My 2 cents, for what it's worth....I've been working in a shelter for almost 9 years now, and my husband & I share our home with 9 cats currently. (We've had a total of 11.)
😱 None of our cats were littermates, and several had been strays so we didn't know how they'd get along with the others.
Like Shelter Girl mentioned, I also think that temperament & personality are often better predictors of how 2 cats will--or won't--get along. One of my 10-year-olds playfully tackles my 2-year-old like a maniac, but another of my 10-year-olds would run, screaming like a banshee, if the 2-year-old wanted to wrestle. She's simply more independent and would rather lie next to him or groom him, not play in such a rough manner.
I've worked with many a shelter client surrendering/returning a cat because of "mismatched personalities". People often seem to think that getting a kitten for an older adult will make that adult more active. It can work at times, but it often doesn't. Kittens are testing limits and boundaries all the time, and it can be too much for a more sedentary adult cat to bear. Those kittens often end up in the shelter--or, perhaps even more frustrating, the adult is given up for not tolerating the new kitten. Grrrr.
That said, Claws, it sounds as though an active, older kitten or young adult might suit your current cat best, since it sounds as though he plays a bit rough. ( I think that Whirr suggested something along those lines too.) Shelters tend to have a lot of these adolescent kitties that may have proven to be too much for their prior families. If you happen to find a shelter that has a community- or colony-type cat area, you might be able to get a better idea of how your potential "adoptee" relates to the other cats there, whether or not he/she has a history of being around other cats. (It's definitely helped me out in the past.) And although it certainly seems tempting to add a new kitty now, I think I would wait until you're settled. You mentioned that your current cat has been around other animals but needs time to adjust. To add another cat now, expect them each to adjust (and hopefully start to bond) before the move, then take them cross-country and into a new place where they have to continue to adjust to each other as well as to another new environment is a lot for even an easily adaptable cat to handle in a month or so's time. That's a whole lot of adjusting to do! Some shelters also recommend waiting for other reasons, such as the possibility of new landlord issues and the need for multiple vet visits for the new cat (booster vaccines, dewormings, upper respiratory infections, etc.).
Whatever you decide, I wish you all the best. A few other tricks that I've found to work: Do keep them separate at first (keeping in mind that shelter kitties are pretty much always exposed to things like upper respiratory infections), and be sure that your new cat has been vet-checked before going forward with an intro. (Not all shelters have vets working there.) When you do, make sure that each cat has "personal space"--areas that they can get away when feeling overwhelmed. Giving them special, high-reward treats only when together and using interactive toys like feather wands and laser pointers has helped my guys during intros. They tended to be more focused on the positive experiences inherent in those things than directly focused on each other, and (I think) over time began to associate those positive things with being together. And try not to get too stressed about those initial days yourself. This may sound odd, but I really do think that cats pick up on that sort of thing and get more anxious themselves. (Sorry for lapsing into anthropomorphism there.)
And to Hoodle: Just a thought here, but I've found that bonded adult pairs--even young adults--are often difficult for shelters to place. I'm guessing here that you'd be looking to adopt sometime over the mid- to late summer, when shelters tend to be slammed with cats that get passed over for the seemingly neverending supply of kittens. Depending on the shelter and its euthanasia policies, you might be able to find a great pair with an "uncertain future" there. Of course, I am a bit biased here.
🙂 But I would also wait until you move either way, for reasons such as those mentioned above.
No matter what each of you end up deciding, I wish you both the best of luck with cat adoptions & with school!!!
Do keep us posted....
