Cat Not Eating After Bringing Home New Cat.

veggietreegirl

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Hello there. I have a 4 year old domestic short hair named Primrose that I've had since she was a kitten. On Monday I brought home a new cat from the shelter. Primrose sniffed her through the crate and hissed and ran away. I set up the new cat in the bathroom and they've been separated ever since. The first couple of days Primrose mostly hid but would come out to eat, drink, use the litterbox and hiss at the door to the bathroom. Today though she won't eat at all. I even tried to tempt her with tuna and treats and she won't touch it. I've read lots of other posts on this topic and I'm going to buy feliway later today. The new cat has an appointment with the vet tomorrow and I'm considering calling today to ask if I can bring Primrose as well, but she gets super stressed at the vet's so I'm worried that will make things worse. I'm trying to give her lots of love and reassurance that she's not being replaced. I even took her out in the garden for a while this morning as she enjoys that from time to time. I was hoping that would entice her to eat, but no luck. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.
 

rubysmama

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I was actually going to suggest maybe getting a vet checkup for Primrose just to make sure she had nothing medical going on, especially since she's not eating today. And since you're taking the new cat to the vet tomorrow, I would definitely take Primrose too.

In fact, I've read about a cat "parent" who takes all their cats to the vet, even when just one has to go, so that they all come home with the same "strange" scent on them. If you're lucky, once Primrose and her new sibling come back from the vet, they'll bond over their joint adventure.

If that doesn't work, here's the TCS articles on How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

And about Primrose not eating, maybe try giving her anything she might like, as cats shouldn't go too long without eating.

How To Get Your Cat To Start Eating Again
Why Has My Cat Stopped Eating And Is It Dangerous?

Good luck.
 

Timmer

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Do you leave the food out for her? Maybe she eats at night when you are sleeping? You think? She hasn't eaten in four days...she has to be at least drinking water or something or she would be very very sick by now.
 

Cara80

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Poor kitty, sounds stressed. I'd be really careful about not letting her go without food for very long, she could develop hepatic lipidosis. you could syringe feed her a few times a day with a pureed high calorie food or nutrical to prevent that
 
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veggietreegirl

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I was actually going to suggest maybe getting a vet checkup for Primrose just to make sure she had nothing medical going on, especially since she's not eating today. And since you're taking the new cat to the vet tomorrow, I would definitely take Primrose too.

In fact, I've read about a cat "parent" who takes all their cats to the vet, even when just one has to go, so that they all come home with the same "strange" scent on them. If you're lucky, once Primrose and her new sibling come back from the vet, they'll bond over their joint adventure.

If that doesn't work, here's the TCS articles on How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

And about Primrose not eating, maybe try giving her anything she might like, as cats shouldn't go too long without eating.

How To Get Your Cat To Start Eating Again
Why Has My Cat Stopped Eating And Is It Dangerous?

Good luck.
Thanks. I hope you're right.
 
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veggietreegirl

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Do you leave the food out for her? Maybe she eats at night when you are sleeping? You think? She hasn't eaten in four days...she has to be at least drinking water or something or she would be very very sick by now.
She's drinking water I believe as she's definitely peed in the litterbox. She ate a little the first couple days it's just been yesterday and today she hasn't eaten. Her food is totally untouched so I know she's not eating. I tried giving her tuna warmed a little and she licked at it, but doesn't seem she actually ate anything. Hopefully the feliway will help, but if not She's going to the vet tomorrow.
 
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veggietreegirl

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Poor kitty, sounds stressed. I'd be really careful about not letting her go without food for very long, she could develop hepatic lipidosis. you could syringe feed her a few times a day with a pureed high calorie food or nutrical to prevent that
Thanks. Sounds like I need to try that.
 

orange&white

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She does need to eat. If you aren't comfortable syringe-feeding her, then I would take her to the vet tomorrow with Primrose and have them show you how.

Pull the skin up right behind her shoulder blades and let go. It should "pop" back into place immediately. If it slowly sinks back to place, then she may be getting dehydrated. She's probably ok if she's drinking, but the vet could give her a sub-Q fluid injection (and maybe also B12) which might help her appetite.

My senior didn't eat for 4 days last year when I brought a new kitten home. I syringe-fed him the last 2 1/2 days of that time, and he adjusted and went back to normal. Just stress from the newcomer, no health crisis.
 

Timmer

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I hate to be a real downer here but if there is no medical reason why she is not eating, I would consider taking the new cat back. It doesn't sound like you are off to a good start here and is it really worth stressing Primrose out? This cat can't live in the bathroom forever and there might be even more issues once you try to put the two together.
I say this because I had a bad experience bringing a new cat into the house. I had to keep the two cats separated for 8 years. When I say separated, I mean I had to build a door at the top of my second floor and one cat lived upstairs and one downstairs.
I also have a friend who has two dogs and she and her husband brought home a third dog. Now one of the original dogs has nervous issues and pees around the house. It's a long story I won't get into.

