My kitty is so sad when I leave home.

This morning as I was leaving for work my kitty Leo had such a sad look on his face. Maybe I was imagining it. What can I do to help him? I pet him and say goodbye before I leave. As soon as I get home he is either waiting at the door or at the top of the steps for me. Should I get another kitty? I have only had him for a few months, do you think that he will get used to being home alone?

The advice most people here will give you is get another kitty.

Seriously, the cat will probably sleep most of the day when you are gone. He hears you coming in, that's why he is waiting for you. If you spend time with him when you are at home, and play with him when you get back, he should be fine. If he is getting into trouble or showing signs of depression or separation anxiety, that is when to worry.

I am going through the exact same thing. I give Boo lots of attention in the morning and give her treats before I leave to distract her, but it still pulls on my heartstrings. So, last night I went to visit some foster parents that have 5 beautiful kittens. I walked in with the intention of adopting 1, but I fell in love with 2. They won't be available for 3 weeks so I have to choose soon. I say get a second kitten.

I havent seen any signs of depression or anxiety. I will keep an eye of for anything funny. Are there any signs that I should pay particular attention to? Thanks for your advice.

Lisa1124-

I would consider getting a second but I have a small place and I am concerned that there wont be enough room for the two. Since I just got Leo I will wait a little longer before I adopt another kitty. What kind of kitties do you have?

I understand your situation. I have a condo - not huge, but enough for a few kitties to run around in. The foster parents had around 15 kittens/cats in their home which was fairly small but I've never seen a more lovable group of cats-they definitely take good care of them, from the adults to the kittens. I have an 8 month female brown tabby and the 2 I am trying to decide on - 1 is a 10 week female calico and the other is a 10 week female diluted tortoiseshell. I try to keep Boo entertained with lots of toys around the house and I leave the curtains open so she can watch the birds outside.

Leo made me pull up all of the shades in my apt so that he could look out of EVERY window. I live in a corner unit so that is a lot of windows. I buy him plenty of toys too. What spoiled kitties we have! But they are worth it Those kitties sound so cute. What a hard decision to make.

Very hard - I want them both but I don't think Boo would like it very much. Wish I could read her mind. I was in heaven at the foster parent's home - I told them that I want their life. lol.

Why not get both kittens? I know u are worried about Boo but she might love having more kittens.

I had 2 cats - Sunniday and Zebra then had to put Sunniday to sleep due to Chronic Renal Failure so I was worried about Zebra being alone during the day then a friend found out her vet had 2 kittens who needed a home. I only wanted to own TWO cats since I live in a SMALL basement apartment but when I went to look at the kittens, I fell in love with both and the vet said she didn't want the brothers separated. I ended up bringing both home and guess what??

This is VERY UNUSUAL but Zebra IMMEDIATELY accepted them both! She treated them like her own babies!!! Now the boys (Spike and Buddy)are 1 year old and they just ADORE each other! Often Zebra and the boys would wrestle or chase each other around for fun.

I have just adopted a 4th kitten named Pepper(NO MORE than 4 CATS since I live in a SMALL apt as I said before! Grin). I've decided to adopt the 4th kitten because sometimes the boys would be chasing each other and Zebra looked kinda left out so I thought the 4th kitten would be good for Zebra and it looks like it so far!

The boys aren't sure yet of Pepper but Zebra ADORES Pepper and Pepper ADORES Zebra... So go ahead and get both kittens!

And this way you'd have more choices of who to cuddle or play with- if one cat isn't in the mood to be cuddled or play with, you'd have 2 more choices to try to cuddle with! Heheh.

No, No - don't tell me to get both. lol, then I'll end up getting a 4th like you. :-). This is hard - but I definitely believe more than 1 is ideal.

hockeygrrl, there are some signs of an upset or distressed cat; you can read about a lot of them on various threads here.

Not using the litter box properly, or peeing on your clothes or something that has your scent.

Wilful damage - tearing things up around the house.

Sulking - a friend of mine has a cat that has taken to hiding in the closet when she comes home, because she started a new job.

Change in eating habits.

If your cat is happy to see you, and plays well, and doesn't appear to be sick or anything, she will probably be fine on her own.

Although I finally did break down and get a second cat....just for Sam to have someone to play with.

Thanks everyone for all of your helpful suggestions. Leo seems to be doing fine. No signs of anything strange. He is a wonderful kitty, now if only he would let me clips his nails! LOL.

If your cat is not showing signs of being overly distressed then I would think long and hard about introducing another cat into a small space. More often than not cats don't like the idea of another cat coming into their territory. Sure, most accept it in time, but it initially upsets them. In all three of my double cat experiences it changed the first cat to some degree. None of them liked it one bit. And in the case of one who lived unhappily with a second cat for 8 years, she actually outlived the second cat and was soooo much happier when the "intruder" was gone. If your cat reacts badly and you live in a small space, there may not be many places for them to go or hide if they end up not liking each other. Do you have any idea how your cat reacts to other cats? Has he seen any outside? If so, did he hiss, or seem just curious? Maybe the people who own the kittens could give you a blanket or something that smells like the kittens so you could see what his reaction is to the smell of them. But, like I said almost no cat reacts happily to the idea. Most will get used to it in time though it may take up to a year. I have two cats now. It took Ashke (my older one) only a few days to stop hissing and growling. But he is a laid back, gentle Main Coon. However, it did take him seven months to go back to doing most of the things he did before Aiden's arrival. They are fine now though. But, they also both still give me sad moon eyes when I leave for work and are waiting anxiously for me when I come back home..... Oh and don't let the pic below fool you. That was the only time I ever found them sleeping closer than two feet together. They tolerate eachother but they are not that close. LOL!