Rivel hardly eating after visual introduction to new cat :(

[Hoboforeternity]

well it's weird, she even lick her toothpaste willingly. i will buy different food today maybe she's just bored of her regular food?

 

[Hoboforeternity]

ok so i gave her cooked tuna, she seems to happily eat it. i bought another brand of wet food to test if she will eat it this evening. if she does then the problem lies with with the current food. either she's gotten bored of it, or might have some negative association by some accident with it, or maybe i got a bad batch (i actually tried the food, and if it's bad i should be able to tell it, maybe get stomachache myelf. it doesn't taste sour or smell or anything, just really taste like plain, unseasoned meat, mainly taste like tuna)

 

[Hoboforeternity]

Sorry for another double post. I figured something. I opened a new can, rivel seems eager to eat that one quickly.

It's so weird. Maybe there really is something bad in the last can (but silver ate it like nothing happened) or it might be the freshness? Like refrigerated content would lose some of the aroma, i do reheat them with hot water and i can even smell the aroma, but maybe not enough for cats?


Also rivel didn't have trouble with refrigerated food before. Like ever before this. It's so weird, but at least i can narrow down other reasons now. The Investigation continue. Other brand of cat food should arrive tomorrow.

 

[calicosrspecial]

Sorry for another double post. I figured something. I opened a new can, rivel seems eager to eat that one quickly.

It's so weird. Maybe there really is something bad in the last can (but silver ate it like nothing happened) or it might be the freshness? Like refrigerated content would lose some of the aroma, i do reheat them with hot water and i can even smell the aroma, but maybe not enough for cats?


Also rivel didn't have trouble with refrigerated food before. Like ever before this. It's so weird, but at least i can narrow down other reasons now. The Investigation continue. Other brand of cat food should arrive tomorrow.

Well, they are cats.

I am so glad t hear she ate from the other can of wet food. So I am guessing it was just something with that other can. I am not sure, maybe it lost its freshness.

I wouldn't worry.

Be careful about feeding tuna to the cats though. I am not an expert on food and health but I know that experts worry about cats having tuna. You may want to post on the nutrition section to get good advice.

It happens, cats are finicky. But it sounds like Rivel is back to normal.

How is Rivel acting with the new kitty? And acting normal in general?

 

[Hoboforeternity]

Well, they are cats.

I am so glad t hear she ate from the other can of wet food. So I am guessing it was just something with that other can. I am not sure, maybe it lost its freshness.

I wouldn't worry.

Be careful about feeding tuna to the cats though. I am not an expert on food and health but I know that experts worry about cats having tuna. You may want to post on the nutrition section to get good advice.

It happens, cats are finicky. But it sounds like Rivel is back to normal.

How is Rivel acting with the new kitty? And acting normal in general?

If you mean the tuna treat, is a 2 pieces (the slice is about as big as the ones on sushi) shouldn't be harmful right?

As for food, mine is tuna and chicken mix. I didn't know tuna was bad, as long as you mix in poultry or other white meat too. It's grain free wet food with affordable price and few filler so i thought it wouldn't be so bad, but i will look into it later. Thank you.

As for rivel, yeah. I already used the gate again, but i do not have it open all the time yet, just during playtime or just leave it during the time rivel is awake and she would check it out, hissed several times but did not growl. Sometimes she check the other one out without hissing.

Other than that, she's pretty normal. She was kinda normal other than the eating problem

 

[calicosrspecial]

If you mean the tuna treat, is a 2 pieces (the slice is about as big as the ones on sushi) shouldn't be harmful right?

As for food, mine is tuna and chicken mix. I didn't know tuna was bad, as long as you mix in poultry or other white meat too. It's grain free wet food with affordable price and few filler so i thought it wouldn't be so bad, but i will look into it later. Thank you.

As for rivel, yeah. I already used the gate again, but i do not have it open all the time yet, just during playtime or just leave it during the time rivel is awake and she would check it out, hissed several times but did not growl. Sometimes she check the other one out without hissing.

Other than that, she's pretty normal. She was kinda normal other than the eating problem

I am not an expert on food so I am not sure. I would post a thread on the nutrition section and see what people that have expertise think.

That sounds really good about Rivel and the new kitty. What does Rivel do after she hisses? How does the kitty act?

I am really glad to hear she is acting normal. I think the food thing was just a one off thing and not a sign of issues. But we'll keep an eye on her.

Keep up the great work. Sounds like things are going well.

 

[Hoboforeternity]

That sounds really good about Rivel and the new kitty. What does Rivel do after she hisses? How does the kitty act?

She does whatever she was doing previously. Like the bathroom is door is beside my room's, she has another scratch board and litter box there, so she does whatever she needed to do, then go back to living room, laying or sitting on the sofa.


