¿Es egoísta ADOPTAR SOLO UN GATO? 😿💔 ¿DOS GATOS siempre MEJOR QUE UNO?

Are cats that live with other cats in our home happier? Is it selfish of us to adopt only one cat? Hi, I'm Carlos and I'm a veterinarian, and this is Alkachofo. Welcome to the Happy Pets and Families Channel. Hey, don't you often think that with everything related to cats, there's always contradictory information that never seems like you're doing things right. On the one hand, society in general tries to tell us that cats are solitary animals, that they're not sociable, that they're often a bit standoffish. And then there's the belief that cats in a house should always live with at least one other cat. Well, if a cat lives in a house with another cat or with three cats, that's perfectly fine. But those cats will always be happier than a cat that lives alone. The rule of two is better than one is always true. It's set in stone. It always has to be that way. Well, today I felt like reflecting a little on the subject, especially because it's been a year since we adopted Kociofo and it's been pretty close to our hearts. On the one hand, we find comments on the channel that tell us, hey, Kociofo needs another feline companion. You have to find Kocifo a girlfriend and things like that. And other people tell me, it seems that Kocihchofo is really enjoying himself. He's the king of the house. And of course, in the end, you find yourself in the middle and never know how to get it right. And let's get this out of the way. This video isn't about deciding what's right or wrong, but rather that we're simply going over the subject a little to see if everything that's being said is true and that cats always have to go in pairs. But first of all, I have to tell you that the channel, Moskota's wife, Amelia is, Fez is. And Kocifo need you right now because lately the YouTube algorithm has been punishing us a lot. So if you want us to keep making videos, what you have to do is watch them when they come out like them, share them with everyone you know, and if you really, really want to support us, give us a super thang. But anyway, getting back to the subject, the cat at home is, well, a, as you can see, like a king. But perhaps he would be happier living with another cat. The first thing we have to consider is whether cats are really sociable or not. I've given you enough arguments on the channel to stop attractor showing that Cats are sociable animals. And this is precisely the argument used by people who say that cats have to live in pairs in a house to tell you that for a cat to have a 100% fulfilled life, it has to share activities with another feline companion. Well, someone who has more or less the same interests. Whether a cat develops a harmonious coexistence with other felines will depend greatly on a series of factors. Cats are animals that, as a general rule, defend a territory with resources, whether in nature or inside your home. Those resources are what I've told you about a million times. Their resting areas, they, their litter box, their food, their water, and even the affection of their humans. Of course, it's true that a cat can form societies or social groups, stable cohabiting units with other cats, but only if they have enough of those resources. As long as the spark never comes up when it comes to deciding who should go first to eat or where one or the other should rest. Because that's when conflict starts to happen. This somewhat supports what I've been telling you throughout all these years of the channel's life. Sometimes, if two cats don't get along very well when it comes to using the litter box, you have to provide a litter box for each cat and for example, provide an extra one so that you always have some leftover. But there are cats that get along really well and have no problem sharing that resource and can do their poop in the same litter box. All of this depends on a series of very, very complex interactions between the cat's own environmental needs and also the element that is key to me, which is the cat ness, the cat's personality. And there are a series of things that are extremely important. They depend a lot on socialization, previous experiences, and even the dominance relationships that are established between them. Many times these dominance relationships are very marked. And for example, when more than one cat lives in a house, there may always be one that has more territory than the rest, that is, in all the rooms of the house. And there are others that perhaps if they are less in charge in that hierarchy, their living area is restricted to only one room. This is also reflected in the fact that if that cat, which is more dominant, enters that room and finds the cat resting in its favorite spot, it will go there and a fight will break out. So even if on paper there were enough resting areas in that house, not all cats will use all the resting areas. It depends a lot on the individual preferences of each one. And of course, if he says, hey, I can do more than you and I'll take you away from there. Well, I'll go and start a fight. So, as you can see, if a cat is very dominant, it may not be prepared to share an enclosed space with another cat, especially if that other cat is also quite