adopting behaviour of another cat?
 

I hope someone can help me with this.

I adopted 2 cats from the same litter 20 years ago, so they were
biological twins. They lived, ate, played and slept together for about
19 years when one died of old age. I feared the worst for the
remaining one but he is still here, after a year.

Shortly after the departure of his brother(cat "D") there is a
distinctive change of behaviour in the surviving cat(cat "S"). He
started to do what D used to do-----As owner I can tell you, S never
did these things. They are totally habits of D-----meowing loudly for
food, pressing its head against my tummy, asking for tit-bits at the
dinner table, sitting at the door of my girl's bed room in the morning
trying to get in..........etc. He now even sits on the sofa where D
used to sit.

In short, I see about 10% of S and 90% of D in the furly body.

Last night he almost freaked me out when he purred loudly and ran
round the house at a full gallop( should not happen with a 20 year old
cat)---just like the days they were playing. Then he sat at the window
and stared at the street(habit of D, never S).

I am new to this group and I am asking for help. Is there an
explanation for this? Is he just so used to have those behaviour
around so he is mimicking ??? Is there anything I should do?


K. Wong
Hong Kong

adopting behaviour of another cat?
 

Cats do mourn the loss of people and companion animals that they were close
to. They can do this in many different ways. Your cat might be engaging in
the behaviors of the other cat as his way of processing the loss or
comforting himself.

On the other hand the cat may have wanted to engage in these behaviors when
the sibling was alive but something in the social structure between the two
stopped him from doing so.

I wouldn't worry about him. I'd much rather see a cat be more engaged and
active after losing a long time companion than see him withdrawal.

W


"ABC" wrote in message
...
I hope someone can help me with this.

I adopted 2 cats from the same litter 20 years ago, so they were
biological twins. They lived, ate, played and slept together for about
19 years when one died of old age. I feared the worst for the
remaining one but he is still here, after a year.

Shortly after the departure of his brother(cat "D") there is a
distinctive change of behaviour in the surviving cat(cat "S"). He
started to do what D used to do-----As owner I can tell you, S never
did these things. They are totally habits of D-----meowing loudly for
food, pressing its head against my tummy, asking for tit-bits at the
dinner table, sitting at the door of my girl's bed room in the morning
trying to get in..........etc. He now even sits on the sofa where D
used to sit.

In short, I see about 10% of S and 90% of D in the furly body.

Last night he almost freaked me out when he purred loudly and ran
round the house at a full gallop( should not happen with a 20 year old
cat)---just like the days they were playing. Then he sat at the window
and stared at the street(habit of D, never S).

I am new to this group and I am asking for help. Is there an
explanation for this? Is he just so used to have those behaviour
around so he is mimicking ??? Is there anything I should do?


K. Wong
Hong Kong

adopting behaviour of another cat?
 

Poor fuzzy boy. It's obvious he misses his brother.

"ABC" wrote in message
...
I hope someone can help me with this.

I adopted 2 cats from the same litter 20 years ago, so they were
biological twins. They lived, ate, played and slept together for about
19 years when one died of old age. I feared the worst for the
remaining one but he is still here, after a year.

Shortly after the departure of his brother(cat "D") there is a
distinctive change of behaviour in the surviving cat(cat "S"). He
started to do what D used to do-----As owner I can tell you, S never
did these things. They are totally habits of D-----meowing loudly for
food, pressing its head against my tummy, asking for tit-bits at the
dinner table, sitting at the door of my girl's bed room in the morning
trying to get in..........etc. He now even sits on the sofa where D
used to sit.

In short, I see about 10% of S and 90% of D in the furly body.

Last night he almost freaked me out when he purred loudly and ran
round the house at a full gallop( should not happen with a 20 year old
cat)---just like the days they were playing. Then he sat at the window
and stared at the street(habit of D, never S).

I am new to this group and I am asking for help. Is there an
explanation for this? Is he just so used to have those behaviour
around so he is mimicking ??? Is there anything I should do?


K. Wong
Hong Kong

adopting behaviour of another cat?
 

"ABC" wrote

Shortly after the departure of his brother(cat "D") there is a
distinctive change of behaviour in the surviving cat(cat "S"). He
started to do what D used to do-----As owner I can tell you, S never
did these things. They are totally habits of D-----meowing loudly for

I am new to this group and I am asking for help. Is there an
explanation for this? Is he just so used to have those behaviour
around so he is mimicking ??? Is there anything I should do?

