Hey everyone! I've been struggling with the decision to adopt a second cat and would love some advice.
My cat is 10 years old... He grew up with my sister's cat who is his brother. They were best of friends when they were kittens, but for years now have just been fighting a lot (my sister's cat was the dominant one). So when I moved out of my mother's house a few months ago I took my cat with me, separating the brothers. I had every intention of bringing my cat back to my mother's if things weren't working out, but both cats seemed to adjust to their new living arrangements just fine.
My cat is super laid back and isn't bothered by much, but he does seem much needier now than he did at my mother's. He was never, ever a lap cat and never particularly liked a lot of attention. On the rare occasions that he wanted affection, he would seek it out. Otherwise, he mostly did his own thing. But lately, he wants to be near me all the time. He's alone all day while my boyfriend and I are at work, and from the second I walk in the door he's by my side where ever I go. He follows me around, he cries, he sleeps on top of me (which he NEVER did before the move), and he's constantly waking me up early, early in the morning.
Is he maybe lonely or bored? There's a neighborhood cat that sits on our back deck sometimes and my cat will watch him from inside and cry (not in an angry way) and he was very interested when my neighbor's cat somehow snuck into our side of the basement. My cat seemed curious, not standoffish. He was slowly walking up to the other cat (not stiff at all, just cautious), but unfortunately the other cat wanted nothing to do with him and ran off.
SO here's my dilemma: I recently met a female cat at my local shelter who was surrendered after her owner died. She is 8 years old and from what I can tell, has a temperament and energy level that is similar to my cat's. My boyfriend and I have met quite a few cats recently as I've been trying to make this decision, and this is the first cat we really clicked with right away. But would it be wise to adopt a second cat? Would my cat get jealous or feel the need to fight for my affection?
I want to do what's best for him, and it's really frustrating me that I can't just ask him what he wants!
P.S. Sorry this is so long. Just wanted to make sure I adequately explained the situation.
Don't worry about long explanations -- you should see some of the threads in the raw feeding forum -- we hang on every detail here 
