Do cats get jealous?

[lokimonster]

I have a 2 year old male named Loki who I got as a kitten. He was the only cat for a year until I rescued a female kitten, Phoebe, who is about 8 months now. She adores him, she follows him everywhere and copies everything he does. Anywhere he is, she is. Loki is sweet with her, but it seems like he just tolerates her more than anything else.

Loki has always been an affectionate cat, he loves being picked up, held and cuddled. Lately I've noticed that he isn't as affectionate as he used to be, and that Phoebe is actually getting more affectionate with me than usual. So now when she jumps on my lap looking for love, I notice Loki just watching us from the corner of the room, or he'll just leave the room altogether and I can't help but feel like I'm betraying him or something. That sounds silly, but his attitude has changed so much that it's weird to see, he's usually such a big baby.

Is it possible he could be jealous that she's getting attention that he's not? Do cats even get jealous? Or has he just grown out of that clingy behavior that kittens have?

 

[faery]

I'm thinking his behaviour is probably a mix of both (growing into adulthood and being slightly annoyed with the attention she is getting). Also, if he is basically just tolerating her I don't blame him for avoiding you when she is on your lap.

Try giving each some one on one time with you, as well as "group activities" and games they can do together.

Yes, cats can and do get jealous. My Zeus believes my lap is his and his alone and will not even look at me if another cat is getting "his attention".

 

[mservant]

When I had 2 cats they were sisters and arrived in my home at the same time. Even so they had to work out their relationships with me, and all of our relationships would adjust periodically when something changed like if I'd been on holiday and left them with a carer, or when one of them became unwell and their abilities changed.  They did not like sharing me, when one cuddled in the other did not, and the boss of the two cats took the place closest to me on the bed and the other would always settle at my feet.  I had to work at making sure both of them knew they were welcome and not to allow one of them to hog my the whole time.  I rarely intervened in their own relationship unless they were going through really tough patches and their fights got a bit too close to physical harm.  It didn't happen often, they made a lot of noise and pulled a good few chunks of fur off each other but that was as far as it got.

I suspect you are best to keep yourself open and encourage both cats to come to you, but you may notice periods where they do not want to cross over each other or share your attention. As long as you respond to both of them and give each of them time without competition I think it should settle down.  I have not seltted two cats in together of different ages and it would be interesting to hear from others who have multiple households and have introduced cats in to space like you have.

The best thing you can do is pay close attention to their cat communication, non-verbal signs which may indicate to you what they are feeling and how they are relating to each other.

 

[nurseangel]

Daisy gets very jealous.  If I am petting Speck, she will push herself right in between us (she's not big on being petted, she just doesn't want me to pet him).

 

[betsygee]

When we 'inherited' our friends' four cats at the beginning of the year, our three original cats got upset.  Well, Ozzy was pretty much okay.  But our girl Zoe was like Loki.  She would watch me with any of the new cats or walk out.  

I made sure I spent plenty of extra time with Zoe.  It just took time--Zoe finally figured out the new cats weren't going to replace her (or whatever was going through her little kitty brain) 

 and she's back to her affectionate, confident self. 

Nurseangel, your story reminded me of something Zoe did--one of the new cats, Molly, was sitting next to me and I was petting her.  Usually Zoe would walk out but this time she jumped on the couch and just sat right on Molly.  The look on Molly's face was priceless, like WTH?! 

  I'm sure Zoe meant to get in between us like Daisy did with you and Speck, but it looked like she was trying some kind of cat body slam.