Tortoiseshell and white cat sisters sitting close together

Do Cats Remember Their Siblings? (Real-Life Example!)

When cats are kittens, they frequently develop a strong attachment to their littermates and mother cat.

Ideally, littermates will spend the first two to three months of their lives together before being adopted into homes and going their separate ways.

And for those kittens who are lucky enough to be adopted together, they usually form a tight bond and will remain close as they grow into adulthood. 

But what about kittens who are separated from their siblings at a young age?

Do they have fond memories of their brothers and sisters?

Do they remember their siblings at all?

I have real-life experience of this.

Two of our cats (sisters) were separated as youngsters and reunited a year later. I was fascinated to see whether they’d remember each other or not.

Read on to find out what happened!

The importance of littermates

Kittens who grow up with siblings are more likely to learn important social skills.

These include things like how to get along with others, how to share, how to negotiate, how to communicate, how to enjoy the companionship of other cats, how to play appropriately without getting aggressive, and how to develop bite inhibition (i.e. how hard they bite) while they’re still young.

Kittens who grow up without siblings may not have the same opportunity to learn these things, so may lack social skills with other cats when they reach adulthood.

Black and white kitten and black kitten cuddled up together
If kittens get the opportunity to grow up together they often form deep attachments with one another © The Cat and Dog House

Do cats get sad when separated from siblings?

Kittens are ready to leave the litter and be made available for adoption by roughly eight weeks of age after they have been weaned.

Weaning (i.e. the transition to solid food) should begin at around three to four weeks of age (International Cat Care, 2018).

Kittens form strong bonds with their mom and sibling cats during these early weeks of life and may find it stressful initially to be removed from the family unit. They may show signs of separation anxiety before they get to know their new human family.

However, it generally doesn’t take them a lot of time to readjust and make new attachments with the pets and family members in their new home.

Pet owners can help with this by making sure their new kitten feels safe and secure in her new environment, providing her with a litter box, food, water, and plenty of toys and scratching posts.

It’s also a good idea to give your new cat time to explore her new surroundings and get used to the sounds and smells of her new family and home without being bombarded by too much attention from family members all at once.

When we lived in Dubai, we rescued several kittens off the street over the years, and I always found it helpful to provide a “surrogate mother” for our new feline friend to snuggle up to.

This was usually a fluffy toy cat or dog that would provide comfort and it proved to be remarkably effective as a replacement family member.

Tiny tabby and white rescue kitten cuddling upto soft toy
This was the first day after we rescued kitten Jeffrey from a busy parking lot. He is dirty, weak, and scared but finding comfort in his soft toy “surrogate mother” © The Cat and Dog House

Social play vs. object play in kittens

It’s part of a kitten’s natural development to, at the age of about 18-21 weeks, gradually “switch interest from social play [if they’re still with their siblings] to object and predatory play,” say Delgado and Hecht.

“Social behaviors also become less cohesive (less approaching, nose touching, and another physical contact) and more aggressive (more biting and back arching) around this time.”

So, even if older kittens are still living with their littermates, they’ll start to become less interested in social play and more focused on other activities (like playing with toys or stalking prey) as they become more independent.

Can a cat recognize their siblings?

Cats use scent to identify other cats. When a cat crosses paths with another cat, they will often greet each other by sniffing each other’s face and head to compare scents.

If they recognize the scent and are friendly with each other, they may rub their heads and bodies against each other to leave scent marks (a behavior known as bunting).

In the same way, a mother cat and her kittens will recognize each other by scent.

Many years ago we had two sister cats who had kittens about a month apart. Moonbeam had three kittens and Minky had four kittens.

We homed two of Moonbeam’s kittens when they were about 8 weeks old, leaving her with one remaining kitten, who would soon be going to her new home also.

During that interim period, Moonbeam would often go and fetch two of Minky’s much younger kittens and carry them to her nest. She knew she was supposed to have three kittens but didn’t seem to make the connection that the two she fetched were not actually hers.

Luckily the two siblings were extremely bonded and Minky didn’t mind. In fact, she seemed quite happy about it.

I found this quite fascinating but, in addition to their close bond, the mother cats lived in the same house and shared the same scent signature, so to speak.

Cat behavior expert Dr. Mikel Maria Delgado explains it like this: “If mom cats are highly likely to be near closely related female cats, then the costs of co-mothering (from an evolutionary/fitness perspective, where the goal is to ensure your genes are passed on) are small.

“In fact, if this behavior is reciprocal, then your own offspring would have a greater chance of surviving if another mom cat (probably one of your relatives) was willing to care for YOUR kittens.”

Silver grey cat and dark grey cat cuddling
Sisters Moonbeam and Minky were so bonded they shared each other’s kittens © The Cat and Dog House

Short-term memory in cats

The term “short-term memory” is used to describe information an individual processes in a short amount of time. The actual processing is taken care of by what is called the “working memory,” explain Camina & Güell (2017).

If you search on the internet you’ll find numerous articles telling you cats can remember things for at least 16 hours. The problem is, no one cites their source and I couldn’t find it anywhere.

On the contrary, to the best of my research, studies have revealed that a cat’s working memory lasts anything from 0 to 30 seconds.

“Researchers tested this by showing a cat an attractive object, such as a toy — but then delaying them before they could begin searching for the toy,” explains Dr. Sam Westreich.

