Loss of one of bonded pair.

[charliana]

How have your cats that are bonded pairs reacted when losing the other cat. I lost Rocky June 1, who had been with me for 8 years, now I just lost Bam Bam who has been with me for 14 years. One to Saddle Thrombosis and the other one to an oral mass. Pebbles and Bam Bam have been together since birth, they have never been separated. Now after today Pebbles is all alone, and I am definitely not ready to bring in another cat right now.

 

[Kris107]

Give all your attention to Pebbles. Make the home calm and as much of HER happy place as possible. What does she enjoy? Try to do it. Keep your rhythm the same. Show her that things aren't going to radically change. Some extra love and attention if she seems like she's grieving is good. So sorry for your losses.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Both of you need time to recover and adjust. Now is probably not the time to bring another cat into your home. Someday, one day, perhaps, but not now. Be with her, give her as much affection as she wants, comfort her, AND allow her to comfort you. Be there for each other. It is, in the end, all you can do.

This may help:

Do Cats Mourn? Supporting Your Pet through Loss - TheCatSite

 

[Robyn5678]

Cats definitely mourn. I had 3 cats that were together from 6 months (2 brothers and a female from a separate litter). I lost one of the brothers suddenly to a pneumothorax when he was around 2.

The other 2 looked for him for quite a while. But they adjusted and are still as close as ever.

 

[charliana]

She seems to want attention, she follows me wherever I go in the house. When we lost Rocky her and Bam Bam stayed in their beds by the window for a few days instead of coming to see what I was doing.

 

[Alldara]

I have never had bonded pairs before now, but Nobel took Lily's death hard and even though Calcifer wasn't with Nobel long, he was devastated.
Bringing a new cat cheered Nobel but, he and Lily didn't like one another. We didn't note any further mourning activity. I think it was more he didn't like to be alone.

Calcifer, it didn't matter that we brought another cat home, 4 months later. He was strongly depressed either way. We just spent a lot of time with him and loved him up. He still has times now of missing Nobel, over a year later, but it's not big depression.


Ghost meets a lot of Calcifer's needs and was a necessary addition, but I don't think getting a new cat necessarily helps a bonded cat.

You can just focus on spending time together and meeting his and your needs now.

 

[IzzysfureverMom]

Izzy really struggled after we lost Valentino to IMHA. She became more clingy and my husband said she cried incessantly if I left the house refusing comfort from him. She sat in places he sat when he was sick and walked around to places he liked to be just crying. It took her a really long time to recover. I don't know if she panicked every time I left the house because of how often I had to take Valentino for bloodwork.It was every two weeks we would go and come back.Then we went one day and only I came back. It might be putting human emotions on but who knows. She definitely knew he was very sick. They were super close. We did not get other cat ,we focused on her and Zoey. They were not the best of friends but didn't hate each other.

 

[charliana]

She keeps coming to me when I try to get a good picture. Here is Pebbles.

Bam Bam had spots on his face at the end. I think she wonders why I keep checking her face everything there is a shadow on her face.