My cat just died, unsure how my remaining cat will cope. Any advice?

Cats accept death but it will grieve.

Cats are aware that life and death are the same.

Adopt a shelter kitten. It will enrich both of their lives, as well as your own.

Cats are solitary animals, not pack animals like dogs. Rasco's sole concern is food and water. The rest is irrelevant, including that Mathias was there, now he's not. Don't anthropomorphise animals.

Oh, and if you do decide to adopt a replacement for Mathias, consider a young adult cat, not a kitten. Rasco will not be happy with some frisky little annoying kid jumping all over him.

Cats don't care.

They're just waiting for you to die, so they can eat your face.

Has she read any existentialism?

It's a fuckin' cat, it'll do just fine. Stop anthropomorphizing human traits on pets

Depends on the cat; some grieve and suffer. You will know. In the meantime, make your still living cat and any future cat an indoor one.

And I am sorry for your loss..

Buon ponte, caro Matthias.

She'll probably notice he's gone, but who knows what, if anything, she'll understand about why. I'd be more concerned about her being lonely than grieving, especially if you're away from home a lot. Adopting another cat isn't a terrible idea.

Above all, keep an eye on how much she's eating and drinking and whether she's grooming herself to her usual standards. If she isn't eating, drinking, or grooming enough, take her to a vet.

Kill the other one so they can be in heaven together.

I cannot believe people let their cats out to fend for themselves in such a dangerous world. I hope you learned a lesson, OP. Smh.

Don’t be in a rush to get a replacement. It depends on the cat a lot.

My sister had one cat die. She was worried the other would be lonely, so she wanted another. The one that died was the alpha male. When she first got the younger one, she was a little kitten under the paw of the bossy older male cat. He died of old age eventually.

One day she comes home with the new, younger replacement cat. Cat No 1 hated the newcomer on sight. Hated that the newbie got attention, hated that she wasn’t soaking up all the attention and spoiling for herself. Those two cats always fought and never cared for each other. The older cat decided if she was stuck with this interloper, she was going to boss her around. The new one was stubborn and didn’t like it. I think if my sister had waited a couple more months, the older cat would have gotten over her grief and been fine with more attention. The younger cat died first. Older cat was happy as a clam, soaked up all the cat worship and lived happily ever after.

The cat I have now does not want companions. I went to a friend’s house and their dogs rubbed on my legs. I went home, she smelled my legs and started biting my pant legs continuously. When that didn’t do anything, she started biting my legs through the pants repeatedly. She’s never bitten me before. This got worse and worse. She even growled at my pants. I took them off and put them in the washer. She was instantly sweet again. A couple days later, I had run the pants through the washer twice and made to put them on. I put the same pants on the bed. She dragged the pants on the floor, started biting and kicking them and growling at them. They’re back in the washer again as we speak.

Guess I’m not getting another cat.

Very sad to hear about your loss OP.

I'm sure she will be OK. In my experience when one cat from a two cat household dies it is usually not an issue for the remaining one. Over the years I've had pairs and when one passed on the other barely noticed. I currently have 3 cats and I really don't think the other two would give a damn if one suddenly disappeared.

Cats move on pretty quickly. Its usually only when they are kittens that they fret over a missing partner.

It’s also if the two cats are related and close that it’s a real loss. If they aren’t, cats have a very definite pecking order. If one vacates, the other one thinks he’s the master of his domain.

My mother's cat lost his brother. He was sad and vocalized at night in the room they shared. I let him stay in my room. There were times he would run around like he used to do with his brother. He even did that when he was dead on the bed, as if he was trying to wake him. He did smell his brother's feet when we brought him downstairs to bury him. After a few weeks of vocalizing at night, he eventually stopped. I think that was him grieving, and I think your cat looking at the cat door is your cat's way of missing Mathias.

I lost one of my cats over the summer. She was 13. I have a boy who's 14. Got him first as a baby, and her a year later, also a baby. They never really took to each other, but they weren't antagonistic. My girl was a big daddy's girl and would always be near me and my boy might come to my lap for a short amount of time but wasn't much of a cuddler. A sweetheart, but he likes his space.

