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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

1 2

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

The litter tray

Do your cats help each other?

29 replies

hiddenhome · 15/12/2014 18:12

Dh accidently closed the patio doors today and went for a shower. Fat Cat was still outside and she doesn't like the cold and damp.

The kitten went upstairs and miaowed loudly (she never miaows) at dh until he followed her into the kitchen and realised what had happened and let Fat Cat in.

OP posts:

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ILoveLenor · 15/12/2014 18:14

That's lovely. Our cats despise each other.

Fat Cat

We had a cat we used to call Fatty.

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JuniperTisane · 15/12/2014 18:16

No. My cats live happily together in barely disguised hatred. They will sit, sleep, eat etc in the same room but will not share a sofa or a lap and at mealtimes they fight in bearhugs and biting before I put the food down. A swift foot in between them soon sorts them out.

I love my cats. They love me. The absolutely loath each other most of the time but it all seems to work somehow

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HeyheyheyGoodbye · 15/12/2014 18:20

Mine hate each other but DM's cats miaow for the other one to be let in/play nicely/team up against interloper cats. It's nice.

Love my horrid beasties tho

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hiddenhome · 15/12/2014 18:30

Oh, it sounds as though I'm lucky to have two who get on then They chase and wrestle with each other too.

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RubbishMantra · 15/12/2014 18:43

Not help exactly, but concern. The other day, MKitten managed to slip out the front door (out of bounds). When we got him back in, MCat ran in from the garden, tail all bushy, and gave him a bit of a slap. I like to think he was in the garden, looking for MKitten. He also slaps him when he gets a bit over-enthusiastic when attempting to steal our food.

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florencedombey · 15/12/2014 18:48

Our cats hate each other too. However, our smaller cat is in love with the girl cat next door and she seems to like him too. When they meet outside there is a whole greeting ritual involving happy squeaks and licking each other's noses. It's really sweet to watch.

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RandomMess · 15/12/2014 18:50

Sister is protective over/kind to brother. Brother does not reciprocate!!!

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Siarie · 15/12/2014 18:51

Mine love each other, same thing happens all the time. Always really funny when one has to go to the vet and the other stays home, whoever is left behind just meows and meows following you around.

I'm pretty sure they gang up on me when one wants food the other will help with letting me know.

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DrLizAsher · 15/12/2014 18:55

Mine fought and seemed largely indifferent but recently they both went missing. it turned out one had been run over and I think the other was watching over his brother (came home after 2 nights away) and keeping him safe until we could fine him. Feel very proud of my remaining boy for taking care of his bro!

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BiscuitsofYum · 15/12/2014 19:04

We used to have two cats, a boy and a girl.

Bcat was a massive wuss, but Gcat was a real tough cat.

Once Bcat got attacked by the dog next door, nothing major more barked and chased back to our garden. The Gcat shot out and laid into this dog about 4x her size and chased the dog back into his house.

Gcat also used to protect the garden from the nasty tomcat that lived down the road so bcat could laze in the sun.

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figgypuddings · 15/12/2014 19:09

The littler cat pins the greedy larger cat down and washes her face. It is sort of being helpful if you ignore the back feet going.

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katiesnicks · 15/12/2014 19:30

My cats tolerate each other, but do gang up on me :( had one distractme the other day whilst the other then stole a chicken breast of my plate... My girl cat is defineteky the brains of the opperation boy cat is just beautiful but wasnoy blessed with brains

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RubbishMantra · 15/12/2014 19:44

Ah, that's very touching DrLiz. I remember your posts about that. Sometimes I give myself the terrors thinking about either of my boys getting hurt.

Figgy, MCat pins MKitten down to wash him every morning. MKitten seems to like it, he often instigates it. It's very sweet to watch.

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cozietoesie · 15/12/2014 20:18

Seniorboy loathes and detests The Lodger so when he was living here, if he'd got himself shut outside in bad weather, Seniorboy would have sat back with a nasty grin to enjoy his discomfiture.

You're lucky with yours.

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hiddenhome · 15/12/2014 21:37

I find cats intriguing with their curious blend of both sweetness and cruelty. I think cats are introverts and it's so strange that they can live side by side with other cats without having any kind of relationship at all.

It's lovely to hear people's stories of their cats demonstrating concern though.

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blacktreaclecat · 15/12/2014 21:43

Ours are friends - they curl up together and allogroom. If one is shut in somewhere , after a while the other will start to miaow and pace up and down.
Such cuties

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DontCallMeBaby · 15/12/2014 22:04

Mine are brothers, and mostly tolerate each other. They do ridiculous play fighting, especially recently as weather plus house move means they don't go out like they used to. They've been doing parkour off the furniture, and off me if I sit still too long. They also do hilarious passive-aggressive grooming. They've had proper fallings out, so I know the difference. There's hissing when they really don't get on.

They don't help each other though. I wish they would. They're 5yo, 5kg (plus) male cats. If they cooperated, they could see off all comers, but they don't, one will just sit and watch while his brother gets beaten up.

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MedusaIsHavingaBadHairday · 15/12/2014 22:12

The babies are very co dependent. Ophie in paricular will cry and cry if her brother Obie is outside, or she hasn't seen him for 20 minutes! She also grooms him regularly whereas he tends to just pounce on her . But they sleep curled up together and where one is, the other soon follows.

Portia (the old lady )on the other hand slaps both of them whether they deserve it or not! However weirdly I often find her and Obie asleep in the bathroom at night..she has the wicker basket (higher ground) and he gets the floor....

Cats are just weird!

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RandomMess · 15/12/2014 22:15

Mine do snuggle up together and they do play together and they're 7 now. Their first night after I transported them 250 miles to our new house a few months ago I came down in the morning and they'd spent the night huddled together sharing the same tiny scratching barrel bed was very very cute!

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Branleuse · 15/12/2014 22:16

my two boys are really close friends. They play fight and then stop to wash each other, and i quite often find them curled up together.

Theyre not even brothers. I rescued them from the same place but from different pens and one was adult and one a kitten but they just clicked

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Woozlebear · 15/12/2014 22:19

Yes, ours scratch to make us let the other one in. They're starting to do the odd affectionate lick too, and play fight together regularly. They were unrelated rescues that came as a pair but were got at different times by previous owners. Totally indifferent to each other when we first got them but getting more and more like a little pair. Very nice to see.

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Hassled · 15/12/2014 22:23

Two of my three seem fond of each other - actively seek out the other one's company, etc. The third cat absolutely keeps himself to himself - views them as a mild annoyance. But I don't think even the two who are sort of friends would have the intelligence to try and help each other.

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Madcatgirl · 15/12/2014 22:25

Our two do now. Sadly we lost smallest cat earlier this year and her and our big fat boy hated each other. Fast forward to acquaint new cat and she and big fat boy adore each other! They follow each other about, he's taught her things. like how to wee on the shower and get in and out of the bathroom window, where the food lives, etc! Sweet!

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HowsTheSerenity · 15/12/2014 22:39

I like to think of mine as two teenage sisters sharing a room. It alternates between tolerance and hatred.

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NoMilkNoSugar · 15/12/2014 22:49

Ours look out for each other. if the kitten Meow's, the big cat will go and help her open the bathroom door to get to the litter tray. They like to sleep next to each other, but not necessarily touching, but if one stretches out and pokes the other, the other didn't bat an eye lid. It took them five days of hissing to be friends.