Would my cat benefit from a friend?

[PregnantSea]

My cat is 18 months old. We currently have no other pets. She seems happy enough but I've heard so much about cats needing company and I wonder if we should get her a friend? She's strictly indoors and we've had her since she was 12 weeks old. Got her from a rescue shelter. (Before everyone starts crucifying me - I don't live in the UK. Where we are you aren't allowed to let your cat roam. Our house is quite big and she's allowed everywhere)

I don't work and so spend quite a bit of time with her at home. DH works long hours but shifts so does still get to spend quite a bit of time at home during the day. As she's still young she is very energetic. She has interactive play time with us and plenty of toys, perches, cat trees etc. If we ever go on holiday we always get a house sitter so someone is around to keep her company for at least few hours in the day.

DH isn't convinced on getting her playmate. He says she'd probably get insecure and not like another cat in the house. She's unusually small for her age, and she is a very nervous cat and always hides when someone comes to the door. She also loves being the centre of our attention and I do worry that she'd be jealous of another cat.

Any cat experts out there with some advice? Do I leave her as she is or get her playmate? Any advice would be much appreciated!

Anyone?

Ah im glad you have started this thread! Im in the same situation here too. My cat is an indoor and we also got her from a rescue centre, iv been doing a bit of research and have decided that female cats may be best with other females as males are quite dominant, therefore it can change the females behaviour. Im still in two minds what to do here...

I also read up on scent swapping..have you heard of this?

Does your cat seem confident in general? Mine is very confident if it's just me and DH in the house but she's scared of other people until she's gotten to know them and she's skittish about loud noises and sudden movements. This makes me think she might get very stressed and scared if a new cat turns up. I did wonder if a kitten would be best as presumably she wouldn't be scared of a kitten - I could be wrong though!

I haven't hear of scent swapping - is it something to do with giving each cat something that smells like the other to help them get to know each other?

It's hard to tell really as she's not had much exposure to other cats. She might well learn to live with another cat, they could become friends or not. Ideally you would be looking for a cat with similar energy levels, and one that is already known for being good with other cats and non-dominant.

I have four cats and three of them seem to really enjoy each other's company, often spending time together. The fourth one is more "take it or leave it" when it comes to the others - they don't fight although she can give a hiss if she doesn't like something. Very occasionally I find her sleeping cuddled up with one of the others but mostly she will do her own thing.

I thought the same about a kitten but then i just didnt want the hassle of training a kitten if you know what i mean. I think the idea of getting a similar cat makes more sense but if it didnt work out then id not want to give up on the new cat and have it rehomed again. Scent swapping, i read it on cats protection website so yes its where you would rub a blanket on the cats face around the whiskers and leave it with the other cat. The idea is that they become familiar with the scent of eachother so that when they meet its not an unknown threat and become aggressive.

I have a 7 month old kitten and am wondering the same thing. Shes very happy but I do wonder if I should get her a friend. She managed to escape past me and chase a cat twice the size of her out of my garden a couple of weeks ago so I don't know how she feels about other cats. She does sit and watch them through the glass doors, I just can't make my mind up. Also she's so laid back she doesn't scratch my furniture or my erm, heavy handed toddler so I worry about getting another and it turning out to be aggressive etc.

Cats are quite territorial and don't necessarily want a friend! (Dogs are different, they are pack animals). They have filmed cats while their owners are out and they don't interact

We got a friend for my cat. It turned her evil. She went from a lovely, friendly home cat to an aggressive, bitey cat overnight. The friend is an absolute sweetheart and follows her around desperate for any crumb of friendship but he just gets beaten for his efforts. I won't ever bring an new cat into an established cat zone again. If we want 2 they'll come from the same litter.

Honestly, this is a gamble. Some cats will tolerate another cat in the house, some absolutely will not and I have witnessed both sides of the coin. A kitten would definitely be the best choice because your cat wouldn't be threatened by it. She may not like the kitten for a while, but chances are they will find a way to co-exist peacefully. Also, you would want another female cat, not a male.

I have 5 cats and they get along very well. I have 2 sets of sisters who I've had since they were kittens. My cats pal around with each other, play with toys and sleep together in varied pairs.

