Does Your Cat Want a Friend?

Interesting video. Good information. All five previous cats were single. Never had any issues. I got my first cat when I was a child. She lived 16 years. It was five years before I got another. Since then, we have always gotten another cat right away. One just showed up after Sabrina died. When our next cat had to be euthanized (she had cancer throughout her lower jaw), someone had left a litter of kittens at the vet's office. So my daughter brought one home. Now, I have two sisters. And they act like it! LOL

Great advice as usual! Thank you! 💙

I had 3 cats a year and a half ago - a 20-year-old and two 4-year-olds. The two younger ones were about 4 months apart in age and seemed quite close for the first couple of years but when our living space doubled, the older young cat, Gracie, distanced herself from the other one. It took several months of hissing to get her point across and then I ended up with two somewhat unhappy cats. The youngest, Lexie, was a velcro cat who didn't like to be alone and Gracie was much more independent and wanted her own space. Lexie didn't get enough attention because the other 2 cats weren't interested and I couldn't spend all my time with her while Gracie didn't get enough attention because every time she came for it, Lexie came, too, so Gracie would leave. I was trying to figure out how to resolve this when Lexie suddenly died. It was awful for me but the old cat wasn't affected and Gracie blossomed. Since the old cat, Tails, mostly ignored her, they coexisted quite peacefully with Gracie occasionally grooming Tails and never challenging her.

Tails died about 3 months ago and Gracie's behaviour changed again but less dramatically. Mainly, she expanded into the spaces that Tails usually occupied, like sleeping in the bed every night and in the prime spot. I've been watching her for the last 3 months and from what I can see, she seems to be doing well without another cat around. I think this is partly personality and partly because she has my undivided attention now that the sick cat and the velcro cat are gone. I play with her more and leash trained her in order to add variety to her life (and mine). She gets the amount of attention she wants and I don't force attention on her when she doesn't want it. She'd probably be fine if she never lived with another cat again but I miss having a snuggly, cuddly cat. I think my best bet if I eventually decide to add another cat to the household is to foster. That way I can find a cat that suits both Gracie and me. And if fostering ends up causing issues for Gracie, I can stop.

Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom.
You may recall me from past posts. We are a two cat family so we have three😂.
Our first cat, Ceridwen, got pregnant before she was old enough to be fixed. We kept one of her kittens (the other three went to homes of good friends). A year later we found Lance, or, rather, he found us (he’s my big white fluffy lover). He was 8 at the time.
Even though she was only two when we took Lance in and we took a week to integrate him, Ceri (a Siamese) never was okay with Lance (her son, who as 1 1/2 at the time, was and is still pretty ambivalent). Lance has a laidback temperament. I have witnessed Ceri and Lance smelling each other (front and back) and occasionally Lance will get a few grooming lick on Ceri. But it always ends in Ceridwen’s VOCAL disapproval at Lance’s existence.
It’s been like this for 5 years and it probably was a poor decision on my part to adopt Lance (but he is the sweetest cat I’ve ever come across).
Long story for my question, is there anything to do to have a peaceful home or , do I just live with the understanding that Ceri hates Lance and to make sure everyone gets the love they need?