Behavior change, or health issue?

Okay, so I brought a new cat, TC, into the house 2 days ago. She's been fully vet checked, and has a clean bill of health. She is also separated from the other cats while we slowly work on introductions, but they know she is there; can smell her, and of course hear her.

My question involves one of my other cats, Tady Bear. He is on prescription canned c/d, and usually eats it well, but not always. Can at times be a bit picky about it. The first meal I fed him after bringing TC into the house he refused to eat. He was a bit agitated about her being her, and I figured his refusal to eat was due to the fact he was uncomfortable about her presence. He has since been difficult about eating. I've gotten him to eat his evening meals by taking him as far away from her as I can, and holding him on my lap, then feeding him a fingerful at a time. If I leave it on the plate, he shows no interest. He'll eat about half what he's supposed to in the morning, but then wants no more.

I've now noticed that he's doing a lot of head shaking, and this morning he sort of sneezed, so I'm wondering if he's maybe come down with something. Because the room TC is in tends to be the hottest room in the house, I've turned the temp down, and the rest of the house is a bit chilly.

I tried calling the vet this morning to see if they might want to see him, but they are still on christmas break. Tady Bear is acting pretty much normal otherwise; still energetic, bright eyed and alert.

So, I'm not sure if he's just reacting to TC being here, or if he is actually getting sick. Any opinions?

It could be that he is upset at TC being there, but the head shaking and sneezing coupled with a loss of appetite also sound like it could be an upper respitatory infection

Even with a clean bill of health, it is not uncommon for cats coming from shelters, vets or catteries to carry the germs on them and you can transfer it on your clothes from one cat to another.

If your cat is on a prescription diet, you probably see the vet regularly, I would call and ask what they think as they know your cat better than we do. Mine all developed URI when I brought home my latest, who didn't have it herself but she or I had carried the germ home. They got some antibiotics and were fine in a week or so.

I'll call the vet again in the morning then. Sounds like URI's are pretty easy to get control of, assuming he has one. Still, I hope he doesn't. I don't want to stress him anymore than he is already.

Well, no real answers at this point. He's still trying to starve himself, but vet visit turned up no health issues. Ran blood tests and all, too. The vet thinks it may just be TC is agitating him a bit. His weight is down a pound from his last visit abt. 7 months ago. I'm to keep an eye on him, and call back in a week if he still isn't eating well.

If he stops eating, it will upset his tummy and cause him to not eat at all which can lead to major health problems.

Can you try feeding him kitten milk replacement to get nutrients into him

He eats a little. He turns his nose up at his food when I first give it to him, which is not normal for him, but then if I get him alone, I can feed it to him a little bit at a time and he'll take it, at least a bit of it.

I do have the kitten milk replacement, so I might try letting him have some of that as well. It's just strange that he won't eat now; he's been pretty good about it before. I almost wish they had found something wrong; at least then I would have something to correct.

Hope your kitty starts to eat better.

I hate the whole "there's nothing wrong with your kitty, you're just nuts" thing!! Its like, you know there's something wrong, and they give you the oh have an apple and call me in the morning routine!! Good luck and let us know how he's doing!

If he has a uri you may need to slightly heat up some canned food or milk and place it on your finger under the nose... kittys eat by smell and if that is blocked..

I've tried heating up his food; doesn't help.

I've now found that he will eat the other cat's dry food; though, he's supposed to be on a special diet, and *not* supposed to be eating dry food. But I don't know what else to do. He is now completely ignoring his food.