Resident Cat Stressed Sick Over New Kitten

[Sadkittymom]

Hello! I'll try to make this as short as I possibly can. When I first got my love 4 years ago, this site was a godsend in helping my kitten adjust to her new home. I'm hoping I can get some advice (or reassurance) now that we have a new baby.

A week ago we adopted a new kitten; confined her to a space with her own food, drink and box. We've slowly introduced her to our 4 year old resident cat over the course of the past week. There has been little aggression - some hissing, some avoidance, but otherwise it's gone as expected. We keep the kitten in her room other than for supervised visits in the evening. The kitten has adjusted well, is eating, using litterbox, etc. however our resident cat over the course of the past few days has gone downhill.

About 3 days ago (3 days into the kitten introduction) our 4 year old starting vomitting. Usually yellow liquid, sometimes with bits of food. Outside of her vomitting spells, she seems fine. She's still using the box (no diarreah), eating and drinking (though smaller amounts), and still is alert and playful - as long as the kitten isn't around.

I know this behavior could be considered "normal" due to stress, but my heart is breaking for her. I'm keeping an eye out for lethargy, but our 4 year old is pretty slow and lazy by nature, so its hard to tell. I did go on and make a vet appointment for tomorrow morning, but I'm worried the vet trip will cause additional stress and hurt her even worse in the long run.

Currently, she's vommitting 3-4 times a day. She has interest in food (still comes running when I go to serve) but then walks away. She'll eventually go back to it for a small amount, but usually then gets sick shortly thereafter.

I don't want to get rid of the kitten, but our resident cat is my whole heart and my first priority. All i've read are nightmares of cats that have stressed themselves into system failure; and I just don't think I could ever forgive myself if something happened to her. I haven't found any stories of resident cats who've expressed these symptoms and then recovered; and that scares me to death! Any thoughts, advice or comments are so appretiated!

 

[margd]

It's great that you made the vet appointment so quickly because s(he) will be able to give your resident cat something for the nausea and to stimulate her appetite regardless of whether or not an underlying medical issue is discovered. (Hopefully, not!) If the cycle can be broken, she may go back to eating on her own and that aspect of her unhappiness resolved. However, it sounds like the vet visit alone will add to her stress so you might consider spraying some Feliway inside her carrier a few minutes before you leave and spraying some in the vet office. Feliway doesn't reduce anxiety for all cats but many do get relief and it's definitely worth trying.

Back at home, there are a couple of things you can do. First, give her as much extra attention as practical. You mention she's a bit lethargic but if you can rouse her for playtime with a wand toy, that should help cheer her up at least for the moment. The extra attention will help her understand that she is still important in your life, something she may be worrying about right now, in her feline way. Also, if she enjoys being brushed, this can be an excellent way to relax some cats. I have one who practically turns into a puddle he gets such pleasure from brushing.

Feliway also makes a diffuser that emits calming molecules into the air - they are based on pheromones that cats emit when happy and content. Again, not every cat responds but many of our members have had excellent results with the diffusers so they are worth trying. Unfortunately, they are expensive and one diffuser only covers 700-900 square feet. Many members have found amazon to be the least expensive source although recently I've heard of someone who did well on ebay.

As far as the introductions go, it sounds like you are doing everything by the book and, were it not for the vomiting, it would seem that everything was going well. The vomiting is a sign that you may need to take a step back for now, however. How long are you allowing Resident Cat and Kitten to be together? You said Resident Cat is happy and her normal self except when she's with the kitten. While she's having such a tough time, it might be a good idea to eliminate togetherness for a period of time - there's no reason to expose her to unhappiness when she is struggling so. Let them eat on either side of the door - maybe even crack the door so they can see each other - but keep them physically apart until she is feeling better.

Good luck at the vet tomorrow. Please let us know what the vet thinks is going on and update us on your progress. I really hope everything starts going more smoothly soon. Oh, and congratulations on your new kitten!

 

[Sadkittymom]

Thank you so much for your reply! I have been giving her extra lovins, poor thing. I hate that I'm the one who caused the stress by bringing in this kitten.

We ordered a diffuser; but I would venture to say we'll need more eventually. It should be in tomorrow. I may run by petsmart tonight to see if I can pick up a spray to use in her carrier for tomorrow mornings trip to the vet. Anything that will make her feel better, I'm all for trying.

As far as their time together, it started with just 15-20 minutes here and there. The kitten is kept in a bathroom in our finished basement when we're sleeping or at work. Our resident cat would come downstairs out of curiosity to mingle, but as soon as our resident cat showed signs of distress, we put the kitten away. We've now worked our way up to an hour or two in the evenings after we're home from work and have now let the kitten up to our main floor. The resident cat kind of just minds her own business (but does always have an eye out to know where the kitten is) and the kitten, while shes hyper and getting into everything, honestly minds her own, too. Neither provoke eachother, which is nice. All that being said though, I do agree we should back it off. Perhaps just have the kitten out in her area in the basement and continue to let our resident come downstairs as she wishes; but back off on the kitten having further access to the house.

I shouldve been more conscious of the timing of this all - but we have houseguests coming next weekend so I'm hoping some progress can be made in this next week and that everyone's tummies (including my own lol) feel better soon.

Thanks again for your reply - will be sure to post an update after tomorrows vet trip.

 

[BombayKittyLover]

It could also be that she is eating weird things or suddenly doesn't like the food. If you want to try switching food brands it might help.

The only other piece of advice I could offer is petting both of them together. They will, hopefully, both be relaxed and your original cat will not be as stressed.

Best of luck to you and your kitties!

 

[Sadkittymom]

Update on our resident cat - took her to the vet this morning. Despite hardly eating, having no bowel movement and little urination in the past 3 days; they said her color was good and that she was not dehydrated. They did a full physical exam, her trachea seemed sensitive (probably from vomiting) but her abdomen felt good and they don't expect blockage. They did mention that her liver felt enlarged, which could be a sign of hepatic lipidosis (hopefully not) but he did make note that she wasn't displaying any other signs (jaundice, etc) but they still wanted to do bloodwork to rule it out.

Ended with an injection to stop the vomitting and hopefully induce hunger, some kind of gel "treat" to get her bowels moving, and sent us on our way.

My hope at this point is that the injected medication (which is only supposed to last 24 hours) will allow her to get some food in her while we await the results of the blood test. All in all I feel a lot better; but I know we're still not out of the woods.