Cat may be sick after bringing kitten home?

cdaviles

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Hello everyone! I am new to the site and I'm hoping to get some answers about something that's going on with my kitties.

I have a two year old cat named Blue and I recently adopted a four month old kitten who we named Kennedy. Originally, we separated the two cats but after a couple of days (I know it's really early, but they were playing with each other beneath the door, etc so we figured we would see how they reacted face to face) we allowed them to play with each other. They play all day and sleep together in the same bed during the day but we do feed them separately (mainly because the kitten tries to eat Blue's food) and they are apart at night (I don't feel comfortable leaving them unsupervised for so long while we are sleeping). It's going really well.

Yesterday, my boyfriend was home with the cats and he noticed that their rears smelled - really bad. Kennedy has a tendency to jump into the litter box while Blue is using it, so we thought maybe some of it got on them and that's why they smelled so bad but I cleaned their rears with a warm wet paper towel and they were still a bit stinky. Blue was acting kind of weird too - he is usually very snuggly but last night he went into the office and sat on a chair that he never has shown any interest in before. I caught Kennedy while he was using the litter box and it was VERY smelly, light brown and soft (not liquid). I contacted the shelter we adopted Kennedy from and she suggested we bring him in tonight to get another round of dewormer, just in case so I will be doing that.

This morning, I woke up and went to feed the cats - usually Blue goes NUTS when I get up to feed him.. today he remained in his bed and just wasn't his usual self. I noticed that he didn't finish his food from last night (the bowl is usually clean in the morning). He didn't even come over to me when I was getting the food ready, he usually meows the entire time and walks around my legs. I put the food down and he took two bites and started trying to bury it? and walked away. Kennedy ate fine. I thought maybe Blue just wasn't into the food (it was new wet food - halo rabbit and greens) so I opened up a can of his favorite Friskies turkey and giblets, and he ate some but not nearly as much as he does in the morning. He just went right back to bed.

We are planning on keeping them separate for the day so that they can both relax but do you think he may have gotten sick from the kitten? The kitten was found when he was two days old and he was in his foster home for the entire time up until we took him. He has tested negative for FeLV/FIV and has been dewormed twice before coming home with us. He also has his rabies vaccine and FVRCP vaccine. I'm so worried :( I plan on taking him to the vet if he doesn't show any improvement but I just wanted to get some ideas of what could be going on.

Sorry for the essay! Thank you in advance!
 
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cdaviles

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I will add - Kennedy has been free feeding Purina One Healthy Kitten dry food and he gets some Fancy Feast kitten food. It is what he was getting at the shelter and I wanted to wait before I changed it.

Blue was eating only Friskies classics pate wet food but I recently (as in this last weekend) started adding halo, soulistic, wellness core, and nutro max wet food in non-fish flavors. He gets some Taste of the Wild kibble (VERY, very little as a small snack mid-day) but he has been eating that for months. He also has been trying to sneak Kennedy's healthy kitten dry food but we usually catch him before he's had too much. 
 

catpack

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First, congrats on the new addition!! It sounds as if you followed both kitties' cues on how best to do introductions for them. You sound like a wonderful kitty momma! [emoji]128568[/emoji]

There could be several things going on here.

1.) For Blue, the addition of several new foods could mean a new ingredient isn't sitting well with him. His behavior makes it sound like he may be nauseated. I'd feed him the Friskies only and do so until he is eating well for several days. Then try the new foods, one flavor/brand at a time for a few days.

2.) For Kennedy, parasites could be an issue (particularly roundworms); but, it could also be due to stress in changing environments, even though he seems to be adjusting well.

3.) There's always the chance Kennedy was exposed to Coccidia or Giardia in the foster home before coming to you. Especially if there are other cats coming and going. There is a bit of an incubation period with both of these.

Both Giardia and Coccidia can be easily missed on an in house fecal test (though it can sometimes be diagnosed this way), so if symptoms persist you might want to have the vet check specifically for these.

4.) It could be viral in nature and just run its course.
 
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cdaviles

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First, congrats on the new addition!! It sounds as if you followed both kitties' cues on how best to do introductions for them. You sound like a wonderful kitty momma! [emoji]128568[/emoji]

There could be several things going on here.

1.) For Blue, the addition of several new foods could mean a new ingredient isn't sitting well with him. His behavior makes it sound like he may be nauseated. I'd feed him the Friskies only and do so until he is eating well for several days. Then try the new foods, one flavor/brand at a time for a few days.

2.) For Kennedy, parasites could be an issue (particularly roundworms); but, it could also be due to stress in changing environments, even though he seems to be adjusting well.

3.) There's always the chance Kennedy was exposed to Coccidia or Giardia in the foster home before coming to you. Especially if there are other cats coming and going. There is a bit of an incubation period with both of these.

Both Giardia and Coccidia can be easily missed on an in house fecal test (though it can sometimes be diagnosed this way), so if symptoms persist you might want to have the vet check specifically for these.

4.) It could be viral in nature and just run its course.
Thank you for the response! I am hoping that it is just the food bothering Blue and not something more serious. He looks so sad, it breaks my heart :( I'll go back to feeding him his Friskies and see if there is any improvement. If not, he'll be going to the vet!

The vet will be administering Drontal to Kennedy tonight. I hope that helps! I also wonder if it may be the food he's been on. I am not a fan of dry food (I've been reading these forums a lot!) so I wonder if that may be affecting him. 
 
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