It's ok, he just misses his lifemate. There's nothing you should do other
than love him for his remaining years. At 20, sadly there will not be all
that many left.

K. Wong
Hong Kong

;-) I love Hong Kong. Been there many times.

adopting behaviour of another cat?
 

he just missing his soulmates..
same happen to my cat..
whatever it is he cant replace the other one...

xoxo,
aineecumi

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adopting behaviour of another cat?
 

On Nov 10, 12:29*am, ABC wrote:
I hope someone can help me with this.

I adopted 2 cats from the same litter 20 years ago, so they were
biological twins. They lived, ate, played and slept together for about
19 years when one died of old age. I feared the worst for the
remaining one but he is still here, after a year.

Shortly after the departure of his brother(cat "D") there is a
distinctive change of behaviour in the surviving cat(cat "S"). He
started to do what D used to do-----As owner I can tell you, S never
did these things. They are totally habits of D-----meowing loudly for
food, pressing its head against my tummy, asking for tit-bits at the
dinner table, sitting at the door of my girl's bed room in the morning
trying to get in..........etc. He now even sits on the sofa where D
used to sit.

In short, I see about 10% of S and 90% of D in the furly body.

Last night he almost freaked me out when he purred loudly and ran
round the house at a full gallop( should not happen with a 20 year old
cat)---just like the days they were playing. Then he sat at the window
and stared at the street(habit of D, never S).

I am new to this group and I am asking for help. Is there an
explanation for this? Is he just so used to have those behaviour
around so he is mimicking ??? Is there anything I should do?

K. Wong
Hong Kong

I have to admit that I never have had 2 cats or 2 of any other animal
but I have noticed what happens when other people do. They often
choose to have 2 cats because they feel a single cat would be lonely
the way a person would be lonely without another of his species to pal
around with. But I have noticed that one of the cats is always the
alpha boss. Its never looks like fun for the 2nd banana cat. So
"S" (odd name for a cat) is just doing what "S" always wanted to do
but was prevented by 'D." I dont think you have to assume that "S"
is distraught over being relieved of "D." "S" is merely rejoicing
after a lifetime of oppression and unfortunately hasn't much time left
to do so.

adopting behaviour of another cat?
 

"honeybunch" wrote

I have to admit that I never have had 2 cats or 2 of any other animal
but I have noticed what happens when other people do. They often
choose to have 2 cats because they feel a single cat would be lonely
the way a person would be lonely without another of his species to pal
around with. But I have noticed that one of the cats is always the
alpha boss. Its never looks like fun for the 2nd banana cat. So
"S" (odd name for a cat) is just doing what "S" always wanted to do
but was prevented by 'D." I dont think you have to assume that "S"
is distraught over being relieved of "D." "S" is merely rejoicing
after a lifetime of oppression and unfortunately hasn't much time left
to do so.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I strongly disagree. You sadly are one of the many people who don't realize
that animals grieve--and that natural, instinctive patterns of dominance are
natural for cats, not emotionally charged issues for cats.

I suggest you read up on feline behavior and stop anthropomorphizing.

adopting behaviour of another cat?
 

On Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:22:11 -0800 (PST), honeybunch
wrotd:

So "S" (odd name for a cat) is just doing what "S" always wanted to do
but was prevented by 'D." I dont think you have to assume that "S"
is distraught over being relieved of "D." "S" is merely rejoicing
after a lifetime of oppression and unfortunately hasn't much time left
to do so.

Names are just adopted for this posting. D for deceased. S for
surviving.

I have now heard 2 kinds of theory for this behaviour. Most say S is
grieving and so do what the other used to do, but you are not alone in
saying that he is now using the opportunity to do what he was not able
to do before. One person told me that group animals have an
"agreement" between themselves as to what each is allowed to do---more
notably in relation to territory.

However, I should have also mentioned that when my dog died 4 years
ago(having been with the 2 cats for 13 years), cat S showed a
distinctively agitated expression(fear? sad?---purring with a flared
up tail) when he could not see the dog at his usual place the next
morning , as my wife tried to tell him in human language what had
happened.

Well....may be a particularly sensitive cat.

K. Wong
Hong Kong