I hope things work out for you guys and you get some answers as to why she won't eat.
 
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veggietreegirl

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I hate to be a real downer here but if there is no medical reason why she is not eating, I would consider taking the new cat back. It doesn't sound like you are off to a good start here and is it really worth stressing Primrose out? This cat can't live in the bathroom forever and there might be even more issues once you try to put the two together.
I say this because I had a bad experience bringing a new cat into the house. I had to keep the two cats separated for 8 years. When I say separated, I mean I had to build a door at the top of my second floor and one cat lived upstairs and one downstairs.
I also have a friend who has two dogs and she and her husband brought home a third dog. Now one of the original dogs has nervous issues and pees around the house. It's a long story I won't get into.

I hope things work out for you guys and you get some answers as to why she won't eat.
I won't take her back as it's a high kill shelter, but if things don't work out I'll consider re-homing the new cat. I'd be devastated to have to do that. I do all the cat care and yet Primrose and I don't have much of a bond. She's very bonded with my husband. But I've started really bonded with the new cat. I picked her, because she started purring as soon as she saw me at the shelter. When I tried to put her back in the cage she clung to me. She has the personality I wanted when we originally got Primrose.
 

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Occasionally things don't work out, but usually they do. Since you only got the new cat on Monday, I think it's premature to worry about the worst-case scenario (with all due respect to Timmer's caution).

It's very normal for cats to need time to work out new territorial boundaries and either be friends or at least peacefully share space ignoring each other.

Did Primrose eat anything last night or this morning? If not, I would take her along to the vet and get her some fluids and maybe a B12. Are you comfortable syringe feeding for a few days, if needed?
 

Timmer

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veggietreegirl veggietreegirl -- I totally get you now that I have that information. I have a female I've never really completely bonded with in all the years I've had her. She's her own cat and doesn't need me. I had Timmer and he was my guy. Very loveable and we bonded like unbelievable. That is why I built that door at the top of my second floor. I loved him, and I loved her. I couldn't rehome either one, so I did what I had to do. And no way would I take the cat back to a shelter like that. In fact, thanks for adopting her!
 
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veggietreegirl

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veggietreegirl veggietreegirl -- I totally get you now that I have that information. I have a female I've never really completely bonded with in all the years I've had her. She's her own cat and doesn't need me. I had Timmer and he was my guy. Very loveable and we bonded like unbelievable. That is why I built that door at the top of my second floor. I loved him, and I loved her. I couldn't rehome either one, so I did what I had to do. And no way would I take the cat back to a shelter like that. In fact, thanks for adopting her!
Thank you (and everyone else) for all the advice in this thread. I really, really appreciate it and I hope things work out. I syringe fed her last night and will continue to do so if needed. The vet appointment is later today so we'll see how that goes. I do love and care for Primrose, but she's just not my "dream" cat. I don't know, that probably sounds cheesy. She did have a good cuddle session with my husband this morning, so at least she's not hiding under the bed anymore. If need be I'll look for another home for Persephone (the new cat) but I hope it gets better before then. I don't want to give up on either of them. Persephone really needs to gain some weight before I'm comfortable re-homing her anyway. The shelter said she was a stray and she's scary skinny. I've never seen a more underweight cat before in my life. :/
 
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veggietreegirl

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Just wanted to give a little update: Vet agreed that the not eating is from stress and after the visit Primrose actually ate a bit of food. Not as much as her normal, but a decent amount. She's also hanging around the house and not just hiding. At the moment she's sitting with me by the computer which she often likes to do. Hopefully all good signs. Other than being pretty underweight Persephone got a clean bill of health. The local shelters don't test for Leukemia or FIV and those tests came out negative so that's great! I'll continue to keep them separated and hopefully introductions go well in the future.
 

rubysmama

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Thanks for the update. I'm glad Primrose ate some food. Hopefully she'll eat more today, and eventually she and Persephone will become friends.:catrub:
 
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veggietreegirl

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Hi all. I just wanted to give another update. Primrose has slowly come around to Persephone's presence. I've even caught them playing a few times the last couple days. I have hopes that they will become friends. Primrose wants to remain the queen of the house, but Persephone is laid back enough she doesn't seem bothered by that. Here they are calmly laying on the bed together. I'll probably have to remove the once pretty flower from Persephone's collar. She's made quick work for destroying it. haha
 

rubysmama

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They don't quite look like besties yet, but they don't look like mortal enemies either, so it looks like things are progressing in the right direction. :catlove:
 
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