Need advice, please! Just took in a stray - adult female only 5 pounds - need a solution to feeding

[genesis_cat]

I have two cats (recently lost my 14 year-old Himi Merlin to lung cancer after an 8 month battle - I miss him terribly).  I was so depressed and then a beautiful little stray showed up at my door. So now I have three cats!   This stray is just precious, but very small.  We took her to the vet (of course) before taking her into our house.  She had to have 4 teeth pulled, she was spayed, she had blood tests, they gave her all of the necessary immunization shots, flea dipped and bathed and groomed her!  Needless to say, we really love this baby!! We think that she is about 7 years old.   I will have to be out of town for about one week and my daughter is coming by once each day to feed all three cats.  However, the stray (Sugar) may still have to be kept in a separate room from the other two while I am gone - one of my cats (yes, the Bengal) tried to attack Sugar when I had the door to her room open.  MUCH to my surprise, Sugar instantly attacked the Bengal and chased her down the hall.  Now the other 2 cats are really scared of this little 5 pound cat.

Anyway, Sugar doesn't seem to know when to stop eating.  If I leave a good amount of dry food in her room, I don't know if she will eat until she's sick or what.  I don't think that getting fed once per day (wet food) is enough since she is underweight.  I would appreciate any advice on this subject.   By the way, the other cats have a bowl of dry food out 24/7.  That's why I am not worried about them getting wet food once/day for a week.

Thanks!

 

[vball91]

I'm so sorry for your loss of Merlin. It sounds like he sent you Sugar to care for and love. Have you seen this article about introducing cats to each other? http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-cats

When are you leaving on your trip? Do you have time to see how she reacts if left dry? How many times a day do you currently feed wet food? Is there any way your daughter could come twice a day while you are gone? I agree with you that she needs more food than once a day, but I'm not sure what the best solution here is.

 

[genesis_cat]

Thank you so much for your kind words and quick reply!  I was wondering if I should just go ahead and let Sugar out to roam the house with the other cats out, too.  Even though Sugar chased the other cats and was hissing, she didn't do any damage whatsoever to either one of them.  OF course I would supervise everything.  Does this sound feasible?

 

[vball91]

How long has she been in the house? When it comes to introductions, slower is better. Otherwise you might have to start over again. Have you tried feeding them at the same time separated by a door or screen? Have you done any scent exchange yet?

 

[goholistic]

I'm so sorry to hear about Merlin.

Since Sugar was a stray and underweight, fighting and scrounging for food was probably an everyday battle for her. Now that she's getting daily meals, she may have a little bit of food anxiety - hovering over her bowl, eating fast and a lot at once, looking around on high alert while she's eating. She may be scared that's it's the only meal she'll get for awhile! This will subside once she understands that you'll feed her every day.

If she's not vomiting up the dry food, it should be okay to leave out while you are away, but I would suggest that your daughter also give Sugar wet food at least once a day if that's the best she can do. When you return, you could start feeding Sugar wet food twice a day.

I'd be hesitant to leave them together all alone so soon after bringing Sugar home if you're not there to supervise and do the introduction slowly. Do you think Sugar will be okay in a room by herself all alone for one week? It might be a bit confining for her. I think an entire level in the house would be better (upstairs? finished basement?).
 

 

[genesis_cat]

Thank you all for such good advice!  Yes, I have done the scent exchange and I have fed them together with a door separating them.  Last night I let Sugar roam the living room and kitchen - the other two cats saw her and ran away and hid for about 2 hours.  After I put Sugar back in her room, the two scaredy cats came back out.

I am going to try it again tonight (of course I will be supervising!).  GoHolistic, you are definitely right about Sugar - she acts just as you said when she is eating - breaks my heart.  She started to get a bit better this morning as she wanted to run out of her room and explore more than wanting her breakfast!  (I feed her wet food twice a day with a small snack at night & am trying to leave the dry food out all of the time now (as long as she's sensible about not eating too much - don't want her to get sick). 

vball91, I do wonder if Merlin helped her find her way to my house.  She is a combination of three cats that I loved dearly (Merlin, Angel - tortie point Himalayan who also found me and who lived to be 19, and Callie - calico that died of cancer at only 9 years old).  Sugar is just the most affectionate little thing - she definitely is helping to heal my broken heart!

Thank you all, again, for your good advice and words of encouragement!

Kind regards,

genesis_cat

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

What about getting her a feeding station where it will dole out kibble to her a few times a day.  That way she can't overeat, yet won't feel food deprived.  Or, if she is going to be kept in the room all by herself (which I DO recommend at this point in the game), perhaps you could have your daughter do something like put some kibble in a yogurt container with the lid ON, and a small hole cut into the side where she can play with it for stimulation and a piece of kibble will come out as she plays.  This way she can eat kibble slowly, AND stimulate her mind rather than just lie around all day. 

Then when your daugher comes over, maybe she can let her out of the room while she's there, feed her some canned, do her other chores (cleaning the boxes, play with them all, etc.), and eventually put her back into her room for everyone's peace of mind.