new kitten = multiple health problems with old cat

[little lucifer]

Hi guys, a few months ago my husband and I got an abyssinian kitten so our 4 year old Siamese cat would be less demanding of our attention and have a little friend to play with.

The day we brought home the new kitty, our Siamese went insane. We were expecting this reaction and had done our research beforehand to make sure they were introduced properly. We kept them in separate rooms for the first 3 days and slowly introduced them to each other.

After a week they were playing together and there was no aggressive behaviour from our Siamese cat, but he still seemed really worn out from all the stress from those first few days of adjusting. He completely stopped being affectionate towards my husband and I, and doesn't like being held or petted anymore. He'll crawl into bed with us and will sleep with us, but he never purrs when I pet him anymore.

Fast forward to now, 3 months later, and he still doesn't seem happy. To top it off, his health seems to be declining. He got a rash above his eye that I thought was from scratching so I treated him for fleas, but then I noticed another small patch on top of his head. All the classic signs of ringworm in cats, and also a classic sign of a compromised immune system.

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• little lucifer
• Sep 25, 2016

He's also been having really bad diarrhea since yesterday and has puked 3 times in the past week.  I'm planning on taking him to the vet on my next day off but I figured I would come here and ask to see if anyones had similar experiences, and to hopefully get some answers. 

 

[rouie]

I brought in my new kitten about a month ago and my resident cat did experience some stress. Two weeks ago he started vomitting for about 3 days straight (on and off). They ran several tests and everything came back normal. I looked up anxiety in cats and it does exist. Ask the vet about some anti-anxiety options if he/she does not find anything medically wrong with him. You can also get some sprays or plugs that spread happy pheromones in your home, which can help ease tension/anxiety between both cats. Good luck! Let us know how he does.

 

[catsknowme]

  So sorry that your kitty and you guys are going through such a rough spot! He could be reacting to stress and maybe some of Jackson Galaxy's (My Cat From Hell) essences to help out. Prior to that, you could try some exclusive play with your cat, using his favorite teaser. My cat Lance was reacting badly to my fostering feral kittens but after I focused my attentions to him, and made the kittens "respect" him, he did alot better. Also, I put coconut oil on his spots and that seemed to help.

Of course, the vet may find something else wrong, and no matter what, I hope that it is an "easy fix" and that your cats can happily bond!  Please keep us posted!

 

[Anne]

It's great that you're taking him to the vet. This may or may not be related to the initial stress as the trigger and could very well be a medical problem that needs to be treated.

As for stress management, we've covered some of the techniques here, so maybe that would help - 

 [article="30316"]Six Surefire Strategies To Reduce Stress In Cats​[/article]  

 

[maddies momma]

Was the kitten tested for fiv/felv before being introduced to the resident cat? was the resident cat ever tested for fiv/felv? it could have been passed to him from the kitten or he could have had a dormant form of it that was brought out by the stress. I sincerely hope this is not the case, but definitely something to think about and ask your vet about if things dont improve.

 

[dbljj]

you are not bringing feral cats into the home before they are given shots, etc. are you? I mean not introducing them to the cats you have already? I was told to keep my new kitty totally seperate until she had her shots, etc. Never let them share food, kept kitty in a kennel, in a closed off bathroom until she had a vet visit, all her shots and a   Dawn flea bath.... had a bath for fleas  .was a good 8 days til they actually saw each other...

 

[jules10]

I recognize the sore on his head.  The cat in the picture you see of "Ripples" the cat had skin cancer on his temples.  He had to have these burned off periodically by the vet.  Does he go outside or sit in the window a lot?  I'd keep him out of the sun as this problem will not go away 100%.

Over the years I've introduced new cats to the home and it took time for them to get used to one another.  Siamese cats are a finicky sort of cat.  They seem to live in a special world that belong to themselves only.  However, that said, 4 years old is nothing for a Siamese cat.  I had one that lived to be 18 years old and she was a homeless cat that was all white and also had the skin cancer problem on the temples of her head. 

It is a good idea to get the new cat checked out by a vet if not done so by where you got the cat from.  I hope all go wells and please keep us updated!