Tigerlilly - Lobsang Rampa

to have only one Siamese cat—two cost no more to keep and
they are company for each other. If you have a Siamese cat
and you do not definitely love it, then you will find the cat
won't love you either, and most times he won't even stay with
you. One day, he will just walk out, and that's that. You won't
see him again. He will go somewhere where he is appreciated.
So, if you want a pet just to keep around the house, get the
ordinary home domesticated cat—they are accustomed to it.
They are stolid enough to live with it, but if you want a
definite living companion and you spend a lot of time at home,
get a Siamese cat or a Burmese, but then if you find you have
to go out a lot, then have two cats.
Some people have a difficulty in getting a second cat be-
cause of all the spats and hissing and groanings that go on, but
there is no problem really. You shut the resident Siamese in
(let us say) a bedroom and the newcomer cat in a room adjac-
ent to the bedroom and you wedge the door so that it is open
about an inch, then they can look at each other and unburden
their minds about each other and use all the swear words that
they know, but after a short time they will tolerate each other
and no harm will be done. But, of course, if you just bring in a
fresh cat and toss him down with your first cat, then you are
asking for trouble—they will never be friends. So; you have to
use feline psychology. You have to make a very great fuss of
the first cat and then you have to make a fuss of the second cat,
and when they have settled their differences and decided
which of them is going to be top cat, you will have a house of
peace. They will live together, they will look after each other
and there won't be any loneliness when you go out.
Many people ask about neutering cats. Well, it is a good
thing. With a female cat, for instance, if she is neutered she
becomes very, very much more affectionate, and it is not at all
the same as giving hysterectomy to a human, you know.
Hysterectomy in a human all too frequently causes a gross per-
sonality change. Not so with cats. Cats have a different meta-
bolic process, and all that happens is you take away the
yowling and the screeching and you make a very lovable, lov-
ing companion. If you do not have the female spayed, as it is
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