My cat has lost his companion

Diane60

We have had two cats for over 13years. Got them on the same day. The female died yesterday with a liver tumor. I am distraught, but the remaining male cat is crying and wont settle. He paces up and down exactly like a caged tiger. I am at my wits end. Will he settle? What can I do?

UKTigerlily

Diane60 wrote: »

We have had two cats for over 13years. Got them on the same day. The female died yesterday with a liver tumor. I am distraught, but the remaining male cat is crying and wont settle. He paces up and down exactly like a caged tiger. I am at my wits end. Will he settle? What can I do?

I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of your fur baby

I don't know but maybe call the Vet in the morning & see if one of those Feliway difusers might help? Do you have something with her smell on he can cuddle up to? I can imagine it hurts even more seeing your boy in distress. I'm sure someone will be here soon who knows better

foreign_correspondent

rescue another cat of a similar age to the survivor? I know someone on here (lowis I think) did this recently when one of her elderly cats died... maybe she can advise?

flubdub

I agree, I think maybe fostering another elder cat may help, however that is only if you are in a position to do that. It may not be feasable to take on another animal.
I know it doesnt sound nice, but your cat will get over it soon. It will be a shock to its system almost, and its very sad.
Very sorry to hear about your cat

maytaurus

Diane60 wrote: »

We have had two cats for over 13years. Got them on the same day. The female died yesterday with a liver tumor. I am distraught, but the remaining male cat is crying and wont settle. He paces up and down exactly like a caged tiger. I am at my wits end. Will he settle? What can I do?

I am so sorry about your cat,it's so sad when we lose a loved pet
My dogs are now staggered in ages, as I had a brother & sister together 13 yrs ago like you and lost the female 3 yrs ago .... so we bought a pup who is now 3yrs old and a few months ago we got a 4yr old who needed re-homing
We still have the male dog who will be 13yrs old on Twelfth Night 2009
I really want to keep the age situation like this now, as it is comforting for us and the pets to have other pets if you lose one one of them
When you feel you can, please try to get him a new friend if possible ... there are so many who would love a good home ....
here are some links that may help you;

WHEN CATS GRIEVE
http://www.messybeast.com/cat-grief.htm

[FONT=helvetica,arial,sans-serif]Helping Your Cat Deal with the Loss of a Companion
http://www.xmission.com/~emailbox/coping.htm

Do Cats Grieve For Their Feline Friends?
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-Nm0_pWskdbWkKcMKAj.QJKFg.1pi5uQ-?cq=1&p=900[/FONT]

Diane60

Thank you all, Maytaurus the links are excellent. I didnt realise he would pick up on my emoitions and will try not to be upset in front of him. He seems more settled today, but its the nights that he is worse. I can only hope time will heal. I cant think of replacing her just yet, its a little too soon. Have left him sleeping on her blanket and try to amuse him more during the day, hoping that he will sleep better at night. Thanks again.

Kimberley

I'm so sorry for your loss, I know how you feel when I was a kid and our pets died. Give him plenty of TLC and give him time to grieve. Animals get over these things quite quickly and in time you can introduce a new friend for him.

lowis

hi diane, so sorry to hear of your loss, you must be hurting so much right now...

i had the exact same thing happen to me in June...my little girl Storm died from cancer leaving her brother of 12.5yrs years alone. i allowed him to spend time with Storm's body and it definitely helped him 'understand' (how ever cats do that!?) that she was gone I think - he washed her body for about an hour and the just sat by her staring at her for another hour before the nurse came to collect Storm's body.

in the following days/weeks he called for her and was definitely mourning...but he did not appear depressed or confused like he did the one time when Storm 'disappeared' (she had to spend 8 days at the vet). however, after Storm passed away Castle definitely got lonely and became very vocal when i got home from work, at bedtime and first thing in the morning. after three months, at the start of September, i adopted a suitable friend for Castle from Siamese Rescue and he has not been vocal since and seems much happier...my new cat Timmy is just a year older so they are a good match. they are not the best of friends yet, but it is stimulation and company for Castle...they cautiously play chase, and will sleep next to each sometimes...the hissing and fighting stopped after about a fortnight into their integration. Timmy is still settling in, I am sure it will take a while before he feels completely at home, but adopting Timmy was the best thing I could do for my lonely boy. i am so glad they are getting along.

i would suggest you give it some thought if you think your remaining cat would benefit from a new cat-friend. it may or may not work out, that is why it is important to assess each cat's personality to work out if they are a good fit. Siamese Rescue have a policy in place whereby if things don't work out then you can return the adopted cat...they would rather this than have someone abandon the cats.

Good luck with whatever you decide...i hope it all works out for you, it is such an emotional time, not only are you grieving but you are having to worry about your remaining cat which is stressful in itself x

Tete_en_l'Air

lowis wrote: »

hi diane, so sorry to hear of your loss, you must be hurting so much right now...

i had the exact same thing happen to me in June...my little girl Storm died from cancer leaving her brother of 12.5yrs years alone. i allowed him to spend time with Storm's body and it definitely helped him 'understand' (how ever cats do that!?) that she was gone I think - he washed her body for about an hour and the just sat by her staring at her for another hour before the nurse came to collect Storm's body.

in the following days/weeks he called for her and was definitely mourning...but he did not appear depressed or confused like he did the one time when Storm 'disappeared' (she had to spend 8 days at the vet).

Hi Diane, I was sorry to hear about your cat. I've never been in this situation but was going to mention before I saw the above post someting I've read somewhere about how, if one cat dies by the side of the road say, and the other has chance to see its body and smell it and know that it's gone, then it's much less stressful for the remaining cat than if the other goes off to the vets to be put to sleep because in that case the remaining cat doesn't know that the other has died. They seem to deal better with death than with the unexplained it seems.

sandy2_2

Oh Diane, I'm sorry for you and your remaining puss, you both need to give each other lots of hugs.

Stephb1986_2

Im so sorry to hear of your loss.

I hope your cat is feeling better soon

Steph xx