- Joined
- Mar 17, 2017
- Messages
- 22
- Purraise
- 9
Hi, I'm new to this site so forgive me if this subject has already been covered, my partner and I lost our beautiful cat Neo, two months ago - he had a growth in his throat and had to be put to sleep. We were, and still are, devastated. However, we decided that since there are so many cats needing a home, and our home needed a cat, we went ahead and adopted two five month old kittens from an RSPCA shelter. We were told they were from the same litter (although information was a little vague) but while the boy is outgoing, energetic, affectionate, curious and playful, his sister, who is only half his size simply wants to hide away. She comes out to use the litter tray and to eat, then goes back to hide again. She doesn't play or show any interest in anything, she doesn't do any 'kitteny' things, although I wouldn't say she was lethargic because she does seem alert, watching and listening. Two days after collecting them from the shelter we took them to our vet as the boy was sneezing and both their eyes were red around the irises. The vet gave Jasper (the boy) an antibiotic injection and said he would be fine, which he now is, but he seemed very concerned about Zula (the girl) as she was very underweight and her teeth are not in great shape. He said to bring her back in a month (this was almost two weeks ago) and he'll weigh her again, and if she hasn't gained weight he'll do blood tests. Well, she's eating really well now and she does seem to be putting on weight, but she's still very frightened of everything (she's not too bad with me now, she does seem to trust me but she's still nervous) She's afraid of her brother, as he wants to play-fight with her all the time and he's so much bigger. I've just bought her a big cage, where she has her hiding place (the carrier we brought her home in) as she feels safe in there, and it means that she now has space to walk around inside the cage without getting bullied by her brother. we've put toys in there and she has her water bowl (although she never seems to drink) and also if I have to go out there is room for a small litter tray, so I can lock the cage and she has everything she needs until I get back. I think she's probably spent most of her little life hiding away from bigger cats and surviving on leftover scraps, and I want her to feel relaxed and safe now. I don't want to keep the two of them apart all the time so I make sure they eat together (supervised) and she seems ok with that. My partner has made a large outdoor pen for when she eventually goes outside so that she'll be safe. Another thing - she was spayed before she left the rescue shelter and personally I think it was too soon, she was so small and frail. I'm sure it added to her trauma. Has anyone else had experience of this type of situation, and if so, what was the outcome? I really want her to be happy so any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks in advance xx