Advice for a second cat

[liviadrusilla]

Hello all,

I adopted two bengal cats last year; really sadly one died shortly after we got her :(. So now we have one cat. She's adorable and loves having all our attention but I'm worried she's lonely when we are out. I'd like to get another cat for us and for her. I'm not sure whether it would be best to get another female or male, another bengal or not, older or younger... does anyone have any advice/experience? Our cat is super friendly and loves interacting with dogs and is cat curious (but haven't seen her with many others except one who tried to attack her - she kept coming over to investigate though so think she's keen). A complication is that she's very small so we're worried she could be dominated - really grateful for any advice.

[cozietoesie]

I'm a little scarred (mentally) by having had a succession of cats who actually liked being singletons. My current old boy detested and despised the last additional cat we had - a lovely chap - to the point that he blames him for everything that goes wrong in his life to this day and has to roam everywhere to check that he's not returned if anything bad happens.

Would you be getting another resident for you or for the cat?

[liviadrusilla]

Thanks for the advice - I am worried about changing the lovely dynamic we have now, but when we rescued the girls the charity was very keen that they were a pair because we both work and they needed company during the day. So I'm also worried that she's sad when we're not in! She's very playful and loved being a two with her sister, and grew up in a hoarding situation with lots of cats so is used to having them around her so this must be very different. But perhaps part of why the twosome worked so well was because they were sisters? We'd love another cat but only if it's going to be a life improvement for ours!

[cozietoesie]

When we've been out, the cats have slept - it seems to be what they do best. It appears, though, that they like routine and evening attention/socialising. Can you manage that sort of thing?

[MajesticSeaFlapFlap]

I got two kittens four years ago, Lucy and Nellie.
Nell died sadly two years ago. After nine months We did try to get another cat, a younger female from a rescue but Lucy got really stressed, stopped eating and starter over grooming so much her front legs had no fur so after a while and on advice from the rescue we gave her back.

Lucy is very affectionate and loves playing with the kids, our dogs and next doors cat but she seems really against having another feline in her home.

If we are out or don't want to play with her she makes her own entertainment or sleeps

[sugarplumfairy28]

Have you noticed a difference in her behavior? Our first cats, Mimi and Momo ( 6 and a bit years ago) were twin sisters. They were two peas in a pod, very cuddly, playful and went everywhere together. Tragically a couple of days after Christmas 6 years ago, there was a horrible accident and we lost Mimi. Immediately Momo stopped playing, stopped wanting cuddles, she would mop about, sit with DS's teddies and she just seemed to shut down. We left it a few months and she didn't improve, she was completely different.

We ended up getting her a 'new sister' within two weeks, they were cuddling up together and just overnight one day, Momo was back to how she used to be. I feel that it was actually quite obvious what Momo needed. If there was no obvious change I don't think we would have chanced added more change to her life.

This is what Momo needed.