New - need advice!

juliep704 · Mar 23, 2009

Hello everyone!

I'm glad this forum is here! It looks like there's lots of great information available. I'm hoping that someone can help me out with some advice.

My mom, a lifetime lover of cats, just lost her cat Mitten. She died suddenly at only 4 years old. We adopted Mitten and her brother/litter-mate, Tip, in May of 2005 and quickly fell in love. Tip and Mitten, being biological siblings, were extremely close.. it was obvious to anyone who met them that they really loved each other. Mitten acted very maternal toward Tip, especially when it came to grooming him.

Needless to say, my whole family, especially my mom, and Tip, were devastated when Mitten passed away. It's been a few weeks and Tip is still moping around the house, obviously lonely, all the time. My mom is a teacher so she has to leave Tip alone (for the first time ever) every day she works. Tip is extremely sad.

So... I need a lot of advice!
First, has anyone else been in this situation with biological sibling cats and one passing away? Did the other cat ever stop being so lonely? What would help?
Second, if my mom gets another cat, would it be better to get a young cat or an older cat? A girl or a boy? How long should she wait?

Any other advice would be great too! Thank you so much in advance.

Julie

katachtig · Mar 23, 2009

Welcome to TCS. I've moved your thread to our Behavior forum as I think you will get great advice about helping your surviving baby here.

laureen227 · Mar 23, 2009

Originally Posted by juliep704

First, has anyone else been in this situation with biological sibling cats and one passing away? Did the other cat ever stop being so lonely? What would help?
Second, if my mom gets another cat, would it be better to get a young cat or an older cat? A girl or a boy? How long should she wait?

yes, my Mouse [blue cat] was my Pixel's [bicolor black/white] littermate. Mouse died about 3.5 years ago - prior to her illness, she & Pixel had never spent a night apart from each other.

i was fortunate in that i had 'acquired' a very young stray [vet estimated around 8 weeks old] in September of that year [Mouse died in December]. altho neither of my girls [7 years old at the time] were too thrilled w/the new additon, they had begun to tolerate her somewhat. [this would be Cable, the silver tabby.]

however, this meant that, when Mouse did leave a few months later, Pixel was NOT left alone. i did explain to her what had happened [from her perspective, Mouse left (for the vet) & never returned]. i think it helped her, & a few months later, i caught Pixel & Cable snuggling together, much like Pixel & Mouse used to.

a couple of months after that, i 'acquired' another kitten, about 6 months younger than Cable [this would be Java, my calico]. this solved the one problem we were still experiencing - Cable would try to play w/Pixel, who just wasn't interested.

Cable & Java became playmates, Cable & Pixel became snugglemates, & peace [of a sort, considering there were 2 kittens in the house

] reigned in the house once more.

i would recommend another boy, myself - one the shelter can tell you gets along w/other cats, & is relatively laid-back. age is not as important as purrsonality, IMO.

Welcome to TCS!

dan32 · Mar 23, 2009

I had two 16 yo littermate twins who were like siamese twins. When Kippy passed away suddenly a few months ago, his brother Kevin sat staring at the walls for months. We were both so sad, it was like we were just going through the paces.

I introduced a new kitten to Kevin about two months later and his initial reaction was "its not Kippy". The new kitten absolutely adored Kevin and hung around him constantly. All of this adoration eventually melted Kevin down. It has now been about 6 weeks and Kevin and kitten are best of buds. Although if I had a 4yo, I would probably look for a similarly aged companion.

New - need advice!

juliep704

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katachtig

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laureen227

Darksome Duo!

dan32

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