More than one cat
DEAR PET TALK: My cat seems lonely; recently, we lost our other cat from illness but we are nervous about bringing him a friend. — Feline Fan
DEAR FELINE FAN: Last week, we wrote about the benefits of having multiple dogs versus a singleton and this week we asked our Be PAWSItive community their thoughts on more than one feline.
Some people spoke about the complexity of cat psychology — some felines appreciate their own solitude, whereas others crave companionship. This was definitely the case for Fitchburg’s Jenn Bragdon whose family have a super-senior tomcat (Hendrik, age 20). “When he was our only cat he was depressed,” she reports. “Picking at his food, wouldn’t play, he would wander the house crying. He had never done that when he had kitty siblings. So we knew we needed a companion for him. As soon as we adopted another cat all of that stopped.”
Artist Kathryn Swantee of Leominster who looks very closely at cat behavior as she is a noted pet portraitist observes that she has “always had at least two cats. A companion keeps them active and two cats are more entertaining than one.” For Swantee, she’s occasionally had a quartet, but “finds three to be the perfect number.”
Some cat owners take on special responsibilities, and one friend who takes care of very ill, and/ or elderly kitties has nine cats. She explains that everyone gets along, but “much care” needs to be taken with introductions.
For Misty Wisuri of Fitchburg, two dogs and two cats (and a lizard) is the magic combination. “We are feeling the need for a new cat soon and when the right one comes along it will happen,” she muses. “Our kids have never known life without pets. They provide an unconditional love for the family and each other. And they fill the house with that unconditional love just by their presence. If you can afford and care for them, the more the merrier.”
Our household has achieved equilibrium with one dog and two cats, which means when a cat gets “the zoomies” many bodies are happy to join in!