***moderator: I realized after I posted this it should be under "behaviour"...please move...thanks
Hi all,
I've been fostering cats the past few months and have noticed some behaviour changes in my Oliver that I am thinking might be stress related. He doesn't have direct contact with the fosters but I let them out when he is in another room so their scent is everywhere. Here's the symptoms:
In Feb., I noticed a bald spot on the back of his neck, the vet attributed it to excess scratching and gave him dexamethasone. It cleared up.
In May, Oliver came down with a mild URI. One foster was mildly ill (and hand been quarantined) but he had no contact with him. No one else got sick.
I have caught him spraying a few times.
A few weeks ago the bald spot was back. I noticed he's scratching more and seems to be grooming his paws more. He coughed up a hairball for the first time in ages (which says to me he's grooming more).
2 weeks ago he got another URI. One of the fosters had been ill but I'm extremely careful about cross contamination. No one else got sick.
He's been meowing more than usual. He will stand at the door where the fosters are and cry.
He's eating fine, is showing no signs of physical discomfort. He was at the vet in June and checked out fine.
As I said in another post I was concerned about FIV but he did test -'ve and there's very little chance he contracted it (he bit my FIV+ cat years ago but the vet wasn't too concerned and all other cats he's with have been tested -'ve).
I suspect he's stressed out from the other cats. If that's the case I don't know if I will be able to continue fostering as he's my #1 priority
Thanks for any input.
Hi all,
I've been fostering cats the past few months and have noticed some behaviour changes in my Oliver that I am thinking might be stress related. He doesn't have direct contact with the fosters but I let them out when he is in another room so their scent is everywhere. Here's the symptoms:
In Feb., I noticed a bald spot on the back of his neck, the vet attributed it to excess scratching and gave him dexamethasone. It cleared up.
In May, Oliver came down with a mild URI. One foster was mildly ill (and hand been quarantined) but he had no contact with him. No one else got sick.
I have caught him spraying a few times.
A few weeks ago the bald spot was back. I noticed he's scratching more and seems to be grooming his paws more. He coughed up a hairball for the first time in ages (which says to me he's grooming more).
2 weeks ago he got another URI. One of the fosters had been ill but I'm extremely careful about cross contamination. No one else got sick.
He's been meowing more than usual. He will stand at the door where the fosters are and cry.
He's eating fine, is showing no signs of physical discomfort. He was at the vet in June and checked out fine.
As I said in another post I was concerned about FIV but he did test -'ve and there's very little chance he contracted it (he bit my FIV+ cat years ago but the vet wasn't too concerned and all other cats he's with have been tested -'ve).
I suspect he's stressed out from the other cats. If that's the case I don't know if I will be able to continue fostering as he's my #1 priority
Thanks for any input.
