This is my favorite photo of the last weeks. I did feed Shyna but sometimes she is a little bit hasty. The photo looks as if she would bite into my finger but this was not her intention. I had her favorite treats in my hand and she couldn´t await to get them. No, it didn´t hurt. She is hasty but not brutal. 🙂
I took the photo at that time last week when I also shot the photo for the Inside Photo Challenge. The photo there should explain the situation a little bit better. Then we shot also this very beautiful image and this funny photo that day. The least inspired me to write an article about teaching a cat the meerkat trick and the photos inspired me to write about my opinion, that it is not bad to teach cat tricks.
That is the great thing about photography. It is inspiring and you can come up with some new articles. It´s fun.
Diary of Dennis 
It does look like Shyna was going to have a piece of you there :). Cats do sometimes bite when they are over stimulated or they “clamp” you, grabbing your hand or arm with all four paws and digging the claws in. But they don’t mean it to be nasty, it’s the way they play with each other too. As for tricks I think a cat who lives mostly indoors needs new games and things to do. I haven’t tried i with Polly, she’s not as food motivated but she makes up a lot of games for herself and she plays a lot with Cindy too.
Agree, I have noticed it too when Shyna gets too excited about anything. Agree, it´s like playing, beeing hasty or funny. I had her claws several times digged into my hands as well. You get used to it 😀
Right, that is my opinion too with the tricks. It´s not bad if indoor cats get additional acitivity. However, Shyna is the only pet I have and that is the reason why I think that it is even more important to engage her. The idea is still there to get a second cat, but I am still a little bit patient with the decision. Until then I try to engage Shyna as often as I can, so that she is not bored. I can´t do that everyday but I try as often as I can.
In your case, it is very good that Polly and Cindy play together. I think that is cool and the difference. Shyna only has me until now.
Dennis if you are thinking of getting another cat to keep Shyna company you may be disappointed because in my experience most cats don’t welcome new cats into the family. I’ve had cats from the same litter and they played and most of the time were very good friends but bringing a new cat into the home where there is already an adult cat requires a lot of planning and supervision when the two are together until you are sure they will get along. Unlike dogs, cats are quite happy on their own and don’t seem to pine for their own kind. Before Polly we had two cats, Jake and Josey who we got at the same time as kittens, they were brothers. They entertained themselves and us playing and would wash each other and apart from the odd fight were the best of friends. After Josey died we didn’t plan to get another cat because we didn’t think Jake would like it. He didn’t like it at all when Polly came and would not even stay in the room with her for some weeks. Of course he was an old cat by then but I’ve had the same thing with cats who were only a year apart in age. The good news is in most cases they learned to tolerate each other. One unsociable cat we had was fine with her litter mate but would attack any other cat we had at the time. The dogs used to protect them. On the other hand if you want another cat because you would like another cat companion for yourself go ahead; but make sure that the cats both have separate places they can go when they don’t want to be around each other. Of course you might have a completely different experience to me. Shyna might like a friend. I’ll be interested to hear what happens.
That is one of the reasons why I did hesitate with my decision. Most of my friends have either dogs, cats or even both. Some of the friends with cats said that they had a hard time when they got a second cat, while other had good experience. It seems that it worked out well for some, and for other friends not.
I also have read alot about this subject. It seems to be possible but it might not be that easy. I see your point and that was the point I was mainly hesitating with. It is now since 6 years Shyna´s territory. It is questionable if she will tolerate another cat in her territory. Also she could be very jealous if there is another cat. I agree.
But then there are also the benefits. One friend said that the first 4 or more weeks were difficult but then his cats became best friends. One thing is sure, it might not be easy.
This is why I am still didn´t make a decision. I would be very patient to work with two cats until everything works out fine. But on the other side I am very afraid that I would need to give the newer cat away, due to the fact that they did hurt each other, just to name one example. I never would give away Shyna but it would also hurt me to give the newer cat away then. I wouldn´t like to give any pets away. Although, friends didn´t have this happen, it was just very difficult the first weeks or months. So, this is not a decision I can make offhand. You made some good points.
It is difficult. I’m thinking about it myself because I read that our local vet has a lot of kittens in need of foster homes and I’m tempted to adopt one. However apart from the cost factor, vet fees, extra food etc I don’t know how Polly would like it. She is at least still a young cat. If we did it I would use the small netted enclosure that we used for Polly as a kitten to keep the new kitten in at night and when we go out. I’d introduce the cats to each other gradually over a period of time. Polly has her “apartment” in the linen cupboard and various other hidey holes she can retreat to. Of course both cats need to be neutered, that prevents some fighting. Even when we had cats that didn’t like each other there were no serious fights where injury occurred. I think it was more like sibling rivalry, a lot of hissing and swatting.
I agree. I would not want to give a pet away so I’d perservere to make them learn to live together nicely.
I think we do it the right way then. It is sometimes better to wait with decisions and to plan things right. This is the way you can be very prepared. As you mentioned, there are costs, there is a lot of attention needed when you introduce them, so that nothing goes wrong and so on. It´s great that you also prefer to plan things out. It´s sad that so many don´t do that. I guess this is one of the reasons why so many animal centres are filled with cats and dogs, because people give them away, as they didn´t expected that having a pet means also responsibility. I think you do it the right way too. It´s not bad to make this decision to get a pet or to get a second pet but it must be planed and considered carefully 🙂