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The litter tray

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

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Original poster

Do your cats have friends?

53 replies

Mumdiva99 · 01/03/2021 22:56

Our garden is cat central....we have always been used as something of a spaghetti junction for cats.

The house behind us has (maybe) 3 cats....but recently I have seen a few more regular visitors.

Now my kittens are here we are trying to keep the other cats out the garden. One of my kittens has got very territorial over the garden and wants to see off any visitors. Until today.....

Today she seemed to make friends with one of the visitors. They stared at each other. They did batting paws with each other. They took turns to chase each other. There were no big fluffy tails so I assume this was all fun and games.

Is this usual that cats make friends? Will my kittens become part of the local cat gang?

(My kitten ended up sitting I'm the garden alone waiting for her new friend to come back....it was very sad! Lol).

OP posts:

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Original poster

Mumdiva99 · 02/03/2021 13:05

I'm loving all the tales and photos. My cats friend hasn't been back today - they have all been hanging out up a neighbours tree and my two don't know about that....and haven't been accepted by the big cats yet.

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TheVanguardSix · 02/03/2021 13:11

We have a 7 year old ginger boy and an 11 month old tuxedo who are firm friends. We got our tuxedo as a weeks old kitten last June. Anyway, they're grand. But I do notice more cats befriending my two since the little one arrived. Our ginger boy is less sociable the past couple of years but has always had a couple of good local buddies.
I got a whatsapp photo from a neighbour a few months back showing a photo of my ginger boy all snuggled up with neighbour's cat in their bay window. It was like my cat owned the place. It was a little bit weird to see, I have to admit, in a sort of, oh! You get around! sort of way.
I think it's really, really sweet. And I have this theory that gingers and tuxedos are the friendliest cats in the world.... which means they have many second and third homes with other cats.

cliffdiver · 02/03/2021 13:55

@TheVanguardSix

We have a 7 year old ginger boy and an 11 month old tuxedo who are firm friends. We got our tuxedo as a weeks old kitten last June. Anyway, they're grand. But I do notice more cats befriending my two since the little one arrived. Our ginger boy is less sociable the past couple of years but has always had a couple of good local buddies. I got a whatsapp photo from a neighbour a few months back showing a photo of my ginger boy all snuggled up with neighbour's cat in their bay window. It was like my cat owned the place. It was a little bit weird to see, I have to admit, in a sort of, oh! You get around! sort of way. I think it's really, really sweet. And I have this theory that gingers and tuxedos are the friendliest cats in the world.... which means they have many second and third homes with other cats.

I concur.

Our boy is a tuxedo, his BFF is a ginger.

Fluffycloudland77 · 02/03/2021 14:51

Our departed Bengal boy had two friends as a youngster, the massive black cat with nice manners who’d sit and miaow if ours was under curfew & the fluffy ginger boy who had a reputation for swiping. They’d all go off together & play. They were allowed in each other’s gardens.

I tried to fuss the black boy once but when he went to walk over to me our boy ran to stand between us so that was obviously his line in the sand.

Toddlerteaplease · 02/03/2021 19:08

My teenage hood cat, had a friend called
Oscar. They would sleep curled up and groom each other. If we couldn't find Pepper, he would be at Oscar's house. Our house was the hang out for most of the neighbourhood cats over the years.

IrenetheQuaint · 02/03/2021 20:04

Most of these stories are about male cats, presumably neutered... do female cat have friends too?

TroysMammy · 02/03/2021 20:12

Haribo and Hugo had a falling out this afternoon.

Oldraver · 03/03/2021 10:34

This morning

Oldraver · 03/03/2021 10:35

Bum wrong photo

Original poster

Mumdiva99 · 03/03/2021 11:05

@IrenetheQuaint

Most of these stories are about male cats, presumably neutered... do female cat have friends too?

My cats are girls.

Aah Oldraver they even visit you in bed.

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Desmondo2016 · 03/03/2021 11:15

They are friends with each other. They have some acquaintances who they tolerate and will allow in the garden and, in one case, through the cat flap and then they have some other local yoofs who they can't abide and will hiss and chase at.

