some people say that opposite genders are better, but from having Mr. Doo in the same house as my grandma's cat, Itty Bitty, he just pounced all over her and made her miserable. He was only playing, but she couldn't keep up with the aggresive male behavior, whereas Noodle and Doo will brawl, knock each other down the stairs, chase each other around, jump on each other's heads, etc. and they both think it's great fun.

We didn't keep Noodle separate, really, but we watched them at all times for the first few weeks, and when we left or went to bed, we put Noodle either in Sully's crate or in his cat carrier. Partially because he was SO young, but also just to keep him safe.

The biggest issue we ever had was when Noodle would attack Mr. Doo, Doo would sit on his head and he had to break it up, haha. Hope that helps!

See the random females that would run into the house would beat Pasha up. Granted one was a pissed off old lady (or at least she looked like an old lady)

and then the tabby tortie would pretend to like Pasha and then knock him upside his head and he would just poof and hide. He really is an idiot 😂😂

I do know kittens should stay with Mom until 10wks minimum and ideally 12-14wks if they need more time to grow up and learn to be a cat. At least that’s what I’m getting from breeder sites 

Yeah, I think that's about right. 8 weeks is probably the absolute minimum. We still don't know how Noodle ended up under a trashcan at Joel's work, someone probably abandoned him :(., but once I picked him up, the vet said he was 6 weeks, and I know he wasn't fully weaned yet. He would try to nurse on our shirts and in our hair, and we had to wet down his food.

Yea everyone down here is like free kittens 6wks and I’m like wait wha...

or hey stray kitten but $100 rehoming fee because it has Siamese points 🙄

Yeah, it really depends on your current cat, as well as the cat you get. If you're serious on getting a purebred, I'd read up as much as you can on their temperments as they can vary so much, just like dogs. I've introduced new cats and kittens to my herd over the years and it's just really varied on who likes who haha. One cat I have hates the kittens but has been BFF's with my stray (now neutered) male I found outside a few years ago. Another cat hates every other cat in the building but thinks she's the mama to the kittens lol. I know when my friend introduced a new kitten, they first kept her in the bathroom for a few days just so the other two cats got used to her scent in the house and then they began letting her out of the bathroom when they were home so they could keep an eye on their interactions. 

i have way to much time on my hands so all i have been doing is reading :)
and have been for a few years on the breeds i mentioned above.
im versed in the talking just because pasha is a flame point siamese mutt

we really want a pocket kitty which is why im interested in the breeds listed as well

pasha isnt overly found of hubby and it makes him sad so he wants a cat thats going to want to cuddle and be warm (hence why he likes our xolo so much XD)

With local rescues I keep running into the oh you have a 2 year old so no kittens for you, but we will get you an older cat no problem. 

If you get a kitten they are more resiliant on the older cats antics...and usually within a few wks theyll get along...

Ive introduced many cats together and i do have one female who likes her space but shes with my non aggressive boy kitty...

aza have you found mixing genders an issue? 

Nope..

I have a female and male at one house and i have 3girls and 4 boys at my house in town...

We kept our two seperate for the first 3 days, we made her her own sanctuary in a seperate room, my boy was VERy territorial. But like others say it varies based on cat. Khaj was 4 1/2 months old when we got her, I imagine if you get one younger than that it might even be easier, the one thing we liked about her being a slightly older kitten was that she was already spayed (we didnt want to have to worry about any issues with her having suchures) 

As far as seperating goes, we kept her in the 1 room strictly for 2 days, no out and no in. We allowed free room of Oliver so he could begin getting her smell. After the first 2 days we started scent swapping, by taking a dry rag and rubbing it over thier chins and cheeks and rubbing the other cat with it, and vice versa, in the end after the 3rd day we let them see each other for the first time, LOOTTSS of growling and hissing, we decided to get a Feliway pllug in which basically emits the hormones to calm kitties and make them sense a mothers presence. 

We let them go full blown after about 5 days, again lots of hissing, and there were some minor attacks (nothing tobe cause of alarm).

After about 2 weeks Khaj learned who was boss of the house and basicaly ignored him.

After about 3 1/2 weeks they really started to realize the other cat wasn't goign to dissapear.

Fast forward to now, I think we arae at the 6 week mark, they play very well with each other, sometimes one gets a little to excited then the other so I break them up, I dont want play to turn into aggression, but they are home alone all day, so far both cats have survived, they eat side by side, drink out of the same bowl, they even tolerate each other enough to sometimes lay nexxt to each other.

So final note would be: its a hit or miss, and you yourself have to feel out the sitiation, but always keep in mind that your house is Pasha's house, and should be treated as much for at least a couple weeks, if you make him feel that he is no longer the ruler some say it can lead to aggression/depression/etc. Always, ALWAYS favor the original cat when doing the intro phase, because they still need to feel like the king of the castle ^.^

I think he’s realizing we are looking at the possibility of getting a second cat because he has been obnoxiously loveable recently. Like even sitting on my lap earlier

I think cats would like a companion eventually cuz they like to play...all of mine but one run around the house like a herd of ephalents(elephants) around 10am! Then they all come in the room and sleep....on me....theyre so entertaining amd relaxing! I love them!!!

Yea I’d like a heard except I’m the only one apparently that knows how to clean a litter box 🙄🤔

but im also Home like 90% of the day so he’s never really alone unless we are asleep and he chooses to sleep on the floor in A’s room alone