dominant, because it will not accept the rules that it sets for it. The life of those two cats will be better than if they each lived individually in a house. Or to put it another way, if in the end, for example, that cat accepts the rules, it will live its entire life to the fullest. It will have everything it needs. Or it will always live in fear that the dominant cat will come and take it away from where it is or take its food. In fact, this is also very much in line with what I have been telling you on the channel for a long time, that when cats are going to live together in an enclosed space, they need an introduction. I am in favor of this introduction precisely because I know how the social relationships of cats unravel. There are cats that are more dominant than others and will not accept someone entering their territory so easily. There are also theories about this and you can find over 800 on the Internet. So, as you can see, it is true that cats are sociable and can form stable groups. But perhaps it is much better to say that cats are optionally sociable. If the other conditions are met, such as sufficient resources and the cat's personality is not so marked as to prevent other cats from living with it, they will be able to tolerate each other, but but not in all cases. Of course, there are many people who do not take all these variables into account and simply repeat a mantra. You have to adopt two cats together, otherwise they will not be happy. In fact, we have experienced this firsthand with Alcoho. And here I have a comment from a follower who made a million comments to us in a video like this one. But this one particularly caught my attention. I've been with cats for 60 years. I can tell you first hand that when you take a cat out of the shelter, you have to take two out. A cat should never be alone for 20,000 reasons and the first is their attachment to humans. When two cats arrive at the same time, they give each other company and don't demand as much attention from humans. You have to think about when you're not home, that cat is alone. When you count the hours, it has a terrible time when there are no humans at home, since it doesn't understand why you're leaving or if you're going to come back or not. For a veterinarian, you messed up by taking in only one cat. That's selfish of you. In fact, he didn't give his opinion when you took him out of the shelter. You only thought about you about having a pet. If you're thinking about rescuing a cat from the street, you have to consider many aspects, and one of them is the one that has already been discussed. What a kitten suffers alone in a house. This is his opinion, obviously, but the problem is that he's telling me this as if it were the absolute truth, and this is not true. Meh. Well, I have a lot of arguments to refute these types of comments. The problem is when these ideas are installed in people's heads, and this precisely prevents cats from being adopted from shelters, because there are in fact, some shelters and refuges that do not allow a single cat to leave their facilities. In other words, if you are going to adopt a cat, they tell you either adopt two or take none. And I do not agree with that at all. Because of course now we have to ask the uncomfortable what happens that if I do not adopt two cats, it is better for that cat to stay in the shelter without a human family who loves it, who takes care of it, and so on. Apart from all these considerations about what cats are like, what they need, what they do not need, how their personality develops, there is another thing that we cannot ignore, which is the personal circumstances of each family. There are people who do not have enough space, who live with many in a house. Well, in short, there are a lot of circumstances that we cannot evaluate or judge individually. To me, all those arguments about not adopting two cats at the same time seem quite radical, because we must not forget that when we take a cat from a shelter, what we are giving it is better living conditions. The ultimate reason for rescuing cats from the street and sending them to a shelter is precisely to give them a second chance. Isn't it worth it for even one cat to leave that shelter in order to go to a home with a family that can give it a stable living condition? In the end, all these types of ideas do is put obstacles in the way and make it difficult to adopt cats, which is what we set up a cat shelter for, after all. Right. In addition, I have also come across other situations that, well, have arisen throughout my working life and experience, which is that an attempt has been made to solve a series of behavioral problems of a cat that was living alone by adopting another cat. Well, this idea has been repeated, this mantra, and in the end, we have made life a Complete hell for both cats. Because the problem with the other cat, the one that lived alone, was not that it felt lonely, but rather it was a basic problem, behavioral or of any other type, that was not going to be solved by introducing another feline companion. That is why it is always necessary to make an adequate diagnosis of what is happening to the cat. And for that it is often necessary to have it assessed by a