Lonely Kitty Waits By The Door For His Cat Buddy

Life was pretty lonely for Jasper after his companion Babybaby passed on. Babybaby, a Manx, and Jasper, a talkative long-haired white cat with one blue and one green eye ("odd-eyed cat") who was rescued from China, never established a strong bond in the six years they lived together. Still each took comfort in having another cat in the house. After the family found it necessary to say goodbye to Babybaby, whose kidney problems and other age related kitty illnesses finally took their toll, Jasper was at a loss. Even attention from Keiko, the amiable Golden Retriever, was no consolation for the bereft kitty.

Jasper's parents Fran and Gavin decided to put up a webcam to monitor his actions while they were at work to see what they could do to get him back to his outgoing self. They found him waiting at the door throughout the day.

Jasper's behavior is exactly what you would expect from a cat who has lost its companion, according to cat behaviorists. In these situations, cats initially may display excessive vocalizing, pacing and searching. After that they can become withdrawn and inactive before they finally accept the change.

People need to interact with their kitties, but cats living together and getting along well provide each other with needed social interaction and physical and mental stimulation. So if you find your cat is "lonesome" tonight, it's probably time to add another cat to the family. Fran and Gavin did. They just adopted a two-year old orange tabby from the Homeless Cat Network, a San Francisco area rescue organization.