older cat not eating after new kitten introduced

pasajono

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I hope someone can help me. We recently adopted a 4-month-old kitten. We already have a 3-year-old cat. The kitten is taking to his new surroundings just fine. Our 3 y/o is our main concern. He does not eat. Both cats have taken well to each other. The older cat follows the kitten around as if he is not sure what to make of this new addition. We kept them separate for the first 3 days. On the second day the older cat seemed to be stressed and we noticed he wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t eating as much as he normally does. On the third day we opened the door in hopes it would alleviate some stress. It has now been 24 hours since the grand introduction and our cat has not eaten. We have tried to entice him with treats and tuna. We had a similar situation bout 3 years ago when we introduced this cat to our other cat. His health declined and finally went into renal failure 18 month later. I am afraid that history is repeating itself. Please help!
 

yayi

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The best way is to check with your veterinarian. The introduction of a new kitten may have nothing to do with your cat's sudden lack of appetite.
 

stampit3d

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When we first introduced our 3rd furbaby about 6 weeks ago we noticed that, even tho they seemed to get along fairly well...the 2 resident cats did not want to eat next to the newbie....so we seperated their dishes a good space apart (You might even have to try shutting the newbie in a seperate place for a bit....give special attention to your resident cat and feed him when the new one is in the other room. I`d even make sure he SAW me put the other cat in a seperate room and shut the door.)
Just be sure you leave some intresting toys for the newbie to play with so he does`nt start crying....to keep them both from being stressed.
It was only a matter of days before we were able to move thei dishes closer to each other...now they`ll all eat out of the same one....I hope this helps and that you don`t continue to have problems.
I can understand why you`d be concerned after an experience like that....but it does seem like that would be unusual enough that it probably would`nt repeat it`self......hopefully all will be well very soon and you`ll be able to relax and enjoy both of your kitties without further worries.
Linda
 

stampit3d

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I see you are pretty new here and that this was your first post....just so you know....you will find a wealth of information about introducing cats to each other here at TCS.
Check in "Cat Behavior" just under the words :Cat Forums" at the top of this page.
Welcome to you and both of your kitties.
Linda
 

asecretk

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Originally Posted by stampit3d

so we seperated their dishes a good space apart
I would suggest this as well. I adopted a cat about two months ago and she does not really like to eat out of the main "troft". (with nine cats the dish is large and long enough that I call it a troft
)

She preferes a small bowl in the sun porch where I first kept her. I have placed another small bowl next to the troft just for her. She is slowly eating out of that and the troft but will still run into the sun porch and meow that she wants food in her own dish.

If you havn't tried it I would suggest fried chicken pieces or small cheddar cheese pieces. I have heard they are both almost irresistable to cats and people trapping ferals have used that to get them into traps and to help socialize them later.

Be careful of to much though. You don't want to spoil your cat
 
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pasajono

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thank you for all your replies.
the two cats seem to be getting along really great. we tried separating the two for the meals but our older cat seems to be more concerned about the closed door and the missing kitten.
by now we are thinking that it might not have to do with the new addition but with a change of food a week earlier. we changed my older cats food from hill science diet to wellness last monday. Unfortunately we believed the store that we would not have to change the food gradually but to go ahead and just switch it over. we believe now that that might have caused him to be constipated. as far as we can tell he has not had to go poop for a couple of days. we talked to a couple of cat owners that suggested waiting to take him to the vet (because of the extra stress a visit to the vet would put on him) and to try laxatone instead for a couple of days. my only concern with that is the lack of food and how long he can go without it. he is drinking though.
i can not tell you how much this is tearing me apart to watch my cat not eat and feeling so helpless.
 

sangria14

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please get your cat to the vet - cats cannot go that long w/o food. they can develop liver lipidosis and renal failure like you said.
 
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