Automatic Litterbox Central

Do any of you have cats that go nuts when their cat companion is missing?? Zen, the brown kitty in the picture, has been crying a lot when Nuba (the silver) disappears out-of-doors for too long. She starts to cry at me and bug me until I go outside to look for him. And, she seems to be looking for him and calling for him, too. Tonight, she searched all over the driveway, meowing, looking, sniffing. Finally, I gave up and went indoors and found Nuba waiting at another door. So, Nuba comes in and I go to the front door to call Zen in. 'Course, she doesn't come because she's still looking for Nuba... Finally, she gets close to the door -- still won't come in --- And Nuba comes to the front door and stands beside me... Zen looks up, sees him and comes in.

So, what do you think? Is this my imagination working over time or is Zen upset when Nuba is missing for too long?? This has been happening for two to three weeks, now (since Nuba started trekking outside), and quite frankly I am getting a bit tired of searching for Nuba because Zen is crying.

Yes I have experienced this. I had two cats, Skeeter and Bailey, who pretty much grew up together. We always said they were boyfriend and girlfriend, because Bailey was so attached to her. They were always together, and he seemed out of sorts if she was at the vet or not feeling well. He would want to be so close to her he would literally sleep ON her, how she could breathe, I don't know. As they got older and developed health problems, I figured that if Skeeter went, Bailey would soon follow. Skeeter developed uncontrollable diabetes and started to decline when she turned 16. Bailey had a long term heart condition, but it never seriously affected him. As Skeeter approached the end, I made arrangements with a local vet who did in-home euthinasia, and expected to let her go the following week. Suddenly, Bailey's health problems advanced rapidly, forcing me to move up the date the in-home vet would arrive. She ended up at my house almost a week early, and we let both our kitties go on the same day. I was able to say goodbye to them in their own home, without the stress of a trip to the vet which made a terrible situation a tiny bit easier. I am convinced that Bailey knew his friend was dying and couldn't bear to live without her, so he caught up to her health condidions so he could go with her.

So it sounds like your Zen and Nuba have a very special relationship, much like my Bailey and Skeeter. I think it's such a great thing to watch. If cats could marry, Bailey would have had Skeeter as his wife, and it sounds like your two might be similar.

Too bad there's no way to tell Zen that Nuba WILL come back, isn't it?

Oh, what a sweet albeit sad story to share. Thank you.

I, too, have witnessed the male cat sleeping on the female cat and wondered how in the heck she could breathe. Yes, this relationship thing is very special to watch. They play a lot, together, and sometimes get very upset with one another but eventually they are back together, again. Pretty amazing.

If you have a video camera, please PLEASE record some of their interactions. I wish I had with Bailey and Skeeter. It's a really neat relationship to see. I have 6 kitties now, only one male, and I have yet to see that relationship blossoming with any of them. I don't know how common it is to see them THAT attached, but it certainly gives you warm fuzzies, doesn't it?

It looks like your two are still babies? I hope so, that means you'll have many many years to watch their "marital" relationship. My cats were indoors only, so they never had the option to kill something for their "spouse." Has either Zen or Nuba brought a "present" for the other? That would be really wonderful to see, wouldn't it?

Zen is going on 3; and Nuba will be 2 in May -- I think... I would classify Zen and Nuba as kitty friends more than romantic -- married or partners. After thinking about this a bit more, what may be happening is this.... Zen communicates; Nuba doesn't (unless its around the cat food dish or if he's upset/scared).

For example, if Zen wants in or out of a room, she meows and scratches at the door. If she wants a drink, she will come to the bathroom and meow, get up by the faucet of the tub and meow until I turn on the faucet for her. Now, a few minutes ago, she was sitting by my bedroom door... I walked near her and she ran to the room at the end of the living room -- a room that's generally closed off and she doesn't go into on a daily basis and she NEVER runs to unless its already open. I opened the doors -- This room is 12x12 but has full length windows around three sides... She can see out into the woods very easily so she checked out the windows and then she wanted outside... So I let her out. She climbed up the tree that sits right into the deck railing... climbed up, checked things out, climbed back down and wanted in, again.

Ahhh... Nuba search behavior... Once I knew what was bugging Zen, I went to the screen porch to call Nuba. I actually saw him come up from a cave-like cavity in the stump of a tree in the garden (so he was hiding) and he came in.

Nuba doesn't cry when he is at a door and wants in or out. When he gets freaked out, he hides. He went outdoors, something freaked him out, maybe he attempted to get back in -- but I am not going to know he wants in unless I see him at a door because he doesn't cry or scratch like Zen does. And even though I have a cat door coming into the house from the garage and the garage is open to the outside, Nuba wasn't close enough to feel safe using it.

So I think Zen does know when Nuba is near and wants in... She senses him and then she tries to let me know. Zen may also smell or hear animals outside that could be dangerous. Right now she is sleeping on top of the bookshelf by the ceiling and I have put Nube in the laundry room because he was still freaked out after he came in the house... So, something was bugging them. Zen checked out the window above my desk here before she climbed to the top of the bookcase...

A little history... When Zen was about 8 months old, she was out and about when the household cat (Ming Su) was attacked and killed by what I believe was a coyote. (That night there was quite a commotion outside and two cats quickly climbed to the deck... Zen and the stray, Bob. Ming was never seen, again.) There was a coyote hanging around the next morning... saw it from my office window right next to the garage door right under the window). I have lived here for over 20 years and my cats have never been bothered by coyotes until the day Ming (who was 14) disappeared. And Zen was chased by a coyote (and then I chased the coyote) shortly after.... And I have chased another while the cats watched... So there you go... We are a coyote aware household. Zen maybe more aware than the rest of us!

By-the-way, Bob, the stray I mentioned above, hasn't been around for several weeks, now. He has disappeared for extended periods in the past but this time I am really wondering... Is he gone for good?

Bob the stray may or may not be back. A male will typically have a big several miles wide circle that he makes. with several nesting sites on his route. Your house is probalby on his route. If you feed him he probably likes to hange around your place. He may have just found a female that he likes and you may not see him for several weeks untill he continues on his circle. He may also have found a place with good feeding on his route so has decided to hang out there. Although he may have gotten into trouble and have been killed by a dog or car or other, It is not unusual for circumstances to have him hang out in other places for quite a long time.

My bet is on the coyote... Bob was moving in -- had his own bed in the garage... Slept on the screen porch until I moved him to the garage.... Nube and Zen didn't appreciate Bob and they are delighted that he is no longer around... I'll report in if he appears, again. He got great meals here...