Lost a littermate and other is sad

hey guys,

my situation: adopted 2 littermates - had them about 6 years - indoor - i let them out at night sometimes- female didn't come back about a week ago- only cats i've ever had.

as much as i miss and worry about winnie, willie is definitely buggin' out. a knife in the guts to say it, but i think i've given up on winnie (signs, talking to neighbors, descriptions on websites, left her favorite 'house' outside hoping she'd come to it, constant contact w/animal control, etc...).

willie is absolutely flipping out. 7 or 8 days ago, he was the cat every1 thinks of...very independent, only wanted love when HE wanted, fairly rambunctious. now, he's completely diff....wants to be in my lap all the time, paces the aprttmnt yowling like i've never heard, cleans himself more than normal... i can't help but to say he misses winnie as much as i do.

idk what to do for him. is it even too early to ask?. should i just give him more time before i worry about it? i don't want another cat, but all i can think to do is adopt him another companion. how long would i wait if i decided on that route? i've observed him eating, but not getting excited when i rattled the container like usual. litterbox activity seems ok as does drinking. he's sitting in my lap right now, just limp. and that is NOT normal this time of day. when he used to decide to jump on me, he was all in my face (and of course i love that), but now he's just laying here limp and sleeping/napping.

any advice or details of a similar experience are much appreciated.

thax

 

I think he's missing Winnie, just as you said, but I don't think you can just get another cat to replace her either because it doesn't work that way. You need to find Winnie, even if it's just her body, and show Willie what happened. When one of our pets pass away we always let them know, sometimes they hang around during burial as well but the important thing is you let your pets know what has happened to their companion. Cats are like humans in that you can't just replace their companion, especially if that was his litter-mate and they've never been without each other. He might also be clinging so much to you because he's scared and confused, Winnie disappeared and he knows about as much as you do. Just give him extra love and attention, and if he stops eating or becomes seemingly depressed the take him to the vet. If you do decide to get another cat, make sure you're getting the cat because you're ready to love and take care of it, not to replace Winnie.

 

When Dorian died, Sibyl was distraught. She would yowl every night for the first month or so. I gave it time and she began acting like herself again. When I decided later on to get another cat, well, she hated Alice at first. She hissed at her, growled if she came too near, and stayed as far away from her as possible. Now, a few months later, Sibyl loves Alice. Everything just took time.

My advice is to give your kitty some time and ease into any change you're going to make. Baby him, he's depressed about losing someone close to him, just like a human would be. Don't rush into a new kitty, though, it could make things worse at the moment.

 

This is my first time having 2 cats (about 10 months age difference) and I haven't come across this situation ... yet. I'm guessing willie is suffering from separation anxiety. Surely missing Winnie. My Gemma has distanced herself from me and seems to blame me directly for bringing Rosco home recently. Gemma even doesn't interact and play with me all that much anymore. Rosco seems to jump in the middle of everything I try to do with Gemma so I got to try and play when Rosco is out of the room. I'd give Willie a lot of extra attention and help him coop with the absence of Winnie. Hopefully it will have a wonderful reunion.

 

Just like people mourn so do animals. He is missing Winnie and he doesn't know where she went or what happened to her. He is dealing with it the way that he knows how. Give him time. He will adjust eventually. In the meantime just give lots of love and attention. I hope Winne finds her way back home. I have known cats that went missing for months and even years and they did come back. Don't give up on her just yet!