Should i get a second cat?
Discussion
We have had our cat Molly for about 6 months now, and I am wondering if she would be happier with another cat in the house to keep her occupied.
She is a very clingy cat, and is hardly ever in a different room to us. The problem lately has been that she is acting up and destroying things to get our attention. If I am not in the room with her or am at work there is never any damage, but if you are in a room and not paying her attention she will attack a chair (already ruined my wingback
) or jump and destroy / takes things she knows she should'nt. As soon as i get up to stop her she runs away or attacks me as if it is a game, then if i sit down she will carry on her destruction.
She also attacks me in my sleep and attacks the curtains when i am in bed. This gets very annoying after doing a 12 hour night shift but i can understand how she is bored since I get home and need to go straight to bed.
This has been going on for a couple of months now and I have tried different sprays to put on the furniture (not very effective) and also a feliway diffuser thing. She also occassionally pees in the bath when there is a perfectly clean litter tray next to it. Again she will only do this if you are in the house.
Would a second cat calm her down? I have just ordered an automatic toy thing to keep her busy during the day but i think the main issue is she is so clingy to us and wants / needs our attention constantly when we are in the house.
What should i do (short of getting rid of the cat
) ?
She is a very clingy cat, and is hardly ever in a different room to us. The problem lately has been that she is acting up and destroying things to get our attention. If I am not in the room with her or am at work there is never any damage, but if you are in a room and not paying her attention she will attack a chair (already ruined my wingback
) or jump and destroy / takes things she knows she should'nt. As soon as i get up to stop her she runs away or attacks me as if it is a game, then if i sit down she will carry on her destruction.She also attacks me in my sleep and attacks the curtains when i am in bed. This gets very annoying after doing a 12 hour night shift but i can understand how she is bored since I get home and need to go straight to bed.
This has been going on for a couple of months now and I have tried different sprays to put on the furniture (not very effective) and also a feliway diffuser thing. She also occassionally pees in the bath when there is a perfectly clean litter tray next to it. Again she will only do this if you are in the house.
Would a second cat calm her down? I have just ordered an automatic toy thing to keep her busy during the day but i think the main issue is she is so clingy to us and wants / needs our attention constantly when we are in the house.
What should i do (short of getting rid of the cat
) ?Yes, a kitten may give her someone to play with - our two race around the house, scrap through the curtains, and this morning I was lucky enough to have them both run across my bare legs - claws out...... But they are hilarious to watch.
Also the odd 5 mins a day if you can with a chase toy thingie......
Also the odd 5 mins a day if you can with a chase toy thingie......
Yes and no.
Cats aren't like dogs and people, they're naturally territorial. I have 2 from the same litter, who are now 3 years old. They played beautifully (and often hilariously) as kittens, but now they're very stand-offish with each other - they'll hiss and spit when the other one walks near, they'll growl at each other while eating, and geneally don't want anything to do with each other.
Cats aren't like dogs and people, they're naturally territorial. I have 2 from the same litter, who are now 3 years old. They played beautifully (and often hilariously) as kittens, but now they're very stand-offish with each other - they'll hiss and spit when the other one walks near, they'll growl at each other while eating, and geneally don't want anything to do with each other.
well, I have had it both ways with introducing new cats. I have Tiggy who is a 8 year old tabby and very set in in his ways and owns the house and garden, very spoilt and gets his own way and his every meow is our command! lol,
2 years ago we got Gabbie from Cats Protection League and she was a year old, Tiggy did not take to her at all and they would not even be in the same room as each other, he spent all his time outside or one was upstairs and one down. It was very rare that they were together, definately no play or grooming!! Sadly Gabbie was hit by a car earlier this year and we lost her. It was strange as Tiggy although never close to her seemed to really miss her, and would lay in her bed or her spots in the house and seemed not himself.
In Sept after thinking long and hard we decided to get a kitten, and this was the best idea ever! Tiggy loves him they snuggle up all the time, play together and are real companions, Tiggy hardly goes out now and they are best of friends!
So really it could go either way and you will never know til you try!
2 years ago we got Gabbie from Cats Protection League and she was a year old, Tiggy did not take to her at all and they would not even be in the same room as each other, he spent all his time outside or one was upstairs and one down. It was very rare that they were together, definately no play or grooming!! Sadly Gabbie was hit by a car earlier this year and we lost her. It was strange as Tiggy although never close to her seemed to really miss her, and would lay in her bed or her spots in the house and seemed not himself.
In Sept after thinking long and hard we decided to get a kitten, and this was the best idea ever! Tiggy loves him they snuggle up all the time, play together and are real companions, Tiggy hardly goes out now and they are best of friends!
So really it could go either way and you will never know til you try!
Edited by Mubby on Tuesday 27th November 09:13
Simpo Two said:
I have yet to see any examples of subsequently-introduced cats 'getting on well'. Worse with dogs, unsurprisingly - but people still seem to think it will be like kids at a birthday party.
Well it does happen.My eldest (17.5yrs now) was almost 2 when I kept a then 5 week old Ren (rip sweet Ren
) he hissed at her for 2 days, by the 3rd he was washing her and the rest they say is history. They were very well bonded. Washed each other, slept together, if she cried out he would run to find her etc etcSadly my eldest slow decline into senility has taken a battering this last 2 weeks since losing Ren, he is not coping at all. trying him on some meds to see if this helps.