Desmondo2016 · 03/03/2021 11:15

It's a complex cat community round here.

Desmondo2016 · 03/03/2021 11:17

Oh and I have a male and a female cat. The female one thinks she's human and is my 4 year olds little sister and they actually genuinely play together, babies, bubbles, catch etc. Shs cares less for other cats though and is largely indifferent. The boy cat is the one with friends and enemies.

Lellochip · 03/03/2021 11:25

Mine has no cat friends but is on chatty terms with the neighbours' shih tzu

Oldraver · 03/03/2021 11:54

Yes the first time Dexter came in and I was in bed he gave me a WTF are you doing here look

Jaxhog · 03/03/2021 15:14

We have 2 'male' cats (Bennie and Mr Spock) who play together. They were 2 rescue kittens and unrelated, but have been best buddies since the moment they met. They're friends with the older 'lady' cat next door, but not any others that I know of.

One of our previous cats (Toby) was nicknamed 'the pied piper' because he could often be seen leading his little gang of 5 or 6 neighbourhood cats along the pavement.

Toddlerteaplease · 03/03/2021 16:25

Apparently my friends interloper, Luther was sent packing this morning by his car, who decided she did not want to share her breakfast.

purrswhileheeats · 03/03/2021 17:01

Kloppy has a friend, a little black cat from up the road who appeared three months ago. They play for hours in the field behind my house, chasing and batting each other. It looks a bit rough at times but there's no squealing or bloodshed and Kloppy is always desperate to get out to play with LBC 😹

SagelyNodding · 03/03/2021 17:20

All of my male neutered cats have/had friends. The first one brought girl cats home and let them eat from his bowl! The second had a love hate relationship with most of the cats on our street, when he was run over 3 or 4 of the local cats kept showing at our door up looking for him. That obviously didn't help me get over his death... I was a tearful wreck for months.
Current cat is fascinated by other cats but is too forward about trying to meet them and scares them away.
My only female cat was an absolute terror and fought any cat who dared to glance at our house!

CathedralsInCornwall · 03/03/2021 17:28

we have two female cats. Our neighbour has a male. Queen Cat and neighbour Csat are friends. Princess Cat is not friends with anyone.

We used to have three cats, my cat, and Queen Cat's brother who she was devoted to. When her brother was hit by a car we brought him into the house and laid him (decased) on the rug. My cat (who previously had a really bad hissing relationship with Queen cat) walked up to Queen Cat and held her down with her paws and licked her all over her face. It was like she was cuddling and comforting. From that moment on they got along really well and would sleep together (this after 6 years of being sworn enemies).

Kenworthington · 03/03/2021 19:06

Ah my Colin was friends with next doors Rosie. They’d hang out in the field together and he’d have sleepovers at hers. The she got run over ☹️ And Colin was sad for a while the. They got a new kitten and he eventually became friends with him too. then they started hanging out together on the field and play fighting. It was cute. But we moved house last sept, Colin hasn’t made any new friends here and his old mate has been mourning him leaving 😿

Original poster

Mumdiva99 · 03/03/2021 19:28

Well those last 3 stories have me in tears!!

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Icequeen01 · 03/03/2021 23:39

When I got my two cats from our local rescue centre I was worried there would be a war with the male cat next door as he had made our garden his territory. Both mine and the neighbour's cat were neutered and all three were young cats.

I took a video of the first time they all met in my garden. My neighbour's cat was curious but wary. My two went bounding up to him like he was a long lost friend. They all became best friends within two minutes. 8 years on and they are all still inseparable. My neighbour's cat tailgates my cats so he can get in through our microchip catflap. He's always in our house!

Here's a photo of the three of them together on a neighbour's shed. Mine are the gingers.

Toddlerteaplease · 04/03/2021 11:57

This pretty much sums it up.

maggiethecat · 04/03/2021 15:12

Our rescue girl Lola is still exploring the area although she doesn't go too far. She was out front recently and I could see the neighbour's boy cat stalking her. When she turned and saw him she hissed in surprise but then slowly went and sniffed him out.

They spent about 20 mins checking each other out until Lola got bored and came inside. I reckon she'll be looking out for him though 😺

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