Hi Everyone!!! Couple of questions!!

Hi there, I'm new to this board. Lots of great posts on here. I have a question. I have a cat that lives with me that's a little over 12 years old now, but is still doing really well. He's always been alone execpt when he was a kitten and he had another kitten buddy. Now that he's getting up there in age, not one day goes by when I don't worry and stress about losing him. I know that indoor cats can live up to 20 years these days(one of my friends has a 19 year old cat), but I'm still obsessing about losing him, because he's such a wonderful loving animal, my best friend really. Now my question is, I know that when he dies I'll probably want to run and get another kitten just for animal companionship and to help a bit with the stress. A couple of folks I talked to suggested that maybe I should get a kitten now because otherwise it will be extremely hard coming home to an empty house after he dies. I'm not too sure I want to do that though, because I have no clue how my cat would handle another small kitten hanging around. My cat is so spoiled. He has 3 cat trees, always get treats, always get a ton of love, has a nice cat bed, can sleep on my bed etc,,,and I feel that if I get another kitten, he may get very depressed due to the competition. Does one cat get lonely if they don't have another cat there to play with?? Or are they solitary enough where they can be just fine? I just want him to be happy, and so of course I also ponder if he'd be happier or misserable if he had a kitten around with him. You know how cats are when they get older, they spend more time sleeping and won't really want to play as much. (he's an indoor cat by the way)...I'll try and post pics of him on the picture thread within the next week.

thanx in advance!
Dusty

I've moved this thread to the "Behavior" forum, where you'll probably find more informed advice.

Originally Posted by jcat

I've moved this thread to the "Behavior" forum, where you'll probably find more informed advice.

Click to expand...

okay thanx ... still getting use to these forums.

Search for some of the old introduction threads and have a read - if you're prepared to do all of those things, maybe a companion would be good for both of you. Bear in mind that a youngish cat but not a kitten, would probably be a better choice for your buddy.

12 isn't that old for a cat - and just like us some of them die young and some of them seem to live forever, and living past 20 and even living past 30 (while not common) certainly is happening more often.

Cats often do better with a companion so that they have someone to play with - but if you don't suspect he's bored, he may be happier on his own - it's hard to say.