Is this normal solitary cat behaviour?

[ScaredButUnavoidable]

I don’t know what I’m after with this post, reassurance maybe?

I’m going to try and keep this brief:

At the end of March I had two cats from a reside centre, a mother and daughter who were classed as bonded. They’d come from a very neglectful home and had been through four foster homes before we took them on and adopted them. All was well for the first 2-3 weeks but then aggression started from the mother towards the daughter. Things escalated and escalated and after a month of trying all we could (with the support of our vet and the Rescue Centre) we made the hard decision to rehomed the daughter.

So for the last 6-7 weeks the mother has been a single cat and although she was so much happier at first and we saw a huge improvement in her character, she’s now really isolated herself.

She spends 90% of her time outside (including overnight) and I just worry so much that she’s sad.

When she’s in the garden (or house) she lets us pick her up and cuddle her, she’s really interactive with us, she loves her toys and plays with us, is always purring and chin rubbing us etc, wants to be around us etc, so there is an attachment/bond with us, but I can’t help but worry that she’s spending so much time on her own outside.

She never leaves the garden so it’s not even like she’s off exploring and having adventures to keep herself occupied and stimulated. She just plays with her outdoor toys, chases butterflies and ants, watches the birds, rolls around and messes about with feathers and sticks etc

We did consider whether another cat might be an option but after how volatile things were between her and her daughter prior to the rehoming I really don’t want to risk putting her through another stressful situation (and us).

Sometimes though I look outside and see her just sitting in the corner of the garden on her own and it breaks my heart.

Does any of this sound worrisome?

No, actually there are plenty of cats like this, who will not suffer companions. She sounds happy now, actually, able to enjoy her space and freedom. She's a solitary I'm afraid! I've had one like that.

Are there other cats in the vicinity - because she may (behind your back) have scared them all off.

I imagine she’s quietly reflecting on her past and drafting her memoirs …

She sounds like a completely normal and happy cat.
They do spend a lot of time just sitting and watching the world go by.

She sounds like she is living her best life :-)

Sounds perfectly normal, especially at this time of year! She’ll be home a lot more once the weather changes.

She sounds very content and like my dear girl. Her garden is her kingdom, especially in the summer months.

Totally normal for a cat - ours is very similar - she loves human company and is rarely takes herself off into a separate room if there is someone in the house, but she also loves her garden and spends the majority of her time there in the summer. She's very territorial so sees off all the neighbourhood cats and just mooches around out there on her own and sleeps under her favourite bushes.

I fostered a mother & son, and when he was adopted the mum blossomed so much that I fell in love & adopted her.

A lot of them really do live their best lives as single cats & yours honestly sounds happy.

She sounds happy OP. Loving company when required, and her own space outside . And the warm weather will be drawing her outside. Cats are not pack animals.

Thank you everyone, you’ve made me feel so much better.

The house that backs on to ours, there are 3 cats,
who are all lovely and I know them well as they USED to visit us, but my cat has definitely let them know to stay away now. Sometimes those cats will sit on the adjoining fence and look into my garden and stare at my cat, and sometimes my cat will sit on the fence and stare at them, but there’s no interaction. There used to be lots of hissing and scrapping if they ever crossed paths, but now it’s just silent death stares 🤣

Prior to coming to my house the cat had never been outside, firstly due to her awful owners keeping her shut in a dirty room for years, followed by 8 months of being in various foster homes, so part of me thinks shes just enjoying the freedom to be outside and learning what the outside world is like. We live in a really quiet crescent and so the back garden is really peaceful and I do wonder if actually she does just find it calming after 5 years (estimated age) of a stressful and traumatic life.

She’s not a lap cat at all, but I also accept that after 5 years of either being in a neglectful home or never being settled due to going from foster home to foster home she’s still not fully trusting that this is her home and we are hers, so I’m not pushing it and I’m just going at her pace. I do know that some cats are never lap cats though.

On the nights she does spend in the house, for example I keep her in if I know there’s going to be bad weather she spends the whole night on my son’s bed or mine, so I do know she feels safe with us.

I’ve always had cats in the past but I’ve always had 2+ cats so this is my first experience of having a single cat so everything is new to me in terms of assessing their happiness and behaviours. It’s just important to me that she’s happy

Thank you. As soon as any of us go in the garden (there’s me, my husband and our two children) she always comes pattering over to us, so she does want to be near us and then she will start rubbing up against our legs etc, and if we sit down on the grass she will lie down next to us. I’m just not used to having an only cat so I worry so much that she’s missing cat company.

