My cat is lonely!

[swampmonster]

Hello everyone!

I haven't posted on here in a while. I have two cats that are rescues, one I rescued a few years ago, the other just last summer. They are both doing well, however I've been having some problems. I just moved into a new place with my fiance about a month ago. Before, our FeLV positive adult cat and my rescue kitten were living in different homes, but now they are living within the same home. The older FeLV positive cat lives in the basement and therefore gets a huge space to occupy. It has a cat jungle gym and bird feeders at the windows; it's a pretty nice set up, and he seems to enjoy it. Our other cat, who is roughly eight months old now, lives upstairs in the office. They are kept separated. Although my little guy is vaccinated we don't think it's worth exposing them to each other. Each gets free access to the house for an allotted amount of time - say the FeLV cat is up and about for four to five hours, then we quarantine for a couple of hours and let the kitten out for his time. My problem? My kitten stayed at my parents with two other cats, and before that when I initially rescued him it was at my Grandmother's with two other cats (see a theme here?). Since he has moved it's the first time he's been alone. He's a very social little guy, and unfortunately he is very aware that there is another cat in the home. He desperately wants to hang out with our adult cat from downstairs. He sits at the basement door for hours. HOURS! He sits there purring and rubbing up against it, while the downstairs cat growls at him through the door because he was never socialized. 

I try to entertain my kitten, we play for hours at a time and it's never enough for him. He'll wander about the house calling. I considered fostering another cat, not only because it's something I've always wanted to do, but I thought perhaps having another cat around would be good for him. Sadly, the whole downstairs cat being FeLV positive makes that an impossibility. He's considered too much of a risk. I'm not sure I'm ready to adopt another cat, especially if there's a chance that it doesn't get along with my kitten (which would have been the benefit of fostering). I don't know what to do for him. It's bumming me out to see him like this... I've given him everything an owner can give - a nice window to look out of, good food and litter, a house to play in, a cat jungle gym, tons of toys, but nothing seems to help. He's perfectly healthy, all his vaccines are up to date. He's just...lonely.

Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance.

 

[tulosai]

Hi 

In your situation, I definitely would recommend strongly considering adopting another cat.  It sounds like yours is eager for a buddy, and if you make sure the adopted cat is also social toward cats, as long as you introduce them properly I doubt you'll have too much of an issue.

I don't know much about FELV personally but I have heard other people here say also that the risk of exposure is much lower than most people think when you have one FELV positive and one FELV negative cat.  I hope others with more experience with FELV will come and chime in.  That said, it sounds like an introduction might be potentially difficult for other reasons.

Good luck!

 

[mservant]

I looked at your post yesterday but did not reply as have no advice for you, however see no further posts have been made yet.  I feel that your concerns are founded and agree with you and @tulosai that your young cat is lonely and really does want a companion.  I am not sure of the best way to approach this or what the issues might be in terms of managing the FELV risks, but there has to be some way around this that would offer  your young cat the compnionship he seems to be searching for.  I wish you luck in finding a new friend for your young cat.  

 

[drbobcat]

I'm a little surprised that no one has commented on FeLV risks.  Cats can catch the virus just by using the same litter or same dishes as an infected cat, as well as through bite wounds.  Cats can even catch the virus from mutual grooming.  You're doing the right thing in separating the two cats totally.  It sounds as if this cat does want a companion, but if you think there's any chance of infection from the FeLV cat, you shouldn't bring another cat into the household.

 

[swampmonster]

Thanks for the replies. We're still struggling with his loneliness. Just yesterday I caught him sleeping by the basement door, waiting for the downstairs cat. It would be a few months before we commit to the idea of bringing another cat into the home; we want to be financially stable but also mentally prepared. It has been a challenge dealing with both cats behavior. I've found our adult upstairs by my kittens door "preparing" for him - if he hears the kitten brush up against the door he goes straight to it nipping and pawing. It's gentle nips, it could just be play.  Regardless, he can't even get to him because I've put foam coverings around the bases of the doors, so they cant even breathe on each other.  We're very careful to ensure there is no exposure to one another. I've spoken with five vets now, and all say different things. The majority believe that it's absolutely fine to house them the way they are. They say the chance of exposure could happen if the two share things or fight. Having the vaccination also helps substantially. We've had one vet who explained to us that she owns a FeLV cat and other non-FeLV cats; she encouraged us that it was okay to house them this way as she's never had an issue. Another has said the risk of exposure isn't as bad as people make it out to be. They said the cat would have to be exposed repeatedly through sharing and biting in order to pick it up (and obviously you wouldn't allow that to happen). Even with these discussions  a part of me still gets nervous. I worry that I might bring in a seemingly healthy cat, who, unbeknownst to me, might have a weak immune system. What would happen? Would it catch FeLV just randomly? That would devastate me. How could I prepare for that, to know the cat would be okay? If there was a way to know for sure that I'm getting a healthy, vaccinated cat, I'd consider it. But then the question becomes, how would the new cat react to the idea of the downstairs cat? Is this really a good solution?

I think the biggest reasons I'm worried about housing another cat are:

1) I'm not a vet, so I don't know everything about FeLV and cat's health.

2) There's conflicting evidence about FeLV, nobody seems to know a hundred percent what's what.

3) I haven't heard enough personal experiences to know what I'm doing is acceptable.

There are so many conflicting ideas about FeLV. A few months back we had a stand in for our normal vet, she told my fiance she was shocked our FeLV was still alive at almost three years old. Obviously my fiance left feeling uneasy about the conversation. It was certainly odd, considering our regular vet told us she knows plenty of people with FeLV cats that live from nine to even fourteen years. The whole veterinary scene seems littered with misconceptions and conflicting personal accounts. Considering this is one of the worst viruses amongst cats, you would think there would be significantly more research put into it.

 

[drbobcat]

Yes, there are conflicting ideas about FeLV, but most of the conflict comes from ignorance.  The important point is that FeLV is an "easy" disease, meaning it's easy to pass on to other cats.  As I said cats can even catch it through mutual grooming.  That's a fact Jack!

 

[mservant]

I am not a vet, nor would I make any claim to being an expert on cat health or diseases.  I understand that FeLV is a serious infectious disease and you would do everything you can to protect your cat/s from being exposed to it.  However, where someone is managing a strict seperation routine within their home, is very aware of the risks of infection and will manage these risks with care,  I question how much more at risk a / another cat would be being introduced to this home than any other situation.  If the risks of infection were so high then cats would be exposed to infection every time their resident humans came in from the outdoors having petted or having had some degree of contact with another cat as the disease would need to be carried on hands and clothing - and hands are very easily sanitized. Not to mention the risks of infection every time they were petted by visiting humans or at a veterinary surgery.  

If care was taken in initial isolation of the additional cat coming in (after all they may also carry a disease), and this cat was not a young kitten or one known to have an existing health issue, I would still feel giving another cat the potential to live in a loving home and introduce companionship for your existing young cat would be a positive thing to do.

 

[drbobcat]

I totally agree with pretty much everything MServant says, especially the points about giving another cat a home and keeping the two separated.  I just want to make sure everyone understands how easily cats can be infected. 

 

[mservant]

 
I totally agree with pretty much everything MServant says, especially the points about giving another cat a home and keeping the two separated.  I just want to make sure everyone understands how easily cats can be infected. 

You are right to check this, no one wants a cat to be exposed to illness unnecessarily.  If someone was not raising concerns themself and had not already looked at strict measures to control risks my own responses here would have been very different.