Brooke,
I've never owned a cat, so I'm clueless where they are concerned.

But I did see an interesting piece about moles the other day on our local news. They said that moles (unlike voles) do NOT harm plants. They eat insects and their tunnels help to aerate the soil. They insisted that moles are beneficial to gardens and suggested that you welcome them to your yard! I'm not convinced. I do know that they make unsightly pathways all over our yard and nothing we've tried has convinced them to leave.
Kathy

Moles also eat earth worms, lots of them and supposedly, voles will use mole tunnels. I definitely don't want to welcome voles to the property.

This year I have had moles excavate under newly planted hosta and leave the roots exposed to the air. They make volcanos in the lawn within a matter of minutes. Of course the moles prefer the moist and amended soil in the garden. I have six other acres where they could tunnel to their hearts content but no, they want to tunnel where I garden.

Chatterbox was giving me either a mole or chipmonk a day. I watched her cross the yard one day and come lay the dead thing at my feet. Great kitty but definitely a fighter. Poor Filly was just too intimidated to hold her own.

Brooke

Brooke,

I would think a pair of kittens would be just fine with your other cat. Your adult cat would be their natural "superior," and they wouldn't be a threat to her "position," and they wouldn't intimidate her. I have two cats, adopted a year apart but really two years apart in age. The first cat (male) is "top cat," and still makes sure the other cat (female) knows it, but they reached equilibrium quickly and get along quite well. (The female, Sophia, occasionally puts B.C in HIS place, and sometimes I think she's really in charge and just lets B.C. THINK he's top cat. Sounds like some marriages I know of ;-) They're 11 and 9 now.

We'll be getting a third cat in the next year (a kitten for our daughter), and eventually a puppy (for our son). We'll let the cats settle their hierarchy and get used to each other for a while before we bring in a puppy (which they'll doubtless close ranks against).

I'd go ahead and get two kittens.

Laurel

We are a house divided -- one German Shepherd (my baby) and six cats (hubby can't say no when someone calls and says, "Someone dumped this kitten with a broken leg . . .") Two cats are primarily outside, and the others are indoors. The indoor cats get the mice (we live in an old farmhouse, so mice wander in sometimes), and the outdoor cats get everything else.

Here's what I've noticed -- the only dead moles we see are ones that have drowned in our pool. On the other hand, the cats kill tons of voles, but leave them for us to step on. I guess they're not tasty vittles. So they do their job on the voles.

Cats getting along just depends on their temperament. Every kitten we've brought home has gotten into the fold just fine. Grown cats we've brought in are hit or miss, depending on how aggressive they are with the others. (Males are worse.)

I'd say a new kitten or two would do great. If your grown cat doesn't want to play with them, he/she will just hiss at them and they'll run away. And if you still have dogs, kittens are much easier to introduce inside. Our latest acquisition, the broken Siamese, still thinks the dog is her mother.

Let's see pictures when you get those new additions!

Brooke,

My 12-year old female cat is the one that fights & won't accept new cats/kittens into the family. She runs them off pronto :(
She never was much of a hunter, though.

My 11-year old male cat is the hunter in the family (son to above female). Though he's an awesome hunter, he rarely gets moles - I have to resort to a pitchfork for those!!! And no, moles don't eat plants, but they do kill them by tunneling under & all around the roots. Anyway.........Tiger gets mice, voles, squirrels, chipmunks & all kinds of other stuff, but very rarely a mole. So even though your female was a good moler doesn't mean a different cat will be. Dogs are much better at the mole thing but really tear up the yard digging after them.

Tammy

I thought I read on the discussion side that snakes eat moles. Lucky you, you have snakes. Soooo, why do you need cats?

Royce

OK, what I have are the things with short front legs and short tails and pointy snouts. I could see the dirt in the mouth and front feet of the dead prizes presented to me. They tunnel through everything and will make a volcano in the lawn 12" high but prefer the garden area. No need for me to guess about a chipmonk - they are rats in cute suits unlike squirrels who are rats with tails.

I have one fairly new shade bed that was hit hard over the winter. Something, be they moles/shrews/chipmonks, tunneled under some hosta and created air pockets which set the hosta back since the roots lost contact with the soil. I have actual tunnel holes in the area about 3/4" in diameter.

Laurel my dogs love cats since the cat was here before they were. Even the throw away cat accepted the dogs immediately. It only took about a day before she would bow her head and let them sniff her.

Tammy my dogs are flushing spaniels and do not go to ground to hunt their prey. If the moles want to come out of their holes and fly, then I have the breed to catch and retrieve them. Digging is never an issue with a cocker.

I guess I now have the courage to introduce a couple of new kittens. I will get them neutered before bringing them home and hope my old girl hasn't been taught to fight. I want them settled before winter and hope Filly learns to share her heated "cat house" with the new ones.

Here is Filly - exhunter, good garden companion but needs help to eliminate the intruders. {{gwi:634730}}

Brooke

Hmmm....Had two cat, of the same litter, Day and Dark. Brother and sister, unlike so many siblings seemed to get along ok. Dark was stupid enough to go out on the road one night and became the next day's roadkill. Day was a good bit smarter. Along comes this littel black kitten that was soon cristened Midget. Day hated that kitten. Midge was friendly, got along with the dog, etc. but Day wanted no part of her. This went on for years. If Day saw Midge she hissed, spat, ran off. Wouldn't come in the house. Midge seemed oblivious to the friction. Then one day Day didn't come in. Don't know what happened to her but Midge became top cat. This goes on for a while and then a gray female shows up. Nuisance was named such for a reason. She's a totally agreeable cat and Midge has turned into the cat from hell. She hisses, spits, runs away from Nuisance and the other outside cat. She won't go out the door if either of them are around. She will attack them if she's laying on a kitchen chair and they stroll into the kitchen.

Will your cat like another kitten? I seriously doubt it based upon what I've seen so far.

Janet