Since it's just been him in the house, I can't seem to shake him. He's up my ass constantly looking for attention. When I get up in the morning, he cries to be petted (I never allowed my cats into my bedroom) and he lays on my chest constantly. And I don't think it's out of loneliness. I think he was feeling like she usurped his position with me and let her have it, but now that she's no longer here, he's gonna make up for lost time. It makes me doubly sad, because I got her to keep him company, and I would hate to think that he was deprived of affection he was needing because he felt like there was none for him.

R16, that’s been my experience with older cats that become the only cat. They become very clingy, and always want to be near you. Could be because you’re the remaining pack, could be because they are now the senior cat in the house and feel their upgraded position entitles them to more attention. Cats usually have a pecking order. Once the cat who’s been the top in the pecking order is gone, they feel like they’ve moved up the line.

OP, considering you named your last cats Mathias and Rasco, are you sure you'd even be allowed another one?

I’ve lost two of my three cats within a couple of months this Fall, one to kidney failure, and the other to old age. The cat that remains was very close to the cat who died of old age, they spent their entire lives together. I inherited them from a neighbor when she got a dog they didn’t like.

My remaining cat spends a good deal of time sleeping upstairs, but he’s been spending a lot of time Sleeping at my feet, which is new. I’m trying to make sure to spend time with him, and give him plenty of affection. I’m sure he’ll be OK. I’m very sorry for your loss OP.

[quote] Once the cat who’s been the top in the pecking order is gone, they feel like they’ve moved up the line.

It's the same for my dogs.

R18 my sister chose the name Rasco. Technically it’s Racso ( Oscar backwards which was the name of our first cat) but we felt that name didn’t suit a female cat so we switched the s and c around to make it more lady like. Sometimes we call her Racso among many other nicknames for both her and Mathias.

As for the name Mathias, funnily enough yesterday I found the forgotten list of other names I was considering and Mathias was the best of the bunch. Ive always liked it as a cat name. Both are unique and they definitely suit their names.

Thank you to those who provided insight advice and condolences.

I think the way we spelt it is kinda wrong because everyone assumes it’s pronounced Math-e-iss but we say it like Ma-thigh-iss.

CataLounge: DataLounge at its very best

I don't think female cats miss having another cat in the house, their biology is to separate from other cats, they are more solitary. Male cats on the other hand have more need of stimulation and can grow despondent if left alone. Several of my friends have male cats that developed neurotic behavioral issues from being alone for 10 or more hours. They got kittens and their male cats snapped out of the strange behavior even though they didn't seem to particularly like the kittens.

I like female cats because they are less needy. A lot of people prefer male cats because they tend to want to interact more consistently with their people.

Sorry for your loss.

While I am fairly cautious of over anthropomorphising animals, I wonder if any of the people who have commented in this thread have ever had pets? They are not solely concerned with food and water.

That said, I can't comment from first hand experience but from what I've observed from friends and family members with cats, a prevailing trait seems to be adaptability. So if your surviving cat does seem a bit depressed for a while, don't worry too much as they will probably adapt quite quickly - quicker than you even - to the loss. My neighbours had two brothers from kittens, and one of them passed away due to illness last year, the surviving one definitely showed signs of not being quite himself for a couple of weeks but was then absolutely fine. Obviously cats, like any animal (including humans) are not all the same so it's impossible to know exactly how they will react to changes, just make sure you're especially observant of your cat's behaviour, that he is eating normally etc and seems healthy. That's pretty much all you can do.

You can always take the remaining cat to a Chinese restaurant so they can cook him up into your favorite dish. Then you can eat him up and feel like you have kept a connection with him.

Then go out and get two new kittens together. Case closed. Oh, don’t ever let your pets out to roam alone.

How did your cat get hit by a car? Surely you did right by Kitty and kept him safe in your house.

If you irresponsibly let the cat out and he was killed by your negligent behavior, the surviving cat probably hates your guts.

Good luck with this mess you have created.

We had two pugs, raised as brothers from young. One died about a month ago, and I wondered the same thing. Really, I don't think the surviving pug even cares. He gets all of his daddy's attention, now. I read that it depends on whether or not they're true companions. In hindsights, ours weren't.

[quote]Does anyone have any advice or experience?

