I had two cats before and they didn't even sleep in the same room. My old cat is now alone and she is really happy. She is a people cat, she likes to be around us even the baby who try to eat her.

She got used very young to go to one place or an other. So she never been alone during our vacation because she was in someone else home. She got a lot of fans over the years.

When i went to get our cats over a year ago, every breeder told me that if it was going to be a house cat then they would only give me 2. The only time they would allow a cat to go alone would be to people who dont work and are almost always at home.

Its the same with rabbits and hamsters, etc. The pet shop will not give you just the one.

Unfortunately, as your cat has not been in contact with other cats, it may take some time for her to adjust to another cat, maybe wont at all. If you bring a kitten, she may play mother, but at the same time a kitten may drive her crazy, an older cat would most likely end in territorial fights.

Ask the vet, they may be able to advise a drug which helps to calm and accept another animal in the house, one is called Zylkene and its a capsule which should be given once per day for a couple of months, this can help the cat adapt to a friend

I must have a very strange cat... she not only hates other cats, she also doesn't like me to be around too much! (As in she will ignore me, stay pointedly in another room and even start to 'grumble' if I'm at home all day for more than 2 days in a row. She does love to see me again after a short absence however.)

How long did your neighbour / pet sitter stay with your cat? I ask because I used to look after a cat for some friends. She was very nervous due to a difficult past, but also got lonely. So when I first started looking after her I used to go and spend a couple of hours with her (it helped that I was a student at the time and that Friends used to be on the television for several hours at at time of day ). She got used to having me around and then was less nervous, so that on later occasions I didn't have to spend so long with her, because she knew me and knew I'd come by regularly.

Just wondering if that might be a possible solution - get someone who can commit to longer than a 'hello cat, feed cat, clean litter tray, goodbye cat' visit during your April trips? I wonder if the fact that it wasn't the same person each day might have confused your cat?

I'm not an expert - my cat doesn't really care for any human company (I'm not even sure she's mad keen on me) and will hide from whoever pops in... but is happy as long as she gets fed. But the spending more time approach did work with this other cat.

Thanks everyone.

I'll try to shorten her loneliness by a couple of days at least... in which case I think I'll try to leave her alone once again, just to see if she'll feel a bit better. A friend has a key to my apartment, so if it's not good, I'll have him pick her up... As an alternative I'm already writing an e-mail to a friend who has a cat, in the hopes that she'll agree to exchange cat-sitting favors...

But, as many wrote here, putting two cats together is not easy. Not if it's short-term (territorial issues, confusion by the fact that there's a stranger in your area, or that you're away from home with a stranger, peeing revenge...), and the risk is greater if we're talking long-term, like adopting another cat. My cat has barely been around other animals, so I have no idea how she'll react to her own kind.

Of course I'll take it slow, but it's no guarantee... which is why I'd like to make sure that her staying alone for 2 weeks must not mean that the entire building will not be able to sleep at night.