Should we get a companion for Monkey (our cat)?

[Masha]

Hi,

We have been thinking whether we should get Monkey (our cat) a companion. Monkey is a 4.5 year old male and we adopted him when he was 7 months old. He is very playful and I feel bad that I cant spend as much time as he probably would like playing with him. He never had much contact with other cats except for the two weeks he spent at the rescue that we adopted him from 4 years ago, at that point they told us he was good with other cats and dogs (but they only had him for two weeks so not much time to really observe him).

His only encounter with another cat is when a neighbour’s cat comes into our back yard or onto our balcony and monkey is behind the sliding door and sniffs or sees him through the netting. Both cats hissed at each other the first time and monkey eventually turned away and lay on the bed with his back to the cat. Since then when monkey sees the neighbour’s cat through the door he looks at him, sometimes sits at the door to watch him, but he doesn’t show any signs of ‘stress’, he is not hiding or freaking out, just the hissing that made me worried a bit. Usually after seeing the cat he just goes to do his thing, like sleep on the bed, etc.

I know a lot of you have multiple cats that get a long great. Do you think Monkey is the kind of cat that can benefit from a companion? Does he even need a companion, maybe it’s me thinking he needs one meanwhile he is all happy without one…. What is your experience, do you find that most cats appreciate a companion?

We found a cat that sounds like a good fit at the rescue where we adopted monkey. The info says the cat is very friendly with all cats and very sociable (I emailed the rescue for more info). If we do decide to adopt another one, this one seems like he would be a good fit… but I’m waiting to hear more from the rescue, I am hoping they will help us find the right fit if we do decide to go ahead with it.

Thanks,