Yes, OP. Be a responsible pet owner and don't let your animals go outside, not unless they are on a leash.

Make no mistake: YOU are responsible for your cat's death, OP.

So my house monster, my black cat Sophie, became ill and died last month. Fifi my other cat hated her and often stayed away from the house because Sophie was so aggressive and dominant.

Fifi just about did backflips when she realized Sophie was gone for good. She's the frelling queen now. Sleeps in the center of the bed, eats leisurely when she wants and gets her cuddles on demand.

I miss my monster but I'm happy for Fifi.

R30, same with my sister’s cats. The older one was very bossy. The younger one looked up to him, since she was a stray kitten when they first got her.

When he died, she was the queen of all she surveyed. Sure, she was sad for a while, but she got over it like we all do. Learning she was the princess and got twice the attention, could sleep in all his favorite spots, and didn’t have to compete for food helped her get over it.

Our cat Byron also died today. He was 23 years old. His buddy died two years ago at the age of 18, they lived together for a very long time. Byron grieved for awhile, but was fine after couple of weeks.

I noticed that my cat Cookie became a LOT more affectionate with me after she lost her partner in crime. Winston was full grown when I got her and she immediately became his baby. She never wanted much to do with me. After he died, she became a total sweetie - I guess she thought I was better than nothing! She loved attention and I got to have a different relationship with her for the next five years of her life. I’m glad I got to have that time with just her and have memories of her actually acknowledging my presence.

All three of my cats were strays that decided to stay with me. They were used to roaming around and there's no way I would have kept them locked up in the house. The only time I did was after one had to get surgery, and I had to keep him inside for about two weeks. It was a disaster and he was absolutely miserable. Some cats can't get used to staying inside, some escape, you never know what can happen.

I'm sorry, OP. You just have to wait and see how it goes with the remaning cat, but they usually cope quite well.

All three of my cats were strays that decided to stay with me. They were used to roaming around and there's no way I would have kept them locked up in the house. The only time I did was after one had to get surgery, and I had to keep him inside for about two weeks. It was a disaster and he was absolutely miserable. Some cats can't get used to staying inside, some escape, you never know what can happen.

I'm sorry, OP. You just have to wait and see how it goes with the remaning cat, but they usually cope quite well.

You let kitty OUT, OP???

*sobs*

You have broken my heart.

Reading this, I'm glad I didn't keep my second cat. He was not nice to my first cat, so after a month, I gave him to a friend who was looking for a cat. This thread tells me I made the right choice.

R32, I’m sorry for your loss. That’s a long time.

R35, my current cat is a stray. I can’t let her go out because there are coyotes all over my neighborhood and they eat cats. But I know she wants to. She tries to get out all the time. She just has to settle for looking out the windows. There’s tables in front of all the windows for her to sit on.

If yours go out, make sure they’re chipped. I’m on Nextdoor, and every day there’s posts from people whose animals ran away. It’s ridiculous how many there are. Most of the ones that get back home are chipped. A lot of the others end up in the hands of well meaning neighbors who can’t keep them. If the owners aren’t found in a few days, they end up in the pound, I’m sorry to say.

Two dykes I knew some years past fell in love and moved in together. So, of course, four cats had to learn to live together.

I visited once. It was a nightmare. Screaming, fighting, biting, hissing.

Cats just really suck and the cat people don't seem to care.

If the cat was Jewish, you'll have to have a service at Temple Emanu-El, if Catholic St. Patrick's, and if Protestant the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

An obituary in the Times, preferably the Sunday edition, and the other cat should feel happy that its pal got such a good send off, with the RIGHT people in attendance.

Cats are territorial. Two cats lost their homes and the two that lived there already decided if they were mean, maybe they could get rid of them. That’s miserable for the animals.

Every time you masturbate, God kills a kitten. Please, think of the kittens.

Then what are people doing that makes God create all these kittens to begin with? Eating corn syrup?

Every time you eat a Snickers, God creates a kitten

If you get a shelter cat...make sure it is healthy. They will give away dead and dying cats.

I have one cat that refuses to come in because a stray took over my home. I love them both but I have have constant guilt feelings, because one will not come in.

Maybe you should try to find one another home.