Replies

The simple message I would like to get across is if you do want to have more than one cat, go about it in a careful way—and be prepared to give up on it if it doesn't work.

That is SO untrue. We adopted littermates, male and female. The female (Wendy) got brain cancer at 3. We replaced her with a young orange tabby, and the two cats get along great. The only "tell" is that the newcomer (Marcel) lets the incumbent (Eustace) have at the dry kibbles first. However it works out because Marcel likes some wet food, and the Eustace doesn't care for wet (weird), so he gets dibs on that. They routinely hang out together, and when they think Mrs. Sivana and I have slept in too long, they make a joint entry, both jumping on the bed and walking on us while Marcel squeaks. I refer to them when they are like this as "the committee".

I have nine. Four are litter mates and two pairs of two get along. The other five are rescued strays and generally get along. All are selective about their friends. The pairs and relationships are interesting. When they sit out in the barnyard some evenings they are all spaced pretty evenly 5 feet apart. When they eat, they won’t touch another cat’s food until he is finished and usually not until invited after that. There is also a nominated special envoy to remind me about dinner. That would be Homer.

We adopted two cats at the same time from a shelter but they were from different states and amazingly they’ve always gotten along and are very much a bonded pair. A Tuxedo and orange tabby.