My cat, Simon, has been behaving very frenetic lately. He’s been mewling at nothing, demanding attention constantly, and even when he gets it he quickly turns nippy and combative, all the while making these sad-sounding warbles and cries.
I don’t know what is going on but I think he’s seriously lonely. With both gnat23 and Mosfet gone, I think he’s utterly confused and ultimately bored.
I’ve been thinking about getting another cat for him to socialize with, but he’s about 8 or 9 years old now. So I don’t know that a kitten is the right course of action, and I’m apprehensive about introducing another adult cat to the mix.
Anyone have experience with this?
Yes, I do. When my roommate left and took her cats with her Sable acted much the same way. So, I went to the SPCA and got Isis (she was about 9 months old when I got her). Sable hate her from the start and they have never truly gotten along. They tolerate each other but don’t particularly like each other either.
My friend Donnelly had a similar situation and introduces a very young female kitten to her older male. Her male cat took a parenting role to the kitten and they get along great to this day.
I think a young kitten will be less threatening to Simon, a older cat may have territorial issues to deal with (as did Sable and Isis). A kitten will know that Simon is the big cheese and female kitten will usually not grow up to challenge Simon’s territory.
My 2 cents.
I agree. Age and gender difference both help. Saturn and Loki never got along super well because they were pretty close in age. Now saturn has a young friend who has quickly gotten way bigger than him, but still allows him to be alpha.