My Cat Is Lonely, Would Getting Another Cat Help?

[Aaagjh]

My cat is a scottish straight breed and is a house cat. He is around 4 years old. He is a male and has been neutered. I think a lot of the times he feels quite lonely even though I am home. He will look at me and meow for a long time. Or be in another room and randomly start meowing. I think it may be because he needs a friend. Also a lot of the time I will not have time to play with him which makes me feel guilty too.

So I am considering getting another cat so my current cat will be happier. I am still not sure if its the best decision so I have some questions first:
1. My current cat is male, would it be better for me to get a female or male cat or does it not matter? Will my cat more likely get along with a female or male?
2. Is it better for me to get a kitten or a cat thats the same age as my current cat? I thought if I was to get a cat the same age, then they may both be quite dominant and fight?
3. If getting a kitten, it would mean my cat is 4 years older. So if my current cat dies before the new cat, would the new cat be very sad?
4. The main reason for getting another cat is so I can make my current cat much happier, do cats generally play with each other or will they both still need my attention all the time?
5. Are there any specific breeds I should look at? one that gets along with other cats and is loving and friendly?

 

[basschick]

our cat talks to us all the time or calls out. it's not because he's lonely. he'a into communication. do you have any other reasons to think your cat is lonely?

some cats play with each other, some cats don't. there's no magic solution here. some cats don't like having other cats around, and yes, sometimes two cats may be dominant and fight. and they don't have to be the same age for that to happen, either.

the answer to all your questions is "it depends". each cat has their own unique personality and preferences. and each cat you may bring home will also have their own unique preferences and personality.

i've never had the issues a lot of people report here - i've brought home younger cats, kittens and older cats to resident cats, and it never went horribly. in fact, i never did any kind of introductions at all. it worked out fine. but a couple times, the resident cat wasn't thrilled to have a newcomer where other times they were very happy to have a friend.

 

[CatLover49]

our cat talks to us all the time or calls out. it's not because he's lonely. he'a into communication. do you have any other reasons to think your cat is lonely?

some cats play with each other, some cats don't. there's no magic solution here. some cats don't like having other cats around, and yes, sometimes two cats may be dominant and fight. and they don't have to be the same age for that to happen, either.

the answer to all your questions is "it depends". each cat has their own unique personality and preferences. and each cat you may bring home will also have their own unique preferences and personality.

i've never had the issues a lot of people report here - i've brought home younger cats, kittens and older cats to resident cats, and it never went horribly. in fact, i never did any kind of introductions at all. it worked out fine. but a couple times, the resident cat wasn't thrilled to have a newcomer where other times they were very happy to have a friend.

It really all depends on the resident cats personality.

 

[ArtNJ]

Better to only get a second cat when *you* decide *you* want one. Because as basschick explained, friendship is not certain, and in fact, there could be some lasting tension & problems in the house. Your current cat may end up less happy, possibly for months. We have some guides that may help, trying to match personalities and activity levels may help, but bottom line, whether they get along is a dice roll, and that is true whether you get a boy or a girl, a kitten or a carefully selected adult.

 

[CatLover49]

My cat is a scottish straight breed and is a house cat. He is around 4 years old. He is a male and has been neutered. I think a lot of the times he feels quite lonely even though I am home. He will look at me and meow for a long time. Or be in another room and randomly start meowing. I think it may be because he needs a friend. Also a lot of the time I will not have time to play with him which makes me feel guilty too.

So I am considering getting another cat so my current cat will be happier. I am still not sure if its the best decision so I have some questions first:
1. My current cat is male, would it be better for me to get a female or male cat or does it not matter? Will my cat more likely get along with a female or male?
2. Is it better for me to get a kitten or a cat thats the same age as my current cat? I thought if I was to get a cat the same age, then they may both be quite dominant and fight?
3. If getting a kitten, it would mean my cat is 4 years older. So if my current cat dies before the new cat, would the new cat be very sad?
4. The main reason for getting another cat is so I can make my current cat much happier, do cats generally play with each other or will they both still need my attention all the time?
5. Are there any specific breeds I should look at? one that gets along with other cats and is loving and friendly?

It really depends on the cat if its a good idea to get another cat.Just because ure cat is meowing alot or acting the way u describe could mean it wants ure attention not another cat.Or it could b a health reason

 

[misty8723]

We got cat to play with our current cat, and they do play some. But they both demand attention from us as well. It's a balance.

I was told that it's better to get a female cat to go with a male cat, but I don't know if that's true. We have always had male and female.

Both my cat's meow a lot. Cricket in particular will meow at me and I keep saying what Cricket? What do you want?

If you get another cat, introduce them slowly. We never had a real problem until introducing a new cat to Cricket. She was not at all happy we brought a strange cat in here. She got along so well with Swanie the whole time, we thought she would be okay. It's worked out, they get along, play some, but it was a long slow process.

 

[1 bruce 1]

If you have a good, well ran cat rescue around you, you might approach them about fostering with the potential interest of adoption in the future. The extra advantage is if you have questions or aren't sure what their body language is saying, someone from the agency should be available to help answer your questions and help you observe how your resident guy is acting.
Most rescues that utilize foster homes are desperate for volunteers like this, so if things aren't going the way you hoped, you don't feel bad, and have help and connections with that agency on finding the new kid a really good loving home.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
You've gotten some fantastic advice.

Before you bring another cat into your household, you might try a couple things;

There's Musicforcats . com, and also if you haven't already you could try streaming video of squirrels and birds on to a device for your kitty to watch, if he will.

Additionally would there be something here;

How To Make Your Home Bigger (at Least For Your Cats)

19 Best Interactive Cat Toys: Your Ultimate List (2019) | Heavy.com

Home - the Ripple Rug

Food Puzzles for Cats

Favorite Cat Toys?

 

[Fish Em]

My cat was waking me up a lot. She also was not interested in her toys. She only liked chasing my kids. I was told she was an only child, but convinced my husband to get her a friend (male cat). After a long step by step intro, they are pals and play when they are both awake. Now, my new boy actually likes to play with toys so we spend time to play with him and give our first cat the cuddles she loves. So more work and food, but totally worth it.
I don't know if getting another cat will stop your cat meowing. He may be happy to have a pal though especially if you are usually very busy.

 

[danteshuman]

Generally speaking I think cats do better with a buddy ..... but you need to choose carefully.

I think it depends more on matching your cat’s personality then anything else. Our cat kept wishing we could give his brother back .... for 13 years .... then grieved for a few months when he lost his brother. They were more frenemies or like brothers the little brother annoyed the junk out of his older brother .... always wanting to play.

Also I would get a 12-16 week old kitten with a matching temperament ..... and then let your older cat ‘beat him up’ a bit so the younger cat respects the pecking order (I didn’t, then refused to choose one cat over the other ...... then they squabbled over dominance for 13 years.)