Honestly it sounds completely normal

Thank you. Mine is similar that when she does come in the house she will always come and sit in the same room as us, she doesn’t take herself off and be alone so that has reassured me.

She certainly patrols round it like she thinks it’s her kingdom 🤣

On the nights we keep her in the house, the first thing she does in the morning is go out the garden and sniffs nearly every inch off it, almost to make sure there have been no unwanted visitors during the night i.e any other local cats. It’s hilarious to watch.

We have an alleyway that runs from the back garden to the front of the house, and although there is a gate between the back garden and the alley we have cut away some of the gate to allow a space for our cat to go through it, but of course that means other cats can access our garden through it too, which has happened in the past. One of my cat’s favourite pastimes is to sit opposite the fence glaring at the cut away area to make sure nobody else (another cat) even dares approach HER kingdom 🤣

The look on her face is terrifying, I think she’d scare away a burglar never mind a passing cat.

My cat is just like this. As long as the weather is dry and not too cold, she wants to be outside. She howls if I keep her in. She chases off any feline intruders in her garden quite fiercely.
We had an older tom cat when we adopted her and they got on well. When he died we adopted another cat who was lovely but she hated him and wouldn't come in the house at all until we reluctantly let him go back to the recue. She is 10 now and I won't be getting any more.
Edit for typo.

Our girl used to spend hours just sitting under a favourite bush, sleeping in flower beds, monitoring the wall that has little mice in. She hated other cats. She loved people though and could often be found lying out sharing a blanket with our neighbour, who would be sunbathing in her bikini - two gorgeous girls together!

We have a little boy cat now and he likes other cats. Next door has two and he hangs out with the boy cat, but mainly he loves the girl cat who doesn’t love him (and hisses at him) which is very sad indeed.

She sounds like our rescue boy, who was also a stray after escaping from a very neglectful home. He's friendly enough when he's around us - purrs, cuddles, chin rubs. But he just loves being outside all day long. We lock his cat flap at 10pm, with him inside, as we don't want him out on night manouevres but apart from that he's free to come and go. Mostly go.

Having lived with a very soft, doting old ginger for twenty years, who wouldn't let us out of his sight - even hopped on the bus with us, collected DC from school etc, hid in our luggage when we tried to go on holiday, it seems very strange to me, and I have to adjust to having a more independent cat. But he is happy. This is a very normal life for lots of cats, especially ones who have come from a neglectful/stray background and had to fend for themselves.

We’ve only ever had solitary cats. All of them made it quite clear that they couldn’t abide other cats and loved being an ‘only’. Many cats are happier on their own, are very territorial and will spend a lot of time outside in good weather on the lookout for interlopers.

Sometimes though I look outside and see her just sitting in the corner of the garden on her own and it breaks my heart

You don’t have to be sad, it sounds as though she is very happy with her home, garden and people. My cat is exactly the same, and would be horrified if I introduced a rival companion!

She sounds completely normal and very happy. In this nice weather my cat is spending lots of time outside often just sitting on the grass in the shade. In winter he spends more time indoors. Is also not much of a lap cat but likes us to be nearby.

Well cats don't like change so she may miss the other cat in a way, but she will adjust to that in a while. She's obviously delighted to see you when you come to her, but not missing company so much that she will go inside to find you. She's landed on her paws with you and will probably be set for a very happy life.

Thank you everyone for all your kind words x

Like others have said, she's just enjoying your garden - my cat does the same as soon as spring gets warm and practically lives outside until autumn. Comes in for food & fuss. She'll be in more when the weather turns :)

Gardens are exciting places for cats! So many different smells, flying insects to watch, grass to nibble and of course so important to watch out for Bad Cats. When she's sitting still she's probably on constant watch with swivelling ears for bird calls and tracking butterflies with her eyes.

I'm so glad she's found such a lovely home with you, OP.

It's summer. My cat comes in for food in the summer and that's it. He spends his days curled up in various places, and doing cat things at night. Once the weather turns cold he's indoors all the time except when he goes out to toilet.

Thank you everyone!

Her current favourite place is sitting in a box of cardboard that has been destined for the recycling bin for WEEKS but I can’t bring myself to get rid of it because she loves it so much 🤣🤣🤣