Once again I find myself turning to my fellow dopers to answer a difficult question. Not sure if there is an out and out answer to this question but I could use any advice or suggestions from Doper feline owners.
We have two cats. Sisters. They are about 4 years old and they are a mixed-breed (aka mutts). One of them is rather large (15lbs) and very mean. The other is 8lbs and rather friendly and fun. The large cat tends to destroy furniture, urinate on the bed when upset and wipe its arse on the carpet with frustrating regularity.
Due to a personal situation I have been given sole “custody” of the cats. I don’t think I can handle both of them so I’d like to give the mean one away to a humane society. My question is, if I give the mean cat away how might it affect the other cat? Will it cause major trauma or other issues?
In the greater scheme of things this really isn’t much of an issue but I’d appreciate any advice. Thanks.
Doesn’t sound to me like the remaining one will miss her sister much. In any case, cats are quite adaptable to this sort of thing.
We had a Siamese cat decades ago whom we permitted to have one litter of kittens. When the babies were old enough, we sold 3 of them to two different families. The first one went to a woman who’d been told she was not allowed to bring her cat to a new apartment, and then found that this was not the case. She took the male kitten. Two sisters went to another family, and we kept the last kitten ourselves. After each adoption, we thought Mamma Cat would mourn the loss, but it did not seem to have any effect at all.
As other cats have left our lives, the remaining ones seem to notice the absence for a short while, and then forgot about him/her.
If they’re littermates, the remaining cat will have some adjusting to do. How long, and how traumatic, will depend on the cat. She’ll eventually get over it, but it won’t be like nothing’s happened.
I had a cat I rescued newborn and blind. I nursed her than turned her over to my dog, who grudgingly allowed the little parasite to snuggle in her huge (shepherd-lab) armpit in between feedings. For 11 years, until the dog died at 13, the cat would sit in the window and yowl like a demon suffering the tribulations of hell whenever I took the dog for a walk. So some cats have more severe separation issues than other cats.