veterinarian, an ethologist, a specialist in behaviors before deciding whether another cat really needs to enter the home. For example, I am referring to cats that have stress problems and that manifest it with aggression. If that cat is stressed and aggressive, it may not tolerate very well that the other cat enters its territory. And instead of getting along very well and starting to share spaces together, it manifests this in addition to attacking, for example, the family, also by attacking that other cat. And in the end what we end up with is a cat whose problem we haven't solved and another scared cat that has moved to live behind the washing machine because it can't get out of there. Are we giving either of those cats the best life? The answers are no. That's why the basic solution can never be to adopt another cat just because, hey, you have enough space in your house and you want to adopt it, to give another cat a chance, get it out of the shelter, give it a better life, hey, perfect, great, hey, if that's what needs to be done. But we should never resort to that alternative to solve problems that, for example, our cat may have. What we should always focus on is giving the cats or the cat that lives with us the best living conditions. And for that it is always necessary, super important to pay attention to everything called environmental enrichment, which is to give the cat the conditions it high areas, scratching posts, enough rest areas, litter boxes, feeders, water areas, and attention from us, which is very important, such as play. If we can't give it to just one cat because, well, we're a bit of a mess and we haven't paid much attention to that, how are we going to expect to give it to two? And now let me give you an example by referring to the comment we just read. Hey, we only live with one cat, but we are very careful that it has everything it needs and above all that it has enough attention. Well, as for us, I tell you, I play that it has enrichment, that it changes its environment a bit, that it doesn't get bored, that it always has something to do during the day. It's true that the cat will often dedicate itself to sleeping but that's because cats sleep 16 hours a day. Hey, maybe in the future we'll adopt another cat so that it can live with artichoke. That would be perfect. I think that in this house, well, although it's not very big, two cats could live if they get along. The most important thing is that when that new cat arrives home, we also have to be aware and we have to give them enough of everything for both of them. And above all, we must always follow that recipe that I always mention. Patience, patience and more patience. Because the introduction, the process of the new cat adapting to the house so that artichoke doesn't feel too invaded is a process that can be quite long. On the other hand, when you start looking for scientific articles and studies that have been done on whether two cats are happier than one, or whether a house with more than one cat has a fuller life compared to houses where only a couple live, we don't find any significant differences. We do not see that cats that live alone in a house have greater amounts of stress, get along worse with their human companions, are more bored, or even indicators such as obesity, for example, which would make us think that they have less physical exercise. Therefore, we cannot say that the living conditions of a cat alone in a house are worse because it lives alone. And of all those people, for example, if you live with only one cat, tell me in the comments, do you see that your cat is unwell, that it lacks something, that it feels lonely, that it spends the day bored? Or perhaps if you pay enough attention to it, that cat has enough daily activity. And mind you, I do not want to ignore the fact that two cats together can give each other a lot of company and can be perfect, and they can play a lot and can, well, share many moments of the day together, even if small disputes break out, which are normal, which are everyday, which are even part of how they organize themselves socially, if all these circumstances are met, it's perfect for two, three or 40 cats to live in our home, whatever we can afford. The thing is that here it always seems like you're either with me or against me if you don't do what I tell you, because I'm an expert. I've been working with cats for 60 years because I manage colonies and shelters and I don't know how much and I don't know what you're doing it wrong. Well, no, there's always a gray area that we can move within. And obviously two cats that live together can get along very well, but that doesn't mean that A cat that is alone in a house can't have everything it needs. In the end, it always seems like ideas are radicalized here on the Internet and there are two completely opposing sides, when the reality is that that's not the case with this video. What I really wanted to do was, well, express a bit of my opinion on this subject, because ever since we adopted the cat, we've been receiving a lot of comments, many of them pointing out that he needs a feline companion at home. Well, it's true that we're reading it, we're answering a bit, we say that maybe you're not always right and so on, but I wanted to express myself in a video in a calmer, more serene way and reflect a bit on all this. The most important thing is that if we decide to adopt a cat and have it come to live inside our house, well, one or two or three or four or however many, we commit to what they need. And it's true that perhaps a cat that lives alone will require a bit more attention from us, especially in terms of entertainment or chasing things, because other feline companions, if they get along with them, will give them that part. But that cat will not lack in any aspect of life if you meet those needs. Especially when we see that if two cats don't get along, their life can be a complete torment or even. What I always tell you, when two cats start living together in a place, we don't expect them to be best friends, but at least to tolerate each other, as you've heard me say many times. And it's because it's true, because it's not necessary for two cats who live together very closely to get along, sleep together and so on. Hey, if that happens, perfect. But the fact and the truth is that many times they don't reach that point of living together so closely. And what we have to settle for is that they don't even fight. I also tell you, you can't adopt a cat because you say, look, I get home very tired every day and there's no one at home and I feel a bit lonely and I want someone to keep me company. And you get home and you don't pay any attention to your cat. You don't give it the time it needs to play. In that case, you can't adopt that cat because you're not going to give it everything it needs. But come on, not one cat, not two, not any. Because if you are not 100% committed to the needs and what adopting a living, being a feline companion in this case will entail. You are certainly not qualified to take charge of that situation. Well, I don't know if you agree with me or not. In any case, if you want, you can leave me a comment, because all debate is welcome here, always with respect. Okay, tell me, I don't know, why did you decide to adopt two cats after living with one? I don't know what made you consider that situation? Or do you think that your cat alone has a worse life than if it lived with another? Do you think it gets bored? Leave it for me in the comments, because after all, there may be people or certain ideas that social networks make too much noise about, and we think that those are the majority. And in the end, well, I. I'm even wrong that I've simply stayed with the negative comments and I don't realize that most people understand that there are cats that live alone or that live with others and that it's totally fine. Well, leave me a comment so we can have a little debate. But I'm also going to ask you for something else. If you like the video, give us a like and subscribe to the channel if you haven't already. Hey, you can also give us a super if you want to support us a lot. And remember that we have a secondary channel here on YouTube called Questions and Answers from a Veterinarian. And before we go, we're going to meet these two beautiful felines who are siblings and are called Sia and Noah. They greet us with their human partner, Lourdes from Barcelona, from Costa Rica. The beautiful Lucas greets us and he does so from there with his human partner, Valeria. And we say goodbye with little Dante, who greets us with his human partners, Nice. Nat and Anto from Colombia, although they are from Venezuela. Thank you very much for following the Happy Pets and Families channel. And I'll see you in the next video shot.

I'm putting myself in the person's shoes right now, because I don't put myself in your shoes. No, you don't put yourself in my shoes. I put myself in the shoes of the kittens. I put myself in the shoes of the person who is saying what I mean, how are we assuming that people are going to get lost there? Okay, I think everything is pretty well laid out there. I mean, come here, Come, come, come. Very good. Come here, come. And. Well, and I'll grab him because I want to, because he's my cat, and I'll grab him and devour him. I'm only going to tell you the part about the attack on us. And I'm going to read it and you're going to summarize the part that seems juiciest to you, period. I didn't want the video to go into detail about that woman's comment because I don't want it to be like, let me go a bit further. No, no, no. You start saying words and you go off on a tangent. Back to the topic. I don't want to get carried away. You can't tell me that the catfish, in my case the catfish, because the one who hurts me is the catfish lives badly. It's that if not as if you leave it open, like a cat with another cat can be unhappy. It can be unhappy. But it's not always a good option. It's not always a good option. Yeah, but it's not always a good option. That's precisely the reflection that we don't always have to make. Come on, come on. Because in these cases, as you can see, even if the cat, I mean, even if a cat, I mean, come on, kitty, don't go. No, don't go with. Seems great to me. From the point of view of waste management. Right? From the point of view of waste management, we've already concluded a lot and reconcluded and gone back to ideas and up and down.