Mitzi was classed as this and basically as soon as she was fit enough for rehoming they let her walk in front of the other cages - she hissed so was marked as "only cat".

But she has (successfully) shared a house with my friends cat (both in her and my home) for over a week while we were on holiday.

 

Some cats just find living with others hugely stressful and it leads to inappropriate soiling, over grooming and other stress related illnesses, and the staff may know this from the previous owners as it may well be why they are there or they have been returned from homes after being adopted my multicat households etc

 

I suspect in most cases they think better to be safe than sorry. Ultimately then want to find the at a forever home, not have it returned in a week as it doesn't get on with the resident cat.

It must be impossible to make this assessment properly in rescue as the cats only have a small area and are likely to be stressed anyway if they are threatened by another cat. This doesn't mean that with proper introductions at home they would not get on.

Remember when Midnight got Nel and Bum? I'm sure she was told one of them would not tolerate other cats; this shows with proper care cats can adjust.

 

Mitzi was classed as this and basically as soon as she was fit enough for rehoming they let her walk in front of the other cages - she hissed so was marked as "only cat".

But she has (successfully) shared a house with my friends cat (both in her and my home) for over a week while we were on holiday.

Sounds like Mitzi was misclassed then. I'm wondering how many more could be ok with other cats given the time and space? I appreciate though that it'd be more strain on CP to give it a go and trial it out.

 

I'm not too sure, to be honest- at the SAA, we tend to go off what people tell us when they hand cats over. Spooks was brought in as he didn't get along with the cats he lived with, for example, so it was advised to rehome him on his own.

However, I feel that with plenty of care and progressive introductions he may accept another Siamese/Oriental in time (he wasn't with other Oris before...). Also, I never saw him show any signs of aggression to the cats he could see

We have no 'assessment' as such, but don't like to mix cats anyway, for cross-contamination reasons.

 

Some cats just find living with others hugely stressful and it leads to inappropriate soiling, over grooming and other stress related illnesses, and the staff may know this from the previous owners as it may well be why they are there or they have been returned from homes after being adopted my multicat households etc

True and there were a few returns in there for that reason, for some others there were no reasons.

 

Sounds like Mitzi was misclassed then. I'm wondering how many more could be ok with other cats given the time and space? I appreciate though that it'd be more strain on CP to give it a go and trial it out.

I know, it's so sad.

The saddest part was we came saying we could rehome two and could we take her and another (called kitty pippin) and introduce them at our house (bearing in mind we have a 4 bedroom house for the two of us so plenty of space and it would be new territory for both) and see if they would take and were told no.

I would add both Mitzi and Kitty Pippin were strays so they had no info on them.

 

I suspect in most cases they think better to be safe than sorry. Ultimately then want to find the at a forever home, not have it returned in a week as it doesn't get on with the resident cat.

It must be impossible to make this assessment properly in rescue as the cats only have a small area and are likely to be stressed anyway if they are threatened by another cat. This doesn't mean that with proper introductions at home they would not get on.

Remember when Midnight got Nel and Bum? I'm sure she was told one of them would not tolerate other cats; this shows with proper care cats can adjust.

So many of these had been there long term, and when I got chatting to another lady there she said "None of the ones I liked today would get on with another cat". It just made me wonder how it was all assessed, as I'm sure she'd have walked away will booked up for a home inspection if they'd offered more information or a more flexible rehoming policy/trial period. Especially for the older ones who'd been there for some time.

 

We have no 'assessment' as such, but don't like to mix cats anyway, for cross-contamination reasons.

That's interesting, at this place the cats can see and smell all the other cats through the wire doors while they're being cleaned. They do have them separated into other units if they're FIV or carry cat flu though.

 

The RSPCA snap tests and any FIV +ve cats obviously have to go as singletons and to indoor homes.

 

That's interesting, at this place the cats can see and smell all the other cats through the wire doors while they're being cleaned. They do have them separated into other units if they're FIV or carry cat flu though.

We're similar at the SAA- the cats are able to see eachother, but they have perspex doors, so can't have a good sniff or harm eachother. They are in quarantine for 2 weeks before going into the homing unit, though, so they can get up to date with their vaccinations and to make sure they're healthy.

However, we did have some of the kittens out together the other day and they seemed to really love it!

 

I know, it's so sad.

The saddest part was we came saying we could rehome two and could we take her and another (called kitty pippin) and introduce them at our house (bearing in mind we have a 4 bedroom house for the two of us so plenty of space and it would be new territory for both) and see if they would take and were told no.

I would add both Mitzi and Kitty Pippin were strays so they had no info on them.

What a shame, a 4 bed is plenty big to run an introduction too. We have a (large) 3 bed and we have 4 indoor cats that get along really well with enough space for them to have their own areas to retreat to when they fancy.

I guess they can't take the chance that the cats will come back - but there were so many there that were long term residents it really seems like a chance worth taking. I might write them a letter.

 

I have had several 'only cats'.....
Precious did not understand other cats at all, she was abandoned by her mother after birth and almost buried with her dead siblings. Someone saw movement in the heap of dead bodies, picked her out and hand-reared her.

All her life, she did not accept other cats on her territory and even chased dogs out. But when she was 16, and had nowhere to go, I took her in as an emergency measure, fully intending to rehome her as an only cat as soon as possible. But she settled in perfectly. She was the boss from day one, and the others accepted her as such.

klaatu was another cat that had dominance issues and did not tolerate other cats. Except with us..... We had a cat that was even more dominant, my little 'shetland cat' Spetter. The fact that we rehomed Klaatu was not due to the dominance issue, but to his stealing cheese and meat from other people's kitchens and claiming every single house in a ½ mile radius as his own.

We did have a problem with Clarence however, he did not get on with our other cats at all, so he went back to the rescue. But they rehomed him together with another cat, and they got on splendidly.

So it isn't all as black and white as it may seem...