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