Apologies, I know this topic and question comes up again and again. This time, I want to hear from YOUR OWN ACTUAL EXPEIENCE. Not opinion based on what you've read but what happened in your home in circumstances like mine.
My circumstances are this in mid October my four-year-old cat Charlie suddenly became ill misdiagnosed accurately I believe with F IP and I put him to sleep about 10 days after the initial symptoms showed It was devastating. This is an evil illness. I am still quite heartbroken however I have a remaining cat, Paris, she and Charlie were inseparable for four years and in general she is very social and tends to get along with many other cats . At first I don't think she specifically grieved the loss of Charlie, fact she appeared sort of cold and not even look around for him or noticed that he was gone. But now I do sense that she's getting restless for a playmate and some kitty cuddling. Even additional attention from me but I'm home isn't the solution to making Paris happy. She is becoming somewhat Solon which is the opposite of her personality and I'm concerned for her emotional well-being
For Paris's sake I want to bring a new cat into the house soon, likely by mid December. My home is soon to be out of the eight week range in which the coronavirus can live in the environment. I will of course do you a very vigilant cleaning of every crack and crevice of my apartment for any bits of litter from the former sick cat Charlie. Lots of items have been bleached already and I'll do everything possible to make my home environment safe for this new kitten.
I know that bringing a new cat into a house can cause stress on the remaining cat and in this case my cat Paris may very well be carrying the coronavirus FCoV that in a small percentage of cats mutates into FIP. pAris may actually be a carrier who has a strong enough immunity system all these years to have fought it off. Sometimes I'm concerned that Charlie perhaps got the coronavirus from her and his immunity system wasn't strong enough to prevent the virus from mutating into FIP. As those of you who've experienced this devastating illness there are so many question marks in the equation with no definitive answers.
Standard rule of thumb is that before you bring a new cat into a home where there is already a cat who has possibly been exposed to the coronavirus that you wait 3 to 6 months before introducing a new cat. In this period of time you can watch to see if your current cat develops Symptoms of FIP.
Another rule is that if you think the cat may have been exposed to the virus you've got to keep the environment low stress. My problem is that Paris is getting increasingly down spirited for lack of feline company and I think that's that causes her stress rather than the introduction of a new kitten to the house which brings her joy.
So that's just one half of the equation being concerned for Paris's health. I did have her tested with a titer test and the results were very good and the doctor said it looked all clear. But again we know that this can change over time and that these tests are not definitive. But right now she looks pretty clear of the virus.
The second part of the equation is who I want to bring into the house as the new cat. I believe the Paris does best with kittens specifically male kittens now of course kittens are the most susceptible to catching viruses and not having fully developed immune system to fight off the virus that could flip and become fatal such as the coronavirus going from being benign turning into FIP. The kitten I am curious to get is in seemingly good health, has vaccinations, is not coming from a cattery or large adoption center which means he has been not crammed into small spaces with tons of kittens spreading disease as we know happens. He has not had a blood work up and I'm inclined to spend some money to get him a blood work up before I even agreed to adopt him. Now of course that costs money but if it's blood work turns out great it's worth the money and if it doesn't turn out great it's worth the money because then I'll know if I should bring him into the house or not.
Part of me just wants to face the reality that whats gonna be is gonna be. There was no way for me to know that my four-year-old Charlie would get sick and die in a week it was an anomaly and we have no control over such things.
I suppose if I wanted to really play it safe I could wait another four months to see if any symptoms of FIP develop in Paris and then adopt an adult cat with a strong immunity. But Paris will adjust easily to a kitten, and the sooner the better as I see her mood sinking.
It's a gamble though bringing in a six-month-old kitten to a household with an adult cat who may have had exposure to the coronavirus but currently isn't showing any signs of illness.
I don't want to create a recipe for disaster but I feel like if it's going to happen it's going to happen and if it's not going to happen it's not going to happen
Does that make sense? Wth this mysterious disease, who knows the reasons why some cats live and others die.
What I would like from all of you is if you have personal stories of introducing new cats into your homes after one cat has died of FIP and the remaining cat continued to survive. And if anything happens to the new addition. I'm not looking for answers about bringing a new cat into a house that had FIP but no other cats living there anymore.
I'm sum: can I bring this 6 month kitten home to live in my bleached, vacuumed home along with my loving cat Paris whose recent blood work showed no indication of having the coronavirus (did titer tests). Not that they are ever totally conclusive.
Am I playing with fire? I just want Paris to be happy again, she needs a new little brother soon.