So yes it can and does work and I see plenty of paired unrelated cats that have very good bonded lives (and dogs) however it is right to be aware that it does not work aswell!
AceOfHearts said:
I have heard that but since she is very playful and still quite young hopefully it would not be a problem with the right introduction. Also how many litter trays would be needed for two cats? She has two at the moment (one upstairs one downstairs)
I'm told that the answer to 'resource competition' (a litter tray counts as a 'resource') is to have one more litter tray than there are cats in the house, and clean them out very regularly.Keep their food/water bowls well apart, and feed the more established cat first.
Don't make a fuss of either before you leave the house: ignore any yowling and make a fuss when you return.
She doesn't look very old so I imagine you'd be ok. Might be better to get a boy this time.
We introduced a new cat when the others were about 1 and they became best friends.
We now have 4 and the smallest pair are 2 and the others 12. It took a while and whilst they may not be best friends they socialise quite well together and we don't have any fights.
We introduced a new cat when the others were about 1 and they became best friends.
We now have 4 and the smallest pair are 2 and the others 12. It took a while and whilst they may not be best friends they socialise quite well together and we don't have any fights.
Simpo Two said:
I have yet to see any examples of subsequently-introduced cats 'getting on well'. Worse with dogs, unsurprisingly - but people still seem to think it will be like kids at a birthday party.
Started with one, now up to four cats. Took a week or so for each cat to settle in with the existing inmates but no problems now. They even gang up and invade our bed together and in the morning there is a deputation waiting at the food bowl.It is very difficult to make coffee without crossing the picket line!
Go for it.
They are all rescue or rehomes by the way, age range from 3 to 13ish.
AceOfHearts said:
We have had our cat Molly for about 6 months now, and I am wondering if she would be happier with another cat in the house to keep her occupied.
She is a very clingy cat, and is hardly ever in a different room to us. The problem lately has been that she is acting up and destroying things to get our attention. If I am not in the room with her or am at work there is never any damage, but if you are in a room and not paying her attention she will attack a chair (already ruined my wingback ) or jump and destroy / takes things she knows she should'nt. As soon as i get up to stop her she runs away or attacks me as if it is a game, then if i sit down she will carry on her destruction.
She also attacks me in my sleep and attacks the curtains when i am in bed. This gets very annoying after doing a 12 hour night shift but i can understand how she is bored since I get home and need to go straight to bed.
This has been going on for a couple of months now and I have tried different sprays to put on the furniture (not very effective) and also a feliway diffuser thing. She also occassionally pees in the bath when there is a perfectly clean litter tray next to it. Again she will only do this if you are in the house.
Would a second cat calm her down? I have just ordered an automatic toy thing to keep her busy during the day but i think the main issue is she is so clingy to us and wants / needs our attention constantly when we are in the house.
What should i do (short of getting rid of the cat) ?
As others have mentioned, it will go one way or the other and there's definitely no guarantee that she'll accept another cat. If you do take one on then you need to be open minded to the fact that they may never like each other, bordering on hate, so don't get another unless you want another cat for you, not just for Molly.She is a very clingy cat, and is hardly ever in a different room to us. The problem lately has been that she is acting up and destroying things to get our attention. If I am not in the room with her or am at work there is never any damage, but if you are in a room and not paying her attention she will attack a chair (already ruined my wingback
) or jump and destroy / takes things she knows she should'nt. As soon as i get up to stop her she runs away or attacks me as if it is a game, then if i sit down she will carry on her destruction.She also attacks me in my sleep and attacks the curtains when i am in bed. This gets very annoying after doing a 12 hour night shift but i can understand how she is bored since I get home and need to go straight to bed.
This has been going on for a couple of months now and I have tried different sprays to put on the furniture (not very effective) and also a feliway diffuser thing. She also occassionally pees in the bath when there is a perfectly clean litter tray next to it. Again she will only do this if you are in the house.
Would a second cat calm her down? I have just ordered an automatic toy thing to keep her busy during the day but i think the main issue is she is so clingy to us and wants / needs our attention constantly when we are in the house.
What should i do (short of getting rid of the cat
) ?The destructiveness and inappropriate toileting is screaming out to me that she is feeling stressed, in which case bringing another cat into the household at the moment probably isn't the best idea. How long do you spend actively tiring her out with games? Is she an indoor or outdoor cat?
There's lots of fab toys and tricks you can make use of to tire her out mentally so she doesn't have the energy to be destructive; 'da bird' is a great interactive toy, scatter her food around the house or put it in a slimcat treat ball, catit senses is a range of toys that keep mine occupied well, trixie also do a nice activity board. One of my cats will pester the others much to their annoyance if I don't make the effort to tire him out, but it can be done and is worth it for both him and mine sanity
How long have you had the feliway plugged in for? I'd recommend trying Zylkene which is very effective for some animals and it doesn't sedate them which I love.
By all means go ahead and get another cat if you think it'll help Molly, but as above just be aware that it may do nothing for her and you'd need to find another high energy but chilled out cat to keep her entertained but not make her worse. You'd need one tray per cat, plus an extra one as a minimum. Hth
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