We adopted both cats from the shelter on the same day. The younger one was 1 year old or so and the other was closer to 2 years old the vet said.

We had them for 14 years and they really didn’t play together at all with the one taking over and the other was okay with her doing that.

They rarely sat or laid next to one another and even rarer played together with the most being laying in wait then chase the other for a few minutes. However we both work during the day and have no idea what they did while we were gone for 10-12 hours of the day.

After her sister passed 6 weeks ago now she has been constantly crying, we let her sit with us but she only sits with us for a few minutes then leaves still crying. We don’t know what to do at this point, we tried playing with her more but she just gets bored after a few seconds, we have tried feathers, laser lights, getting on the floor with her, etc. but after a few minutes she starts crying again.

We thought at first she was grieving but it’s been 6 weeks and she hasn’t let up at all.

She won’t let us sleep and that’s affecting our work now.

Any suggestions ? Not sure if she needs a new buddy or not as we’ve read that often that’s not the solution.

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    Have you checked with your vet to rule out any medical reasons for the crying? – Allison C Apr 12 '19 at 13:53
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    I think she misses the licking of her sister. She doesn't know, what is death. I don't think that a vet could do anything with it. – Gray Sheep Apr 13 '19 at 21:39
  • Did she see the body of the deceased sister? What were the circumstances? – seventyeightist May 2 '19 at 19:53

Ahh! That was enough time which your cat has spent to its sister. And she was never alone! But now, as it's sister is dead, so she feels alone.

Try to give her a partner. Because she was living with her sister since long. So, it can change its attention and mood and to become normal again.

From other point of view, it can be psychic or mental issue for cat as well. A vet can help you to figure it out and also deal with it.

Hope this will help you!


If I were you I would play around with things cats know natively so that instinct will help with acceptance since cats lost more siblings in the wild than in domestication try triggering her instincts to socialize with other cats to hunt or just comfort with the occasional treat, brush or whatever she likes treat her like your own child and know what a child would go through.


Cats do not meow at other cats, generally, with the exception of kittens meowing at their mother. It's a form of communication they only use with humans. Therefore, she's definitely trying to communicate with you somehow, and not say, looking for her sister.

You might try taking your animal to the vet for a checkup. Sometimes unusual meowing can be a sign of a medical issue. At any rate, it certainly is a behavior change which may have been triggered by her sister's passing, but it also could be that the timing is coincidental, and there is actually a different cause.

It may also be the case that the cat is simply trying to get your attention. Many cats enjoy simply the presence of a human or another animal, and will do things like follow you around the house just to be near you. I've even heard of cats that seem to meow when they want to go somewhere, but also want their owner to come with them. If this is the case, then inadvertently you're encouraging this behavior by trying to take care of her when she meows. The best you can do then is try to ignore it, as long as you are certain she's not trying to communicate something else is wrong.

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    While I'm aware that you didn't invent this and there is a common acceptance that cats don't meow among themselves, I experience them meowing to each other daily. I have three cats and they work together. If there's a bird in the garden, one cat will call the other two (it's not a real "meow" but it's still vocal communication to the other cats). If I'm giving a treat and not all cats are present, they will meow until the other one appears (or shows no interest). One of them is incessantly playful, and will run around meowing until someone (mostly the other cats) comes to play with him. – Flater May 23 '19 at 12:40
  • While it's unclear why precisely your cats are meowing (who knows for sure what's going through their heads, so it may be at each other) people say they only meow at humans because if you take humans out of the equation entirely, like in a feral cat colony, the cats do not meow at each other. Therefore, I think it's a pretty reasonable conclusion that cats do not meow at each other. – Kai May 23 '19 at 16:56
  • I think you've missed my point slightly. My point was that a domesticated can learn to meow at other cats as well (even if that's learned through human contact and would not occur without human involvement), which means OP's cat could now be trying to communicate to the other cat. – Flater May 24 '19 at 7:27
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    i can confirm cats in the same house do call for each other and even siblings living in different houses can use vocalisations to greet each other even outside,when my older cat died my other younger cat did call for her(it was not the same sound as the cats use to comunicate with me) – trond hansen Jun 21 '19 at 20:18

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