Everything Was Fine. Now My Old Cat Doesn't Want To Drink Water...

[Sherazie]

Hello
So I find this forum on the internet while trying to understand the behavior of my old cat.
So... I got a 2months old kitten 1 week ago. I introduce them. They play a lot. They would sleep together. Everything was fine!
I would even be on the pc with the 2 cats sleeping on my lap...
But yesterday, I went with the kitten to the vet, cause he is sneezing. And yesterday my 9 years old female cat, spend the day sleeping on my bed. I didn't saw her drinking or eating. Today I grab some wet food and was able to make her eat, but I'm going to work soon and she didn't drink anything.
She slept with me, and the kitten is spending the nights lock on my living room. For a week now... So I go to work, my 9 years old has access to all the house except the living room. And the kitten will sleep on the living room and spend the day there till I'm back from work. When I arrived, they get access to all the house.
At some point I had to remove the food because they would eat the food that didn't belong to them.. Kitten would eat the adult food, and adult would eat the kitten food. And I would feed them while I watch, and remove the food again after they were done.
Everything was fine... What happen?

Ty in advance

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. Your cats are beautiful.

Sometimes when one cat goes to the vet, the other cat doesn't recognize their scent when they come back home. This article explains it more:
How To Deal With Non-recognition Aggression In Cats

That might explain your older cat not eating/drinking, but if it continues today, you might want to check with your vet for advice, as cats shouldn't go very long without eating. Here's another article with more info:
Why Has My Cat Stopped Eating And Is It Dangerous?

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Also, what did the vet say about the kitten's sneezing? Is there a chance that your older cat has caught a upper respiratory infection from the kitten?

 

[duckpond]

It might make things easier if you could feed them both the same thing? and maybe you would not need to keep them separate? It should be fine for the adult to eat kitten food for a while. and if you are feeding an adult all life stages food its fine for the kitten to eat that. It may be that they bonded quickly, and now your older cat is depressed with the kitten locked away? It might help if they can spend all the time together?