Poor Old Cat

My poor cat,since having my dear dog put to sleep a few weeks ago she has become very clinging to my son and I ,she hardly goes out without one of us with her,when I come home after being somewhere she comes rushing to me crying , now my son says she has cried all afternoon while Ive been out.She spent most of her life with the dog and they got on very well together,so I understand she is missing him but ,apart from giving her lots of attention, I dont know how to help her,We hope to get another dog in the new year ,but as she is 14 Iam concerned she may not take to it

Re: Poor Old Cat

I am so sorry for your cat , we had the same situation with ours when we had to have our dog put to sleep. we just kept things normal for her but it took a while for her to settle down and just a year later we had to have her put to sleep because of an inoperable cancer of her jaw.

Re: Poor Old Cat

Deylon, it perhaps sounds like I'm stating the obvious, but are you absolutely sure that your cat is not feeling unwell? I was just thinking, that because it coincides with you losing your poor dog, it might be coincidence, and there is something else wrong as well? Just a thought.

As far as getting another dog and you "hope she takes to it", you know your cat better than anyone else.
I have no idea what your cat is like, so wouldn't know how she normally reacts around strange dogs. I should think a puppy could give an elderly cat hell, or were you thinking of an older dog?
I guess you would just have to find one that was safe around cats.
Good luck.

Re: Poor Old Cat

Not exactly the same situation but I have a beautiful placid and loving cat, I thought she might like a companion so I brought home a beautiful male from the rescue centre, he wanted to play with her, he was gorgeous but she hated him on sight!
Sadly after a week of cat fights which were terrible I had to take him back to the shelter, I cried as I'd already bonded with him but she wasn't having any of it!

Re: Poor Old Cat

Like us, it takes the other pets that are left a while to get over their grief.
It always gets me right in the heart when I see them grieving.

As already suggested, keeping things normal is always a good idea.
With my dogs in the past, I've also tried to do something different.
Does she like toys? If so, maybe a new toy? A new treat?

Is she eating, etc. ok? If not, maybe you should have the vet look at her since it's been a few weeks.
I hope she settles down soon.

Re: Poor Old Cat

We had, well still have, a similar problem with our little Shitzu. ChoCho had never known life without Muffin, our Bichon/Maltese, but when little Muffin died, over a year ago now, ChoCho was lost and depressed, it was almost 2 weeks before she would eat anything and to this day she refuses to be left alone in the house, even for a very short time, she screams and cries like you wouldn´t believe. We are lucky in that we have good friends and neighbours who love her as much as we do, so if she can´t come with us she goes to a "baby sitter". Not so easy with a cat I imagine, but I think all the suggestions given above would be worth trying.

Re: Poor Old Cat

As you have this situation with a possibly grieving cat, why do you need to get another dog so soon !

Surely your cats well being is first priority till things improve!

Re: Poor Old Cat

I know this may sound a little odd, but, can the cat get to your dog's grave?
I'm saying this because whenever we've lost a dog or cat the surviving cat had always visited the grave and slept on it for several weeks.

Re: Poor Old Cat

This may sound equally odd. I hope it doesn't sound macabre though.

I firmly believe that one big cause of a pet 'grieving', is because they never knew where their companion went, and what happened.
You imagine if a friend/relative of ours suddenly went missing, what would we do? We'd look for them.

A friend of mine always lets her other dogs see the dead body, and they watch her bury them as well. She says the others understand it is dead that way.

It is a great shame in a way, that nowadays most people leave their animals at the vets to be euthanised, and very few bring the body back home to bury. I fully understand some haven't a garden, I am not saying what is right or wrong at all. All I am saying is, it is no wonder the other animals never know what's' happened to their friend.

Re: Poor Old Cat

I was going to say I let mine see and sniff their dead friend too, but, didn't like too! I keep a little bit of fur too just as a moment.
Last time when Poppy died, Gypsy hissed at her and ran away, but still sat on her grave.