THANK YOU ALL IN ADVANCE FOR ANY ADVICE YOU HAVE TO OFFER. [emoji]128062[/emoji][emoji]128062[/emoji][emoji]10084[/emoji]️[emoji]10084[/emoji]️
My circumstances are this in mid October my four-year-old cat Charlie suddenly became ill misdiagnosed accurately I believe with F IP and I put him to sleep about 10 days after the initial symptoms showed It was devastating. This is an evil illness. I am still quite heartbroken however I have a remaining cat, Paris, she and Charlie were inseparable for four years and in general she is very social and tends to get along with many other cats . At first I don't think she specifically grieved the loss of Charlie, fact she appeared sort of cold and not even look around for him or noticed that he was gone. But now I do sense that she's getting restless for a playmate and some kitty cuddling. Even additional attention from me but I'm home isn't the solution to making Paris happy. She is becoming somewhat Solon which is the opposite of her personality and I'm concerned for her emotional well-being
For Paris's sake I want to bring a new cat into the house soon, likely by mid December. My home is soon to be out of the eight week range in which the coronavirus can live in the environment. I will of course do you a very vigilant cleaning of every crack and crevice of my apartment for any bits of litter from the former sick cat Charlie. Lots of items have been bleached already and I'll do everything possible to make my home environment safe for this new kitten.
I know that bringing a new cat into a house can cause stress on the remaining cat and in this case my cat Paris may very well be carrying the coronavirus FCoV that in a small percentage of cats mutates into FIP. pAris may actually be a carrier who has a strong enough immunity system all these years to have fought it off. Sometimes I'm concerned that Charlie perhaps got the coronavirus from her and his immunity system wasn't strong enough to prevent the virus from mutating into FIP. As those of you who've experienced this devastating illness there are so many question marks in the equation with no definitive answers.
Standard rule of thumb is that before you bring a new cat into a home where there is already a cat who has possibly been exposed to the coronavirus that you wait 3 to 6 months before introducing a new cat. In this period of time you can watch to see if your current cat develops Symptoms of FIP.
Another rule is that if you think the cat may have been exposed to the virus you've got to keep the environment low stress. My problem is that Paris is getting increasingly down spirited for lack of feline company and I think that's that causes her stress rather than the introduction of a new kitten to the house which brings her joy.
So that's just one half of the equation being concerned for Paris's health. I did have her tested with a titer test and the results were very good and the doctor said it looked all clear. But again we know that this can change over time and that these tests are not definitive. But right now she looks pretty clear of the virus.
The second part of the equation is who I want to bring into the house as the new cat. I believe the Paris does best with kittens specifically male kittens now of course kittens are the most susceptible to catching viruses and not having fully developed immune system to fight off the virus that could flip and become fatal such as the coronavirus going from being benign turning into FIP. The kitten I am curious to get is in seemingly good health, has vaccinations, is not coming from a cattery or large adoption center which means he has been not crammed into small spaces with tons of kittens spreading disease as we know happens. He has not had a blood work up and I'm inclined to spend some money to get him a blood work up before I even agreed to adopt him. Now of course that costs money but if it's blood work turns out great it's worth the money and if it doesn't turn out great it's worth the money because then I'll know if I should bring him into the house or not.
Part of me just wants to face the reality that whats gonna be is gonna be. There was no way for me to know that my four-year-old Charlie would get sick and die in a week it was an anomaly and we have no control over such things.
I suppose if I wanted to really play it safe I could wait another four months to see if any symptoms of FIP develop in Paris and then adopt an adult cat with a strong immunity. But Paris will adjust easily to a kitten, and the sooner the better as I see her mood sinking.
It's a gamble though bringing in a six-month-old kitten to a household with an adult cat who may have had exposure to the coronavirus but currently isn't showing any signs of illness.
I don't want to create a recipe for disaster but I feel like if it's going to happen it's going to happen and if it's not going to happen it's not going to happen
Does that make sense? Wth this mysterious disease, who knows the reasons why some cats live and others die.
What I would like from all of you is if you have personal stories of introducing new cats into your homes after one cat has died of FIP and the remaining cat continued to survive. And if anything happens to the new addition. I'm not looking for answers about bringing a new cat into a house that had FIP but no other cats living there anymore.
I'm sum: can I bring this 6 month kitten home to live in my bleached, vacuumed home along with my loving cat Paris whose recent blood work showed no indication of having the coronavirus (did titer tests). Not that they are ever totally conclusive.
Am I playing with fire? I just want Paris to be happy again, she needs a new little brother soon.
THANK YOU ALL IN ADVANCE FOR ANY ADVICE YOU HAVE TO OFFER. [emoji]128062[/emoji][emoji]128062[/emoji][emoji]10084[/emoji]️[emoji]10084[/emoji]️