I would second it being a total gamble. We got two cats at the same time from the RSPCA and the male bullies the female outside so much we are considering rehoming him because he keeps chasing her into the road. She adores going outside as well but is becoming so stressed by him. I definitely projected my human emotions onto them and assumed they'd love company but my two would much rather be the only cat in the house!

Our two cats from the same litter - had them from kittens - didn't really like each other at all. I was glad we had two as kittens as they used up loads of energy chasing each other and would when v little curl up together .

Then one started bullying the other. The bully got run over and the bullied cat has now blossomed.

So I don't really know - it's a gamble.

Cats can enjoy the company of other cats but most would thrive perfectly happily without. You could end up with cats that hate one another and that causes no end of stress.

I had two sister cats that were together for 15 years until one died. They were close, often slept together and groomed each other. I expected the remaining cat to go into mourning and look for her sister. I was upset to find she just didn’t seem to notice!

We have litter mates, for the first 18 months or so they were quite friendly, now they just tolerate each other. The tend to like different places at different times of day. If they do encounter each other then they either ignore each other or start grooming and then end up in a fight. They never hurt each other but I don't think they really like each other.

We have two cats but they are sisters from the same litter we got them both together. They don't do much together sometimes they curl up together sometimes they play together but they mainly do things individually they don't fight with each other but they also don't like sharing if one is on your lap they don't want the other on there. We have a stray that tries to get in our cat flap...they do not like him! If they see him through the window they growl I'm not sure either would welcome a new cat into the home. This is just my cats I'm not sure how yours would act it depends on the cat I suppose.

OP why dont you try it and let me know how it goes 😂 Honestly, it does sound like a gamble but then again who knows!

They have filmed cats while their owners are out and they don't interact Well if they had filmed in my house they would have had completely different findings. My 20 plus cats all interact - lots. There are a lot of special friendships, and romances, and lots of general nose-bumping, co-sleeping, mutual grooming. A couple of them aren't bothered one way or the other about fellow cats, but the majority deliberately seek out the company of and interaction with other cats.

Thats what I thought, my friend has 3 cats and she started with one, then the other and so on. They all seem to get on pretty fine and shes not had any major issues. I think its one of those things suppose you just gotta bite the bullet and see how it goes.

Thanks so much for all the responses guys, hearing about all of your experiences has given me a lot to think about. It sounds like it might not be a great idea...

She doesn't seem unhappy with the way things are, and I do think I'm probably projecting my own human emotions onto her a bit. She loves the company of DH and I, and she also loves the company of the friends we've had cat sitting when we've gone away. I'm now wondering if she prefers the company of people rather than other cats!

A cat came up to our window last night (very rare occurrence as they aren't allowed to roam in our country so I imagine it was a rare feral) and my cat was extremely distressed by his presence. She made a screeching noise I've never heard her make before, like she'd seen a ghost, and ran to hide under the bed. She didn't come out for hours!! So didn't take too kindly to his presence...

Sounds like the gamble probably wouldn't be worth it. If she seemed truly lonely now then I might take the risk, but as she's happy enough with how things are I think we'll just leave it... I won't go into her backstory before she was rescued but she had an awful start in life and I'm really pleased that we've given her a happy, comfortable home. It would be a shame to ruin it for her now by introducing another cat that she quite possibly wouldn't like.

I had one cat that was made an indoor cat after an accident.
He used to play with another cat in the short time he was actually allowed to roam and definitely seemed a bit down in the dumps for a while so I made the choice to get him a friend.
Obviously I was concerned/terrfied he wouldn't get on with another kitten even though he was still under a year old himself but they get on great and he definitely cheered up

Long story short, i went to view one cat and ended up with two! Sisters. I decided to bite the bullet and get my Coco a friend..or 2. At the moment things are ok..i kept the sisters together last night in one room and my Coco in another. Done the scent swapping also. So this morning, kids now at school I introduced all 3, through a baby safety gate! One of the sisters is growling whilst the other is quite placid. She is currently roaming the house..investigating whilst my Coco is sat quietly on the stairs. Il keep you updated. Growler is still being kept seperated as she may take longer 😊 wish me luck.

All female Ragdolls..indoor cats.