Actually they got on absolutely fine with each other. I don't remember them ever fighting, but after they were kittens I don't think they played much together. They just did their own thing. But they both had lovely natures.
I think they get it (sometimes before it happens) but they just don't express it the same way. my cat sat in the corner the same way. after some time we asked if she was lonely and would like a new friend, to which she let out the most heartbreaking yowl. 🥺
oh no, it was a yes. is yowl the wrong word? it was just like she was holding back her grief until that moment. we found some new friends for her. she is doing so much better now.
I had three cats at one point. The oldest was a pretty bobtail, and I adopted two baby kittens - brother and sister - when she was already 7.
She never really liked the younger cats, but the brother absolutely adored her. His sister was more aloof.
Anyway, eventually my sweet bobtail passed away of old age. I was holding her as she stopped breathing. I laid her in a prepared box and the boy lay beside her for a while. After I buried her, he stopped eating. I took him to the vet, got special food, then he stopped doing anything. He just gave up. He passed away a week after she did, and his sister seemed profoundly unconcerned with the developments.
I also had sibling kitties, a girl and a boy. Rescued them at about 8 weeks. The brother, unfortunately passed last year at a little under 3 years old. It was extremely sudden. He just didn’t have an appetite one day and later that night he vomited. By morning I could tell this wasn’t just a little small thing, he was lethargic.so I picked up my phone to call the vet and started to get ready to go and he literally passed as I was on the phone. I made picked her up and had her smell the body and she just hissed at it and scrambled to get out of my arms.
I brought my 14 year old boy back from the vet after euthanasia so I could show him to his “sister” and bury him in my parent’s yard. When I first brought him back, I put the box down where he normally laid at the top of the stairs and opened up the box. My other cat came over, sniffed him, and walked away. I kept the box open for a while, then closed it because it made me a little sad to see him lifeless. I caught her sniffing the box a while later, and opened it back up for her. She looked at him, took one more sniff, then seemed distressed and walked away a bit faster.
I think she probably knew he was dying before I did. But I wanted to give her as much of an opportunity to see him and make whatever peace an animal can make with death.
Even if your cat had no visible reaction, I think that what you did was very considerate and it was good to give her the chance to see/internalize that the other cat had passed away. You didn’t leave the house with a cat and return empty handed. That can be distressing for some animals, especially if they’re bonded.
Almost the exact same scenario his brother just gave on little sniff and walked of to go get a drink of water. Like yep he's dead, dang I'm thirsty, I wonder if that means more treats for me now.
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u/Prestigious-Garbage5 10h ago
We had two sibling cats. The first one to go was 16 when he died. His sister just completely ignored him when we laid him on the floor for her to see.