keyhole kate Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 DS & DIL had two moggies brother & sister little girl went missing and was subsequently found dead remaining Tom about two years old has not been himself ever since his sister went missing he even got a urinary infection the vet believes is stress related he won't go out has started weeing indoors and has become clingy they are considering re homing a new girly cat ten months old any opinions on whether this is a good idea is he likely to accept a new cat they have asked my opinion I havn't a clue Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 From my experience boy and girl cats don't like each other unless they have been brought up together. They do find it stressful when they lose a companion but usually come round and even take on some of the habits of the lost cat. Give him a snuggle from me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Have they tried using a Feliway or a Pet Remedy plug in diffuser (vet should have advised them given the history). I would advise them to try one or the other before they consider anything else. They usually do the trick in this sort of situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillybettybabs Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Poor chap , CM's advice on the plug ins would be the way i would go first with lots of TLC. Grief affects all animals in my opinion and he needs time to adjust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superkitty Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Really sorry to hear about your loss. We had a similar situation where my cat Beau's sister was killed on the road and he was inconsolable. We needed up getting a companion for him and after a tricky couple of weeks they are now the best of friends Snuggle by Faith Al-Egaily, on Flickr What we found helpful was to introduce them very gradually and carefully and always made a fuss of beau so he felt secure and not threatened. We had quite a few Handbags At Dawn standoffs at the beginning but they love each other to bits now. We found that feeding them on opposite sides of a closed door, then opposite sides of a room, then a bit closer etc helped. (This over a couple of weeks). Also I think getting a young kitten rather than an adult cat helped. As soon as Cha Cha arrived, beau focused on that and started eating again (even if only to ensure she didn't get any of his food!) so it is possible. I've heard good things about feliway plugins as well. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coco Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Our female cat Rosie was two when we got ten month old Tyson. There were a few suffles at first but they have lived relatively happily together for the last five years. They both sleep on my bed at the same time. I think as long as they can hace their own space when they want it they should get on fine. I have a friend that has 7 cats that all happily co exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisnrob Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I'd echo all of the advice already given. A Feliway plugin and spray can be very useful. It's impossible to say whether two cats will get on with each other and, in my experience, there is no general rule that females get on better with males or vice-versa. If your existing cat *liked* having one cat around then it's quite likely that they will like having another one around. However, the newcomer might not like being round other cats! Tigger was a year old when we got Trumpet and he was six weeks old. Try as he might, he couldn't make friends with her and they lived for 13 years with her tolerating him and him trying to make friends. Tilly was three months old when she arrived and she is a very friendly cat. Within a couple of days she and Trumpet were getting on like a house on fire and curl up and sleep together. Tigger would tolerate Tilly but wouldn't entertain any ideas of playing together or sleeping together. So, Trumpet always wanted to be friendly to other cats and Tigger just tolerated them - whoever they were. If you get another cat from a rescue then they are normally very good at knowing which of their cats will be most suited for what types of home so should be able to recommend a friendly one Take the introductions slowly - if possible set aside a separate room for the newcomer with their food, water, litter and bed in and let them settle in on their own. Then, over a period of days swap scents by stroking one cat then the other (still keeping them separate), swapping bedding and swapping food bowls. Then you can let them see each other but not get at each other - a stairgate of kitten pen can be useful for this. Then you can move on to supervised introductions. Also, the general rule is one litter tray per cat and one food bowl per cat (certainly initially) as they don't like to feel threatened when eating or toiletting. With some cats you can do the whole of the above process in a matter of days, for others it can take weeks or even months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 No expert but we had a male cat and got a female kitten. Initial intro was not good, our male cat tried to back out of the cat flap when he saw the kitten as he came in one day. However he quickly started looking after her and they get on very well now and despite them being about 4 & 8 now they still play together. If I had a cat that was used to company I would be inclined to introduce another but would go for a kitten rather than a mature cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
