- Joined
- Jan 6, 2018
- Messages
- 43
- Purraise
- 28
Hello,
I'm new here and I thought I might find some help about my situation.
I have a five and a half months old sweet kitten with a mild physical disability which require much attention and care, including exercise. I had him since he was two and a half months old.
A month ago a now nineteen months old rescue cat arrived. Introduction was done in a reasonable fashion and, once he met the kitten, for a few days the new cat was out of his room for short periods.
After over a month the situation got worse.
I had met the new cat several times before he got to my home. He knew me, recognised me and we were good friends as I always played with him and cuddled him to death. He indeed was a jolly cat always asking for cuddles, always wanting to jump on people's laps or shoulders, used to other cats with not a bit of aggression ever shown.
I had some doubts about getting him as he seemed very happy and very well adapted in the private shelter he lived in for ten months. He would sleep in a tiny wooden cage at night but run free during the day. He would purr to everybody and endlessly. The more you cuddled him the more he purred and the more cuddles he asked for.
The shelter owner always said it was OK to get him as he was such an easy, happy cat who feared nothing and loved anyone. I must say I always thought he was perfect material for pet therapy.
When the new cat arrived, however, he looked like he had been bitten, terrified and horribly shocked.
He basically stopped purring. In a month I can count the times he purred, possibly six or seven times for a short time. He dislikes the kitten, although they play fight bow and then usually by initiatives of the kitten, and as time passes by the behaviour worsened. He now both hisses and growls to the poor kitten while the kitten both adores and fears him.
As the new cat's behaviour worsened, the kitten's changed and he shows clear signs of stress.
The new cat remains scared of literally anything. He eats and uses the litter just fine but he continues, after over a month, to look abashed and unhappy.
On top of not purring, he doesn't jump on your lap, doesn't jump on the shoulders, and he doesn't like to be hold in people's arms anymore. He is basically a totally different cat.
Yesterday evening I found him essentially catatonic, apathetic laying on a bed with his eyes fixed and unresponsive to the point that I had to take him to the food bowl. Eventually he ate and got back from his apathy, only just.
There are no physical conerns that may require a vet so it all appears purely psychological.
In the past month I realised that he would only be happi-er if I played solely with him and for a very long time. He would also eventually purr, providing the kitten is not around and I constantly pet him for at least ten minutes at wich point he starts some purring.
I noticed, during the occasional playing fights with the kitten, that the new cat tends to hurt the other and then runs away, like he wanted to actually stop the kitten from bothering him. In general, the new cat keeps running away from the kitten, more and more often hissing and now and then growling.
The kitten stops purring and gets nervous when the new cat is around. The situation is affecting the kitten's relationship and behaviour with me.
I usually find them in different rooms.
It feels like a hard job to keep the new cat barely happy and it is bad for the kitten that truly needs attention and care to help his physical condition which worsened after a week from the new cat's arrival. One day I got home and the kitten had pain in a leg which I suspect may have been a bite from the new cat, although there was no blood.
The new cat struggles to adapt and to cope with the kitten and it's getting worse with less and less interactions between them as days go by. He stopped even the little purring he did now and then when he came to sleep in my bed at night.
I sprayed Feliway around, I have a diffuser and used Rescue Remedy as well but things kept getting worse and after the episode of apathy yesterday I realised it is time for the new cat to go back and either stay there, where the shelter owners both love him, or find a home where he can get all attention he needs possibly as a solo cat.
Did anyone have a similar experience? Any thoughts?
Many thanks.
I'm new here and I thought I might find some help about my situation.
I have a five and a half months old sweet kitten with a mild physical disability which require much attention and care, including exercise. I had him since he was two and a half months old.
A month ago a now nineteen months old rescue cat arrived. Introduction was done in a reasonable fashion and, once he met the kitten, for a few days the new cat was out of his room for short periods.
After over a month the situation got worse.
I had met the new cat several times before he got to my home. He knew me, recognised me and we were good friends as I always played with him and cuddled him to death. He indeed was a jolly cat always asking for cuddles, always wanting to jump on people's laps or shoulders, used to other cats with not a bit of aggression ever shown.
I had some doubts about getting him as he seemed very happy and very well adapted in the private shelter he lived in for ten months. He would sleep in a tiny wooden cage at night but run free during the day. He would purr to everybody and endlessly. The more you cuddled him the more he purred and the more cuddles he asked for.
The shelter owner always said it was OK to get him as he was such an easy, happy cat who feared nothing and loved anyone. I must say I always thought he was perfect material for pet therapy.
When the new cat arrived, however, he looked like he had been bitten, terrified and horribly shocked.
He basically stopped purring. In a month I can count the times he purred, possibly six or seven times for a short time. He dislikes the kitten, although they play fight bow and then usually by initiatives of the kitten, and as time passes by the behaviour worsened. He now both hisses and growls to the poor kitten while the kitten both adores and fears him.
As the new cat's behaviour worsened, the kitten's changed and he shows clear signs of stress.
The new cat remains scared of literally anything. He eats and uses the litter just fine but he continues, after over a month, to look abashed and unhappy.
On top of not purring, he doesn't jump on your lap, doesn't jump on the shoulders, and he doesn't like to be hold in people's arms anymore. He is basically a totally different cat.
Yesterday evening I found him essentially catatonic, apathetic laying on a bed with his eyes fixed and unresponsive to the point that I had to take him to the food bowl. Eventually he ate and got back from his apathy, only just.
There are no physical conerns that may require a vet so it all appears purely psychological.
In the past month I realised that he would only be happi-er if I played solely with him and for a very long time. He would also eventually purr, providing the kitten is not around and I constantly pet him for at least ten minutes at wich point he starts some purring.
I noticed, during the occasional playing fights with the kitten, that the new cat tends to hurt the other and then runs away, like he wanted to actually stop the kitten from bothering him. In general, the new cat keeps running away from the kitten, more and more often hissing and now and then growling.
The kitten stops purring and gets nervous when the new cat is around. The situation is affecting the kitten's relationship and behaviour with me.
I usually find them in different rooms.
It feels like a hard job to keep the new cat barely happy and it is bad for the kitten that truly needs attention and care to help his physical condition which worsened after a week from the new cat's arrival. One day I got home and the kitten had pain in a leg which I suspect may have been a bite from the new cat, although there was no blood.
The new cat struggles to adapt and to cope with the kitten and it's getting worse with less and less interactions between them as days go by. He stopped even the little purring he did now and then when he came to sleep in my bed at night.
I sprayed Feliway around, I have a diffuser and used Rescue Remedy as well but things kept getting worse and after the episode of apathy yesterday I realised it is time for the new cat to go back and either stay there, where the shelter owners both love him, or find a home where he can get all attention he needs possibly as a solo cat.
Did anyone have a similar experience? Any thoughts?
Many thanks.