Update! (Cat chasing child— I thought in prey play.)
I posted about a month ago regarding my cat who was stalking my 4 year old around the house.
After someone commented that he was treating her like another cat, I realized I had literally never had a solo cat before. (Which I knew, because I’d been trying to get a bonded pair to begin with. But it made me realize that despite knowing cats well, I don’t know solo/unbonded cats.) I renewed my attempt to get a second cat and we managed to get one from our local shelter just a few days later. He’s a bit older than I’d oringly been looking for, but I think it’s perfect.
New cat is probably 2-3 years old (resident cat just turned 1.) After a reasonably slow introduction, they are now buddies! New cat (orange tabby) will play and wrestle with the resident cat (grey cat), and I think is also teaching some of the manners he missed out on learning very early in his life.
Resident cat still has some undesirable behaviors, but it is SO much more manageable. He has completely stopped stalking and pouncing my daughter.
Despite all the play we were giving him, he was very bored and needed a cat friend!