“Delay a cat more than 10–15 seconds, and they become more likely to forget the toy. Delay them beyond 30 seconds, and they’ve almost certainly forgotten about the item.”

However, research by McVea and Pearson (2007) found cats remember “the size and location of an object straddled between their front and hind legs for very long periods of time, up to at least 10 minutes, [which] was much longer than the duration of working memory of cats reported to date.”

So there you go.

Incidentally, Dr. Westreich discovered that the elusive source of the “cats can remember things for 16 hours” statement dates back to a 1964 book on animal psychology – hats off to you sir!)

Long-term memory in cats

Long-term memory helps an individual retain information for extended periods,” explain Camina and Güell. “This information can be accessed either consciously (known as explicit memory) or unconsciously (implicit memory).”

A cat’s long-term memory “appears to be highly developed,” says Dr. Monique Udell, associate professor of animal & rangeland sciences (human-animal bond) at Oregon State University.

But we still “have a lot to learn about the types of information that animals retain for long periods of time,” she adds.

“While cats and dogs do have long-term memory, the precision and accuracy of these memories can decline over time, just as it does for humans.” 

Dr. Delgado, meanwhile, references another study where researchers found that kittens “might retain a memory of the scent of their mother for up to one year.”

None of this tells us whether cats remember their siblings or not, but it does at least give an insight into how cats remember things and for how long. Well, to a degree anyway.

Do cats remember their siblings after years?

Here are two anecdotal examples of siblings or a closely bonded pair being reunited after time spent apart.

Cat “brothers” reunited: Magnus and Jethro

Magnus and Jethro were unrelated cats who became extremely bonded. Both neutered male cats, they underwent a short separation when Magnus went missing for two weeks.

We eventually found him lurking in a neighbor’s barn, too scared to come out.

When we got him back home, he and Jethro, technically a non-related cat but in reality, his brother from another mother, were thrilled to see each other.

So the two animal companions definitely remembered and recognized each other. But it depends on the length of time spent apart.

Black cat and tabby and white cat walking outside together
Magnus and Jethro developed a deep bond even though they were unrelated and we adopted them three years apart © The Cat and Dog House

Cat sisters reunited: Rainbow and Jasmine

Rainbow and Jasmine are sisters who were born on the street in Dubai.

They ended up living in slightly different areas and Rainbow was rescued first as she was close to traffic and more at risk.

We adopted Rainbow and blended her in with our resident cats and dogs.

Tortoiseshell and white cat sitting on a rock in the forest
We adopted Rainbow a year before her sister © The Cat and Dog House

A few months later, Jasmine was also rescued and we were happy to offer to adopt her as well.

But Jasmine then got stuck in a cattery for several months during the pandemic and was unable to travel.

By the time she joined our family, it was a long time (almost a year) after we’d adopted Rainbow.

Tortoiseshell and white cat sitting in fron of red barn
Jasmine adapted well to her new life in a home, but wasn’t so keen on her sister © The Cat and Dog House

We kept Jasmine (and fellow new arrival Kasper) in a separate room and did gradual introductions over a period of 2-3 weeks.

How did it go? I hear you ask. Let me sum it up like this:

– Did the sisters recognize each other? No.
– Did they reminisce together over sweet kittenhood memories? No.
– Were they happy to see each other? No.
– Are they good friends now? No.
– Did we have to introduce them as if they’d never met? Yes.
– Have they since come to accept each other? Yes and no.
– Have they agreed on a peaceful time- and space-sharing co-existence? Yes, just about.

Tortoiseshell and white cat sisters eating close together
We made sure we created lots of positive associations between the reunited sisters but they have never become close friends © The Cat and Dog House

Funnily enough, both sisters have bonded far more closely with other cats in the household than with each other.

These long-separated littermates don’t hang out together and largely spend their time in separate parts of the house or yard. But they don’t fight either, so I’d say it was a win-win.

It’s been two years now since Jasmine and Rainbow were reunited and I think what we have now is as good as it’s going to get.

They’re never going to be cuddle buddies, sadly.

I’m sure if they’d been rescued together as a pair of kitten siblings before they had the chance to go their separate ways as young adult cats, it would be an entirely different story.

Tortoiseshell and white cat sisters lying on a balcony
This is about as close as Jasmine (front) and Rainbow get post-reunion © The Cat and Dog House

Final thoughts

While it’s hard to say how long cats remember their siblings and the scientific research is also in short supply, anecdotally I can tell you that two weeks apart is one thing, but a whole year is completely another.

This means if a kitten is separated from her littermates at a young age there’s no guarantee she will remember or recognize them in the unlikely event they ever meet again.

Would the same apply to a bonded adult pair of siblings who happened to be separated for some reason and were then reunited after a period of time?

It’s hard to say based on the scientific reports available. I guess in the end there are still a lot of questions and we just don’t know enough yet.

We always love to hear from cat owners so if you have a story of two cats who were separated and then reunited, either as young kittens or adults, we’d love to know! Drop us a line and tell us all about it!

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NEED HELP FROM A CAT BEHAVIOR SPECIALIST?

If you need more help dealing with a training or behavior issue, please find professional help from a certified feline behavior consultant. They will be able to offer you tailored advice for your cat(s) and situation.

Good places to start are:
- International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants
- COAPE Association of Pet Behaviourists and Trainers
- American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior