Need Advice from cat owners or cat experts:

[Mike 03]

I can tell that my dog needs to be with other dogs, but I also have a cat, and cats are more mysterious.

Do you think that a cat is happier when another cat lives in the same home, or that cats have a different nature and prefer to be the only cat in the household?

My cat was my first real animal companion, and he's ten years old, and I can tell he's not happy, but I'm not sure why. I've been wondering if bringing another cat into the house would help, but I don't want to do that if it would make matters worse.

Thanks in advance for any advice or observations.

[TZ]

1. It depends on the cat

I have two that are littermates but I KNOW they wouldn't want another cat.some cats adapt some don't.

[Mike 03]

5. Thank you for your response. I appreciate it. NT

[KansDem]

2. Depends on the cat, I think...

I have two cats I picked up at the pound. They both knew each other in the pound, so they were good friends when I took them in. That was several years ago and they tend to enjoy each other's company. I often find them licking each other and sleeping together.

However, when my daughter brought home another cat (temporarily) they did not get along at all with the new kid on the block.

I might add: the two cats are female and the new cat male. Might have something to do with it...

[Mike 03]

6. Aw, what a great story about the two cats you adopted. Thank you, that is helpful. NT

[KansDem]

9. You're welcome!

I thought I'd add:

The two cats are calico and tortoise-shell.

The calico we called "Callie" (original, huh?) Of all the cats I've ever known, she has the sweetest temperament. When it's time to feed them, she goes out into the kitchen and just sits and looks at me. No meowing, no brushing up against my leg, no jumping up on the stool or counter when I open the can of food. Just sits in the corner of the kitchen and looks at me until I set their bowls on the floor. She's the "Grand Dame" of the household. She sleeps with me a lot.

She's also known as "Calicious," "Calcifer," and (my favorite nickname), "Queen Callie" (very regal-like).

The tortoise-shell is named "Smoky" She has this funny "chirp" whenever she jumps up on something or down on the floor. I've never seen or heard anything like it! You'll hear her land with a short "chirp."

She's also know as "The Smokster," and "The Chirpstress."

My daughter's cat is a sleek, short-haired black cat, with the longest tail I've ever seen on a cat! He's much younger than the other two: he was just a kitten when he arrived last summer, and now he's an "adolescent." A lot of energy and very playful. And very mischievous!

He's name is "Lunar," but is also known as "Lunar-tic," and "HEY, YOU!!!"

[oregonjen]

3. My vet told me as cats age, they need more love and attention

My cat is around 14 yrs. and he is definitely needing more love. He's more vocal about his needs and requires more human interaction.

As far as adding a new cat, I guess it would depend on your cat's personality.

[Mike 03]

7. This is HUGELY helpful. This makes sense with what is going on now with my cat.

I'm going to make an extra effort to give him attention and make sure he knows he is very important to me.

Thanks.

[Captain Hilts]

16. When they hit 10 yrs old they get VERY vocal. nt

[no name no slogan]

4. Unlike dogs, cats aren't pack animals

You never see packs of wild cats wandering around together. Cats tend to be solitary animals. That's not to say they can't live together (many do), but generally they tend to be solitary.

[TZ]

8. Actually that's not quite right

In some rare instances groups of ferals will form small prides...it's not common but it happens.:)

[bigwillq]

19. There's 3 cats always together

at my man's house. I feed them sometimes. They roam around on the back walkway and hang out in the bushes out front.

[Captain Hilts]

17. Sometimes the females are turfy, but our other cats hung out with their friends. nt

[madinmaryland]

10. We have three cats that get along quite well.

Yes, there are frictions at times. They were all adopted seperately and have all adapted quite well. One is a stray, that we got from Flaxbee here, the other two we got from the local animal shelter about a year apart. They are all indoor cats, except when occasionally during the summer we let them out on the enclosed porch.

I guess I could say that we each have three cats. One for me, my wife, and my daughter.

[huskerlaw]

11. I have 3 cats...

started out with one cat, but he was extremely lonely. Riley would wonder around the apartment meowing sadly, even when I was home. So I got Spencer to keep him company, and he perked up immediately. They got along great after only a couple days of territorial in-fighting. At the time, Riley was 2 and a half and Spencer was 6 months (both boys). Two years ago I added Kyra to the family. She was only 2 months old when I got her, Riley was 4, Spencer was 2. They all get along great! Riley still does his random meowing thing once in a while, but it's more to get my attention than to voice unhappiness.

I have heard that in order to increase your chances of successfully integrating a new cat, get one that is younger (but not toooo much younger) and the same gender. Basically, if your 10-year-old cat is starting to slow down a bit, you probably don't want a spry little kitten that will interrupt his naptime constantly. But maybe a 5-6 year old male cat would be a good match.

Hope that helps!

ETA:
Riley & baby Kyra:


Riley & Spencer:

[Mike 03]

12. I think that I have ignored my cat's needs. Just in the last half hour I have given him special

attention and made him feel like the most important animal in our pack and he really perked up.

I need to be a better dad to my cat...lol.

And I need to put our newer dog in his place. He's so big that even though he would never hurt a fly he is intimidated the cat.

Thanks for your input.

This is really helpful in gaining some perspective.

[DeepBlueC]

25. good for you!

[RoyGBiv]

13. Play Therapy

Whether a cat wants/needs another cat companion is up to the individual cats, and that is almost impossible to predict and can be affected by many variables. My mother has two cats, and they hate each other. Both were 2+ years old when they adopted her while she, at different times, was innocently roaming through Petsmart. Sunshine, the first, had been around for a couple of years and has always been needy. She has health problems as well and requires constant attention. Also, at about the time she came to live with her, Mom was going through a rather difficult transition that involved moving three times in three years, and that cat got rather freaked out by it all.

Oreo came along later. She'd been severely abused in her former place of residence and was terrified of people in general. Mom couldn't resist a hopeless case and immediately had to begin a long process of providing extra special attention to her. Sunshine got jealous, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Mom works through this with what cat shrinks call "play therapy." Every day, at about the same time of day for each (cat's have schedules and demand they be kept) she has an appointment with her cats during which they play. They chase strings, laser dots, or engage in mock battles for territory. After about 15 - 30 minutes, the cats are done and go on about their business and remain happy members of the home until nighttime comes and they have to do battle over who gets to sleep closest to Mom's head.

OTOH, we had two cats when I was growing up, one having shown up at our window as a kitten when our first cat was about 3. They were best buddies and loved to team up and torture the dog. Pepper, the younger cat who had lived about 6 months on the streets, even taught Tiger, the older cat who had never known a life without hand delivered food, how to scavenge. It was quite cute. We did "play therapy" with them also, but it was more of a team sport. Still, they expected it, and if we went a few days without play, they got cranky.

My current companion Franky is an only cat. I doubt very much he would take to another cat in the home as he is also a stray who is very territorial. He doesn't like the cats and dogs that pass outside our window daily and freaks right the hell out if they get too close. He clearly gets bored and lonely since I'm gone to work around 10 hours a day, but we have our play therapy time every evening. He's gotten to where he brings me his string (his favorite toy is a shoe string he liberated from an old shoe) when it's time. The time change really screwed him up with this as I wasn't home when it was play time.

So what this long-winded semi-novel intends to say is to play with your kitty. They love to play. A few minutes every day that establishes a schedule they can count on is very good for their physical and mental health.

[graywarrior]

14. My cat really enjoys being with the cats we are pet sitting.

I thought he'd be traumatized, but he LOVES being hissed at and chased and fighting over food. Seriously, he has become more affectionate since he had to share attention.

[LisaL]

15. I got my first cat and he wasn't happy so I got a second cat.

But my cat was only a year old when I got a second one. Yours at 10 years old might have really hard time getting adjusted to a new cat.

[kedrys]

18. I have five cats, all related

The triplets are 8 next week, have never been apart except for one day's difference in when we rescued them. It was the first time I had littermates. They developed their own dialect of catese. The twins will be 7 this summer; they are at least the cousins, if not the half-siblings, of the triplets.

There's a definite pecking order, but all five cats have (successfully and unsuccessfully) staged a coup from time to time, so each one is in charge - term lengths as boss cat are variable. :D The twins play together a lot, but will play with the other cats too. The two brothers are nearly inseparable; their sister can be distant, but she gets along with everybody. Their dad used to live with us, but he passed away last fall.

The social interaction between them fascinates me no end, in its complexity and display of obvious intelligent and personality. I've never met a cat that didn't at least tolerate having another cat around, but I'm sure some cats would prefer to be by themselves.

Have fun! :hi:

[applegrove]

20. Depends on the cat but a kitten is usually accepted because they are

just so darn cute and playfull an older cat cannot ignore them. That doesn't necessarily mean they will spend time together once the cat grows up. I had an older cat who loved the kitten and now they never cuddle. They just pass like two ships in the night. But I feel that they are getting something out of being together while I am out. Point is it is really hard to say that another cat will improve the quality of life of your critter but I think it likely will.

