# Adopting brothers/sisters as opposed to cats from different litters



## swfc-dan (Oct 1, 2013)

I have only ever had cats who are brother and sister. We always liked to have two so they can play and interact together and so felt why not choose two from the same litter each time.

I have heard from friends that some of their previous cats weren't from the same litter and were very close. Now my cats have always been fine with each other, but after a few years do tend to grow more independent from each other.

It had never crossed my mind before but is actually common for cats from different families to tend to remain closer to each other as they get older? 

I'm happy with mine how they are and it's nice to keep siblings together. And I know the difficulties of getting older cats to mix with other new cats from a brief experience with my previous cat when we got two our two kittens  . But Im interested to know how people with cats from different families get on- im sure a lot of the time they are fine with each other, but wondered if it can be more common for them to either become very close to each other, or alternatively even dislike each other?


----------



## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

Cat's don't have familial attachments. That's a human emotion. A cat doesn't look at another cat and think, "Oh, he's my brother. I love him".

Cats are individuals just like people. Some don't care for other cats and are introverted. They want to be only cats. Others don't mind other cats and enjoy their company.

Cats from the same litter won't always get along. Just like people. I have one brother I really don't care for at all. If I never same him again I'd be OK with that. Unfortunately he's also the father of my only nephew so it's a necessary evil to spend time with him.

I have another brother I adore. He is my absolute hero and where most girls compare men to their fathers I compare them all to my brother. He's sort of the ideal.

Book is a cat who gets along with everyone. He's happy to cuddle up with his brothers and spend hours grooming them, even if they never return the favor. He just wants everyone to get along and be happy... he's like this girl. He'd bond (like your siblings) with anyone who came along as long as they treated him decently.

MowMow would as well I think.... with time. It took him 3 years but he's pretty fond of Book (most of the time) and he lets Book lay near him and groom him.


----------



## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

^^^^ What she said! Cats don't think like we do, they react. A mean brother or sister? no go. A nice newbie acquaintance? It's a match. Being a sibling makes NO difference and can be a disaster in relationships between cats. Pick two of similar personalities and it's heaven on earth.


----------



## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

It is an interesting article. My experience is with observing the 50+ kittens I've now raised, both siblings and non siblings. I've seen both bonds. I can't argue with the sibling/bond assessment, but I can say that being a sibling does not necessarily mean a deeper bond than a developed friendship through living together. I have a couple now that I really hope go together because they love each other and spend a lot of time together but they are not littermates. As a matter of fact I can't think of any of my 12 fosters from 4 different litters that are sibling close to each other. Not a scientific assessment I know just kitten life 101.


----------



## Mandy and Ellie (Oct 22, 2013)

I think if you find a sibling combo that are very close and similar in personalities, they can develop a great bond that can be unmatched. But like others said, if they have conflicting personalities, a cat would rather have a random cat they get along with rather than their sibling. They won't view it any differently just because it's relation... if they don't like them, they just don't like them. 

When we got Ellie, she was the runt and didn't seem to have a strong bond with any of her siblings. We waited a year and then got Tootsie (from the same breeder, so they have the same dad), and their personalities match perfectly. They are the absolute best of friends, you would think they were super close siblings or mother/daughter by how close they are. They are always cuddling, grooming eachother, playing, just always around each other and having fun.

I think it can work out either way, but it's definitely important to find personalities that mesh well and if you do get siblings, definitely observe them and get the ones who seem to love each other most and be the closest to personality-wise. I think cats can have just as strong of a bond with a developed friendship as a littermate.


----------



## Arianwen (Jun 3, 2012)

In my crew, there are two sets of siblings - Becky and Baz are no closer than the rest (I'm lucky enough that they are all bonded) but the ones I think of as the twins, Zac and Tabitha) do have a special relationship. They both play and socialise with the others but still gravitate back to each other. I think it varies.


----------



## swfc-dan (Oct 1, 2013)

Thanks for all the responses guys, very interesting.

Yeah I remember when we chose our two we went to visit them and they had another sister also. We knew we could only cope with two lol, and once we found our two playing together the most we knew they were the best choice to keep together. It was a shame we had to leave their other sister but im sure she found a nice home also, she seemed more independant than our two.

They aren't all that similar in personality (in my experience males and females rarely are, males are lazier and more bossy!)  but they will still play chase with each other at times and get on fine despite not being as close anymore. But it's rare to find cats that really bond closely I've found.


----------



## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

swfc-dan said:


> They aren't all that similar in personality (*in my experience males and females rarely are, males are lazier and more bossy*!)  but they will still play chase with each other at times and get on fine despite not being as close anymore. But it's rare to find cats that really bond closely I've found.


See I don't find this to be true either. :deal

I've had females that are little spitfires and males that are laid back sweet lovers. I've had and have females that are sweet and demure and boys that I can barely corral in! I just goes back to basic personality. Period. :thumb


----------

