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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.

New kitten situation?

8 replies

throwa · 28/02/2022 11:00

We had two kittens, brother and sister, who loved each other very much and were thoroughly bonded. They played together all the time, slept together, washed each other etc etc. You never saw one without the other. They are 6m old.

The girl kitten had a horrendous accident - she fell out of an open window and broke her back. She had to be put down.

The boy is now bereft. Although he is eating / drinking / playing etc, it is clear that he is missing her desperately.

Should we get a 'replacement' girl kitten for him? The added complexity is that the boy will be going outside in April / May (10m ish). We don't want a brand new baby (8w) kitten which will only be 4/5m at this point (un neutered, no brain cells, don't want them out on the roads until they're older). So it would ideally be an older kitten of the same age as our boy so that they could both go out together.

Will there be issues with the two of them getting on? Would he be better as an 'only' kitten? How do we try to replicate that relationship he had with his sister or is this just a 'human' thing and the cats will decide themselves?

Has something similar happened to anyone before, and what did you do?

OP posts:
Want2beme · 28/02/2022 23:47

How awful that this happened. Hope you're OK. It's really difficult to know how he'd get along with another cat. I've got a cat who seems to love any cat he meets, but I've got another one who can't cope with any newcomers. A lot of cats do like company and I think it's all about how they're introduced to each other. Some cats need a slow introduction, but others not. Maybe give him some time on his own and see how he copes?

Yellowsubhubabubbub · 28/02/2022 23:50

Boys tend to like other boys , if so make sure both snipped.
Feliway
Slow introduction
Extra litter trays.
Make sure the accident cannot happen again/ bloody kittens get everywhere, worse the man toddlers ! Shock

IsThisAkissingBook · 01/03/2022 17:43

Kittens can be neutered early. It's about finding a vet that will. Most breeders of registered kittens spay their kittens before they leave non active. Our kitten was 14wks and already neutered.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 01/03/2022 18:20

I'm so sorry you lost your kitten :(

I've never had a cat lose a sibling, but I've introduced strange/unrelated kittens to cats (and cats to kittens) numerous times with no issues, so as long as you can find a cat that's lived with other cats, I can't see it being too much of a problem.

throwa · 03/03/2022 10:02

Thanks all for your comments.

Yes, everyone has been taught how to close windows now (plus, have you seen the price of gas lately?! I'm not paying to heat the whole outdoors as well as the house!) so this should never happen again.

For the moment I think we will leave it, he seems to be settling down. We may look into getting another kitten in the autumn (proper introduction, feliway etc) if he still seems a bit lonely.

OP posts:
Easterbunnyiswindowshopping · 03/03/2022 10:07

One of our pair died - brothers and were 8...dcat was depressed..
I caved and got a girl dkitten. Smitten. Absolutely - within 2 weeks. .

New kitten situation?
Easterbunnyiswindowshopping · 03/03/2022 10:07

Recent pic..

New kitten situation?
Icequeen01 · 06/03/2022 09:53

@Easterbunnyiswindowshopping That is adorable! So pleased it worked out so well.

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