Do cats get lonely?

Hi.

We rescued a feral about a year ago and she is an outdoor cat (spayed etc).  Neither one of us had any knowledge of cats.

Another feral cat (larger male) has been hanging around and eating her food.  (We have an automatic feeder because we are gone on travel a lot)

We felt badly for the male feral because he looks so skinny and cries a lot so we increased the amount of food at feeding time.  He is taking over the feeder, moving our cat away from the food with his body.  He is larger and very aggressive.  Our dilemma is this:  We can re-locate the male to a barn a few miles away where he will be fed but not taken in.  Because we are gone a lot, we are wondering if our cat feels better with another feline there with her or whether she would rather be there alone.  We are afraid the TOM might begin to eat all of her food while we are gone.  They don't fight but do get pushy during feeding.  Also, we don't know if cats get lonely.

Thanks for your help!

I do believe *most* cats enjoy the company of another cat...esp if they do not have a lot of people interaction. If the two get along well, other than the feeding issues, what about getting a second feeder??

Thanks for your reply.  We have thought about an additional feeder but really can't tell if they get along or not.  The male seems to be dominating but not vicious. He does hiss at us though.

We seem to always have 2 ferals.  My Shadow is the permanent cat and others seem to come and go.  Shadow was always getting shoved out of the feeding area by the new more hungry and aggressive cat.  I was always worried he wouldn't get enough to eat.  We added another feeding station so they each had their own space.  At first we had them about 8 feet apart, but as time went by and they got along, the feeding stations can be moved closer or they might choose to share the same feeding station.  I just try to watch and see who is eating all the food and put out some extra if needed.  Since you are gone alot, it might be hard as the new arrival might eat everything. 

Is the new arrival neutered?  If not, neutering him will cut down a bit on the aggressive behavior. 

My Shadow really enjoys the company of another cat.  Yet, it has to be the right cat. We had Patches for about 9 months then he disappeared, but returned later.  Shadow was so lonely without him.  When Patches returned, he only came to eat and rarely stayed.  Another cat joined the mix, but he did not get along with Shadow at all.  It was very hard to watch.  Now this past summer another cat joined the mix and he is just the best.  He and Shadow are like two little kittens.  They are constantly playing, rolling around the deck, eat out of the same feeding station and snuggle up together at night.  I always see them in the yard together.  So I do think they can get lonely, but I also think the cats have to get along.  Having territory issues is very difficult to deal with.

Thanks for your input.

I think that is our dilemma..we can't really tell that they interact; just kind of exist in the same area.