I do not want to get another cat, right?

[thecatislying]

Once before, we had a wonderful cat, and, like idiots, we thought, "Hey! We have one cat! How much more work could another cat be??" And then we got The Worst Cat In The World. He ruined everything throughout his long and happy life, and made us and the wonderful cat miserable.

It is now many years later, and we have one lovely cat. I keep thinking she might like a friend. But I am WRONG, right? The thing is, she's very friendly and sociable, and I think she might be lonely with us all out all day. Previous cats have not enjoyed human company as much as she seems to. Is she lonely? Should I get her a friend? NO. Right?

She fights with the neighbour's cat. I don't want a kitten.

Tell me sternly that I do not want anothr cat.

You’re anthropomorphising your animal. Cats like being left alone! Cats that grow up together or choose to be together is one thing but bringing a new cat into a cat’s territory is often a very bad idea.
My cat hisses and yowls at most cats around our street. I don’t think he’d be impressed if we brought one into his safe space.

You don't want another cat. I had a wonderful, very sociable cat too who LOVED humans but absolutely hated other cats. I really wanted more cats but had to make the decision to forego them because she would have been so unhappy.
cats aren't often sociable with other cats unless they've lived together from a young age.

When you aren’t there they mainly sleep!!

I have 3 cats that luffs each other despite their scraps at time. The other on they are all ok together but she does not agree with all of this huddling together 🤷🏽‍♀️

I think if you want more than one cat you should go to a rescue and adopt cats who are already bonded. They are more difficult to give away ass most don’t want more than one. I would not introduce a new cat to your home as it can be stressful for your existing one. She can make friends in the street if needed.

A family near us had a gorgeous friendly black and white cat. After a few months the family decided she needed a friend and acquired a second cat. The two cats hated each other. The black and white cat loathed the newcomer so much that she left home and moved in with us, and she lived out the rest of her days as the happy and treasured sole cat of the house.

We have a bonded m/f sibling pair (both mini panthers)

I sometimes look at Celia Hammond rescue pages ( they have a LOT of black cats ) and sometimes I'm tempted by a pair of black kittens/ young cats) who wouldn't want four black cats 😂

But our female only tolerates her brother because he knows to give her space.
A pesky kitten hanging off her petticoats would not be well received.

He has a cat friend which is sweet . He goes out and calls for her . Bit that's only outside . He doesn't like changes .

So no , for us, no new cats until we have No Cats

Our cat really loves company too, but we decided not to get another. I suspect he might resent having to share our attention with a feline sibling! Actually, when we picked him up from the rescue their original plan had been to rehome him with his sibling that he had arrived with, but after the rescue had observed them for a few weeks they had realised they weren’t actually that bonded as a pair anyway. So just because they love your company it doesn’t necessarily mean they want feline company!
If you’re worried about him not having company in the day is it worth paying a sitter to pop in and keep him company at some point during your working day? It’ll put your mind at rest, and probably work out cheaper than a second cat!
However, as @RandomMess says, and as I can confirm from my cat’s tracker, they mainly sleep when we’re not there!

This is so tricky…we’re on the verge of getting a kitten as a companion for our treasured 3yo Dcat. We have the time, space and ££ to rescue another one and want him to have a companion as he often wants to play but then not with us!! These threads are making me doubt myself…

So we took this risk! The introductions were STRESSFUL!!!! It basically took either me or DH to be home 24/7 for about a month- newcat did NOT want to be shut in his own room but existingcat did NOT understand how to behave with another cat and there was A LOT of hissing and bopping!

Luckily newcat absolutely did not give a shit about getting his nose bopped repeatedly and continued to incite “play” until existingcat had worked out how to interact appropriately. It was absolutely luck that newcat had such a patient and clever personality, it would not have worked otherwise and we too assumed the existingcat wanted a friend!

I’m not sure they’ll ever snuggle and groom each other but they do follow each other round the house, sleep side by side (but not touching!) on the sofa and hide together and take turns inspecting any visitors. I find it incredibly sweet but it was absolutely luck not judgement!!! I do worry less about leaving them, knowing they are together, despite that being completely illogical!

If you set up a camera you will see that your cat probably just finds a comfy spot when it's quiet in the house and sleeps

Ask me how I know this ... no I don't have cameras in your house 😼 DH set up some CatCams at ours and it proves they do nothing !

They love playing with their person as it’s all part of bonding and maintaining that bond.

We find they play properly twice a day, always in the evening for a loooong time and even though they have each other they love it most when we join in.

Seriously they are happy to sleep and eat all day and save up playtime for the evenings when they would usually be out hunting at dusk and early evening.