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I have a four-year-old female cat. She had a male companion until she was 6 months old, when she lost him to an accident. Ever since, she has been alone. My fiancée and myself have a very busy life. I only spend 2-3 hours a day at home in the weekdays. My fiancée, although she works from home, she travels quite often. The cat ends up spending the whole day on her own.

My only concern is my cat's well being. I wonder, if there is any scientifically-backed reasons to adopt another kitten, to be a companion for my cat. Does my cat feel lonely, sad, or depressed because she does not have anyone to play or fight with? Will another cat contribute positively to her well being. Is there any research on the topic?

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    How formal does the research need to be to meet your request? Adding another cat to a household depends on the personalities of the cats and how they are introduced to each other; it can work but they are not guaranteed to become friendly with each other.
    – keshlam
    Commented Oct 11, 2016 at 15:33
  • What keshlam said and if you do introduce new cat, you will need to make time to introduce them to each other--gradually is usual. You can't just get a new cat or kitten and leave it. Your current cat will almost certainly be territorial and upset.
    – M.Mat
    Commented Feb 20, 2017 at 16:23
  • i dont think there has been any real research on this but the different shelters usualy provide a lot of information like this one in the uk. learnonline.cats.org.uk/content/ufo/index.html this link has a lot of information about the origin of cats and how they live and their needs.there is also links on this site on how to introduce a new cat to other cats,in short a lot of usefull inforrmation about cats.
    – trond hansen
    Commented Jun 11, 2017 at 19:46

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I wouldn't call it research, but we had two cats for sixteen years, half a year ago one of them died. The one left seems now unhappy without a companion - he "speaks" a lot - before he wasn't very noisy if at all. He expects us to be with him much more often than before and seems unhappy when we do our own things, although we care for him as much as before or even a little more.

When there were two cats, they often slept together - now the one cat tries to sleep on us every night. They washed each other - especially the heads and ears - no human can do that I sadly have to admit. They played together too.

From my observation a companion is a good thing for a cat (if you can afford it - because it is double the cost of the food, sand and the vet). But I'd think about getting a young cat, because for two old ones, becoming friends could sometimes be a long and a hard way.

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I don't think you will get any scientific answers. Just ask yourself, hey, why not? She could be mad and you could return the cat to a no kill shelter. Adopt, don't buy.

Same thing happened with my cat, but then when we got a kitten, he HATED it. He seemed angry at life in general and me for a very long time. I would say go with a cat the age of your cat or older, not a little kitten that will want to play and possibly irritate the heck out of her. For sure, there are enough cats out there that need a home and I doubt your cat loves being home so long all alone.

But, they also make movies that cats like to watch with colors, sounds and pictures all tailor made for them, which is hilarious. You could try that too. Get you a baby cam and see if she likes to watch TV.

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