Separation Anxiety Questions

I have two kittens Eloise and Eddy they've been together since they were born and are five months old. In January I leave for school and wanted to take one with me while my boyfriend keeps the other. We both have anxiety problems and the kittens help us a lot. I'm wondering if they'll get separation anxiety if we separate them. Or if they'll get sad or anything. Please help.

They may become more lonely and idle once separated and living as the only cat. They may possibly develop some play aggression with your hands once they lose their playmate. So you'd just have to compensate by giving your kitty a lot of interactive playtimes with you with toys like Da Bird to keep your kitty happy and active. If they're separated for several months, they may forget each other and need to be reintroduced to each other if they come to live together again.

Thank you so much. How would that work if like they were separated for 9 months out of the year for three years? I have three years left of school and would be away during school months but would come home to the other kitten during all breaks. And they're used to riding in the car and would be brought together a lot for weekends and stuff.

If they interact with each other every weekend, they're likely to continue to remember each other. Cats respond to smells as well. For example, even a cat who has been gone for a day to the vet can get hissed/growled at (considered a strange/new cat) by the cat left at home because of the unfamiliar smells they've brought home from the vet. So, to prevent an episode like that from happening, one "method" is to get cloth/towels and rub a cat with it to get its scent onto the towel (or just have the cat sleep on it for a while), and after the vet trip, rub the kitty with their own towel so that they get some of their scent back on themselves.

So, in your case, what you could try with scent is to keep some items (a toy, a towel, a sock, etc) that have the other kitty's scent in your home, and keep swapping each cat's scent with items every time you can so that the cat living with you always remains familiar with the other cat's scent.

Kitties feel most at ease with consistent routines and schedules, and it depends on the kitty but they don't always respond well to disruptions in their routines. So, if there does end up being some behavioral problems that do arise as they get adjusted to their new living situations and routines, I'd recommend plugging in some Feliway diffusers. They're synthetic feline facial pheromones that get diffused throughout your rooms (odorless to people) that help cats feel safe in their environment. Good luck!