Food is still kinda sensitive, i still have to feed rivel away from the bathroom, and i have to feed her first before the silver or she would give me some serious stink eye. She wouldn't eat kibble treat in front of silver and more interested in watching.


Meanwhile silver is just dandy, as long as i play and feed her regularly. She's already rolling around and rub my leg when i am around. I can feel the bathroom is starting to be too cramped for her since she has way more energy now (probably a good thing because she used to almost lethargic) but i am not rushing things.

 

[calicosrspecial]

She does whatever she was doing previously. Like the bathroom is door is beside my room's, she has another scratch board and litter box there, so she does whatever she needed to do, then go back to living room, laying or sitting on the sofa.


Food is still kinda sensitive, i still have to feed rivel away from the bathroom, and i have to feed her first before the silver or she would give me some serious stink eye. She wouldn't eat kibble treat in front of silver and more interested in watching.


Meanwhile silver is just dandy, as long as i play and feed her regularly. She's already rolling around and rub my leg when i am around. I can feel the bathroom is starting to be too cramped for her since she has way more energy now (probably a good thing because she used to almost lethargic) but i am not rushing things.

"She does whatever she was doing previously. Like the bathroom is door is beside my room's, she has another scratch board and litter box there, so she does whatever she needed to do, then go back to living room, laying or sitting on the sofa." - Great. That is wonderful.

"Food is still kinda sensitive, i still have to feed rivel away from the bathroom" - That is fine.

" and i have to feed her first before the silver or she would give me some serious stink eye." - That is fine. Just feed her first.

" She wouldn't eat kibble treat in front of silver and more interested in watching." - That is fine. As long as she is fine and not having trouble it is good. It really is all about having what I call a "positive encounter". If Rivel seems upset just reassure her with calm and confident words. Let her know everything is ok.

"Meanwhile silver is just dandy, as long as i play and feed her regularly." - That is great.

" She's already rolling around and rub my leg when i am around." - Perfect

" I can feel the bathroom is starting to be too cramped for her since she has way more energy now (probably a good thing because she used to almost lethargic) but i am not rushing things." - Yes, she will want to get more active. We'll figure out how to get her out and about to play more while RIvel is not bothered.

Everything seems like it is going really well and all the cats are really acting normal. The resident/existing cat (Rivel in your case) always has the most difficult time adjusting as it is their territory they have to share. While the new cat is usually prety good because they don't "own" the territory yet.

Keep up the great work!!! Great job!!

 

[Hoboforeternity]

thanks for your guidance. i am probably will be a lot more stresed without you guys.

also i have confirmed rivel doesn't want refrigerated food. one solution is to change brand with smaller can so it doesn't stay in the fridge for long. the food i opened last night become no-no this morning i have to hand - fed her again. i tried reheating it, it doesn't work.

edit: i will try several things. i read around, it seems the food loses aroma or pick up other scents from the fridge that makes the cat hesitant to eat it. i will try bunch of stuff like glass jars, or tupperware box, et cetera.

 

[calicosrspecial]

thanks for your guidance. i am probably will be a lot more stresed without you guys.

also i have confirmed rivel doesn't want refrigerated food. one solution is to change brand with smaller can so it doesn't stay in the fridge for long. the food i opened last night become no-no this morning i have to hand - fed her again. i tried reheating it, it doesn't work.

edit: i will try several things. i read around, it seems the food loses aroma or pick up other scents from the fridge that makes the cat hesitant to eat it. i will try bunch of stuff like glass jars, or tupperware box, et cetera.

You are welcome but THANK YOU for all you are doing to save lives. You are wonderful!!!

It really does help to talk to people about what to expect and to get some understanding of the process. We have seen it all so we know when things are fine and when we need to so some additional work.

"also i have confirmed rivel doesn't want refrigerated food. one solution is to change brand with smaller can so it doesn't stay in the fridge for long. the food i opened last night become no-no this morning i have to hand - fed her again. i tried reheating it, it doesn't work." - Yes, many cats are like that. Just transition the new food slowly as a fast change can upset their stomach. If you can find smaller cans of the same brand and type of food that would be great. But I know it can be difficult to find.

"edit: i will try several things. i read around, it seems the food loses aroma or pick up other scents from the fridge that makes the cat hesitant to eat it. i will try bunch of stuff like glass jars, or tupperware box, et cetera." - Ok, good. Yes, anything with a tight seal could help. Fingers crossed it helps since she likes the food she has.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Hoboforeternity]

C calicosrspecial
so i tried getting silver out while rivel is awake. they don't hiss. silver was on my stomach while i watch TV, rivel is on the coffee table sitting. i pet her with my left hand, while using my right to pet silver. after a while rivel got up and moved elsewhere. is that good or rivel moved because she's uncomfortable.

there's no hissing though, they just stared a while but i try to distract each other from staredown by petting them.