[sammythecat]

21. So you went and got a buddy for your dog.

Now you're concerned your cat might be lonely. Boy, talk about softies!

My first thought was to get a kitten. The 10yr old might be annoyed, but neither cat would feel threatened. At worst, I suspect, the old one would just ignore and avoid, the youngster and it's unlikely the young one would develop any aggression toward the older one.

It's a crapshoot really. They're a lot like people in this regard. I think the odds are probably pretty good they'll get along well enough and maybe even become good buds after a time. That would be great, and it's a joy to see. Unless it's a total disaster, which is unlikely, it would still make your cats day a little more interesting. Even if they're not fast friends, they can at least be a bit of a diversion for one another. Everybody, even cats, likes to have a little something in their lives to bitch about.

Good luck. It's good to see when someone is so considerate of their pets as you are. :hi:

[sammythecat]

22. Off topic but

you might enjoy this video. It's pretty popular so you might have seen it. I was thinking you might wind up with 2 dogs and 2 cats and thus be known as "that guy with all the animals". That made me think of this video. It's "The Engineer's Guide to Cats".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHXBL6bzAR4

[Critters2]

23. You should send a PM to

kestrel91316. She's a cat vet.

[DeepBlueC]

24. If you get another cat make it a kitten

Adult cats of either sex tend to "adopt" kittens added to the household. Another adult cat might altough not necessarily will become a rival. Read up on the ways to introduce a new kitty to the household. But pick a nice outgoing kitten. The stimulation will be good for your guy. That has worked in this household. Most of my cats are male and have all been good with kittens.

[grasswire]

26. anecdotal experience

My tabby Chester loved every cat who came our way. At various times we obtained several cats from people who moved overseas. Chester's owner went to Ireland. Figgy's owner went to Germany. Then came Keiko, whose owner went to Thailand. Each owner intended to take the cat back some day but....

Chester was fine with Miss Figgy, a calico, but he loved Keiko, an orange marmalade ringtail tabby. Keiko was younger by about ten years than Chessy.

Then, a family member sent us orange tabby Shoeman because the wife had become allergic and he just couldn't put the cat down or give him away. Shoe flew from New Hampshire to the west coast to be with us.

Chester and Figgy were okay with Shoe. But Keiko was in shock and horror at this infidel intruder. He lit into Shoe like a wild thing. It was just insane. We finally ended up having to keep the two of them separate for two full years, moving them to different rooms of the apartment, always keeping Keiko from seeing Shoe. Geez.

Then it spontaneously resolved! Just crazy. All of a sudden there was no animus.

Then Chester and Miss Figgy passed on. Elder cats. Then Shoe passed on. Then Keiko went with us to live in a household that already had three cats. Oboy. Trouble again. Keiko hated Zelda. HATED Zelda. And he barely tolerated the two boy cats. There was a lot of fighting and separation time again. Bother.

But I learned the secret to solving territorial fighting. The secret is to move to a house where none of the cats have previously lived. We moved, and the Trouble resolved. There are now five cats who live harmoniously. Keiko and Zelda get along, even. That's amazing to us.

In summary: cats are not only quixotic in their need for companionship, but also mercurial in their tolerance for a particular cat in the household. On one day, off another! Yet I think it is a good thing to try a companion animal, and to give it a good try and hope things smooth out.

[grasswire]

27. oh, Mike, one other thing

Has your cat had a physical exam lately? Just to make sure there's not some ailment that is making him seem less than happy?

[jobycom]

28. I had one cat that might have been happier alone, but most aren't.

I've had a ton of cats over my life, and almost none of them liked to be alone. I mean, they love to be left alone at times, and seem very standoffish, but they don't really like to be totally alone.

I had one cat, Minnie, who really hated all other cats. She was obsessively attached to me, and was always jealous of other cats, and even my kids, and would try to run both off if they were by me so she could sit by me. When I moved into an apartment by myself, I took her with me, and she seemed happier than she'd ever been for a while, but then she started getting listless, laying around, not even stalking me like before. I finally brought a kitten in, and even though she attacked the kitten frequently and ran her off, Minnie became more active again.

All of my other cats have done better with companions.

So I think cats like other cats around. When Minnie died last year, my other cat was so lonely I'd catch her staring into her reflection in the mirror or stove window. She was visibly upset for a while. Minnie died in my apartment, and Amber saw her, but even so when I took her away and came back without her, Amber kept looking at the door, expecting me to bring Minnie in. She, too, grew listless, until I got another kitten, and she perked up. She and Riddle are bestest buddies, now, too.

Hope that helps.