Sorry for this overemotional long post, I know that many of you have multiple species of pets though, and I'd appreciate your thoughts.
Some of you may remember my mentioning losing my 18 yr old cat in Jan of this year. It was the hardest time I've had in my life since we grew up together, I'm sure the only thing harder will be losing my parents, hopefully much later in the future! I adopted my chin boy a few weeks later because I always wanted a chin but I knew my very clingy cat would be jealous. He's a wonderful chin and I love him very much, but it was never my plan to NEVER get another cat, I have enough love for multiple pets. I thought I needed time to heal before bringing another cat into my life.
So it's been almost a year, and I can't say I'm much closer to healing now than I was then. Sometimes I still wake up in the morning and feel a lump by my side (that turns out to be a pillow or blanket lump) and reach down to pet it, thinking it's my cat, and split second later I remember he's been gone for a while. Some nights I go to bed after my bf is already asleep and his cat (who hates me) is curled up purring on his back. It hurts. Yesterday I read a short story about the loss of a cat (stupid of me, but I didn't know what it was about) and I burst into tears that lasted at least 20 mins.
So I don't really know if I should get another cat or not. I recently found an older cat on petfinder who needs a home after his owner went into a nursing home and the family dumped him at a vets to be euthanized. A local rescue has him now. He's a very large neutered male, just like my old cat was, and I'm very tempted. For the past few months I have been looking at shelter cats and rescues, and going to visit them because it makes me feel better to pet a friendly kitty. I know the bf does not want another cat, but he says we can adopt him if I want. He's been working very late on an important project recently and I have been very lonely. I really only work evenings and weekends.
I talked to my mom about it, because sadly I have no local friends (my best friend lives out of state and can't visit for a while because she had a seizure and can't drive) and she asked if I would rehome my chinchilla if I got another cat. I felt very upset at that question, because obviously I love my pets and would never get rid of them. That also seemed to insinuate that I only need one pet. So now I feel bad for wanting a new pet. My best friend told me to stop feeling bad and get the cat. But she has 5 cats herself so I have to take this with a grain of salt...
So, in short, I feel bad because the bf doesn't want another pet really, I haven't 'gotten over' my loss much at all, and my mom made me feel like it's silly to get another pet or that I couldn't give both (cat and chin) equal love.
Some of you may remember my mentioning losing my 18 yr old cat in Jan of this year. It was the hardest time I've had in my life since we grew up together, I'm sure the only thing harder will be losing my parents, hopefully much later in the future! I adopted my chin boy a few weeks later because I always wanted a chin but I knew my very clingy cat would be jealous. He's a wonderful chin and I love him very much, but it was never my plan to NEVER get another cat, I have enough love for multiple pets. I thought I needed time to heal before bringing another cat into my life.
So it's been almost a year, and I can't say I'm much closer to healing now than I was then. Sometimes I still wake up in the morning and feel a lump by my side (that turns out to be a pillow or blanket lump) and reach down to pet it, thinking it's my cat, and split second later I remember he's been gone for a while. Some nights I go to bed after my bf is already asleep and his cat (who hates me) is curled up purring on his back. It hurts. Yesterday I read a short story about the loss of a cat (stupid of me, but I didn't know what it was about) and I burst into tears that lasted at least 20 mins.
So I don't really know if I should get another cat or not. I recently found an older cat on petfinder who needs a home after his owner went into a nursing home and the family dumped him at a vets to be euthanized. A local rescue has him now. He's a very large neutered male, just like my old cat was, and I'm very tempted. For the past few months I have been looking at shelter cats and rescues, and going to visit them because it makes me feel better to pet a friendly kitty. I know the bf does not want another cat, but he says we can adopt him if I want. He's been working very late on an important project recently and I have been very lonely. I really only work evenings and weekends.
I talked to my mom about it, because sadly I have no local friends (my best friend lives out of state and can't visit for a while because she had a seizure and can't drive) and she asked if I would rehome my chinchilla if I got another cat. I felt very upset at that question, because obviously I love my pets and would never get rid of them. That also seemed to insinuate that I only need one pet. So now I feel bad for wanting a new pet. My best friend told me to stop feeling bad and get the cat. But she has 5 cats herself so I have to take this with a grain of salt...
So, in short, I feel bad because the bf doesn't want another pet really, I haven't 'gotten over' my loss much at all, and my mom made me feel like it's silly to get another pet or that I couldn't give both (cat and chin) equal love.
As long as you are in a stable situation, he/she will be fine. It's not like the cat or chinchilla will demand your attention ALL the time. Good luck.