 

[Hoboforeternity]

sorry for another double post. glass jar doesn't work. this morning i opened a new can, she ate like usual then pour the rest to a glass mayonaise jar. put it in the fridge. after that, at noon, she did it again. won't eat, and spent 30 minutes to coax her into eating.

on the other hand the cat food i ordered arrived, i will let you all know how it goes with the new food.

 

[ArtNJ]

As far as the food situation goes, I personally don't understand why so many fuss with the fridge and reheating. I spent $3 on two of those cat food can lids that pet stores sell. I feed my cats half a 5.5 oz can in the morning, put a lid on the can, leave it lidded on the kitchen counter, and later in the day give them the rest of it. The lid prevents any browning at all, and they treat it like fresh food. I've had lidded cans sit overnight by accident, and it changes nothing. My conclusion is that for processed cat food, which contains perservatives (of course they do) there is just no need to fuss with refridgeration. Of course, if one has only one cat and tries to save further money with the really big cans, refridgeration may be necessary.

 

[klunick]

C calicosrspecial
so i tried getting silver out while rivel is awake. they don't hiss. silver was on my stomach while i watch TV, rivel is on the coffee table sitting. i pet her with my left hand, while using my right to pet silver. after a while rivel got up and moved elsewhere. is that good or rivel moved because she's uncomfortable.

there's no hissing though, they just stared a while but i try to distract each other from staredown by petting them.

Sounds like major progress is happening!!

 

[Hoboforeternity]

As far as the food situation goes, I personally don't understand why so many fuss with the fridge and reheating. I spent $3 on two of those cat food can lids that pet stores sell. I feed my cats half a 5.5 oz can in the morning, put a lid on the can, leave it lidded on the kitchen counter, and later in the day give them the rest of it. The lid prevents any browning at all, and they treat it like fresh food. I've had lidded cans sit overnight by accident, and it changes nothing. My conclusion is that for processed cat food, which contains perservatives (of course they do) there is just no need to fuss with refridgeration. Of course, if one has only one cat and tries to save further money with the really big cans, refridgeration may be necessary.

i will try that. putting it in glass container probably works too without putting it in fridges

 

[ArtNJ]

i will try that. putting it in glass container probably works too without putting it in fridges

I'm not too sure of the science of it. With a lid on, and half the food in the can, there *is* some air, so why doesn't it brown at all? Will it matter that there is *more* air in your glass dish? I like science, but the principle here is beyond me.

Anyway, otherwise, your glass dish is the same idea. I do find the lids easier and more convenient, but if it doesn't brown in the glass, its otherwise the same concept.

 

[klunick]

Now that you have two cats, you could always switch to an "all life stages" food so you could feed each half a can and have no leftovers. Even as a chunk, Boone can only eat half of a 3oz can at mealtimes.

 

[Hoboforeternity]

Well i feed silver the same wet food as rivel, but she have kitten dry food. She's currently on 50% wet + dry ratio before i transition further because she has soft stool. Not full liquid, but a little bit softer on the texture.


I bought a new brand catfood. As usual out of the can, she eagerly eats. I will have to wait until next morning if she would eat refrigerated one. If she eats the refrigerated new food then it's simply boredom because she's been eating the same thing for 6 months?

 

[calicosrspecial]

C calicosrspecial
so i tried getting silver out while rivel is awake. they don't hiss. silver was on my stomach while i watch TV, rivel is on the coffee table sitting. i pet her with my left hand, while using my right to pet silver. after a while rivel got up and moved elsewhere. is that good or rivel moved because she's uncomfortable.

there's no hissing though, they just stared a while but i try to distract each other from staredown by petting them.

"so i tried getting silver out while rivel is awake." - Ok

" they don't hiss." - Very good. But even if there would be hissing it is what happens after that really matters. The important thing is to distract, make it positive, reassure the cats.

"silver was on my stomach while i watch TV" - I personally do this all the time in intros. Just make sure you are not at risk of being hurt in any way.

"rivel is on the coffee table sitting." - Perfect. This is what I try to achieve to make a "positive association and positive encounter".

" i pet her with my left hand, while using my right to pet silver." - Exactly, Positive association and positive encounter. Just make sure you are not at risk of being hurt in any way.

" after a while rivel got up and moved elsewhere. is that good or rivel moved because she's uncomfortable." - It is fine that she moved. It was a positive encounter between them which builds trust and confidence. I think it was a terrific step in their introduction process. GREAT job!!

 

[Hoboforeternity]

Well, rivel would eat the new food that's been in the fridge overnight. That's that i guess. Just bored. The freshly opened food probably smells too good to resist, but since she ate the refrigerated version most of the time she had enough of that.