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- Aug 3, 2002
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My upstairs neighbours are away. They have a friend "housesitting", but she's only there at night, and she doesn't like having the cat sleep on the bed with her. Their cat is a lovely little manx cat, who is extremely affectionate. And because the neighbours are both nurses, and often work opposite shifts, kitty is used to having people around a lot. So I think the cat is very very lonely and missing her people.
For the first 4 days that they were away, housesitter left the apartment door locked, so kitty was alone for many many hours. I convinced her to leave the door open, so kitty can spend time in my place when she's not there.
So here's the question. After that first four days, I noticed that kitty was sniffling. Nothing serious, but when they first adopted her, she had a bad cold or URI, and was also bald on her back. Both cleared up after a few months (baldness from overgrooming), and the vet said that both had been caused by stress - she was a cat that had been abandoned, left in a barn, where she was fed, but not much else. So she is very very happy to have a home now.
I am worried that the stress of her people being away, and being alone for so many hours, may have caused the URI to come back. I also noticed her really pulling on the fur on her back, and was worried that the overgrooming was starting.
And the other complication, even though she's been around for almost 2 years, my one cat just doesn't like her at all. So there is some stress in my place when she's there. Poor Bailey, she's very timid, and runs away when she sees the other kitty. And because of that, I do lock kitty out of my place in the evenings to give Bailey some peace and quiet. (She got very sick when I was catsitting another kitty last year).
Would giving kitty GSE help her fight off stress induced colds? Is there something else I could suggest to the housesitter? My neighbours are away for another month, and I don't want them to return to a sick cat. I'll go ahead and buy anything we might need to try, and will even take her to my vet if things get worse, but I would like to know if there is something I could be doing now.
For the first 4 days that they were away, housesitter left the apartment door locked, so kitty was alone for many many hours. I convinced her to leave the door open, so kitty can spend time in my place when she's not there.
So here's the question. After that first four days, I noticed that kitty was sniffling. Nothing serious, but when they first adopted her, she had a bad cold or URI, and was also bald on her back. Both cleared up after a few months (baldness from overgrooming), and the vet said that both had been caused by stress - she was a cat that had been abandoned, left in a barn, where she was fed, but not much else. So she is very very happy to have a home now.
I am worried that the stress of her people being away, and being alone for so many hours, may have caused the URI to come back. I also noticed her really pulling on the fur on her back, and was worried that the overgrooming was starting.
And the other complication, even though she's been around for almost 2 years, my one cat just doesn't like her at all. So there is some stress in my place when she's there. Poor Bailey, she's very timid, and runs away when she sees the other kitty. And because of that, I do lock kitty out of my place in the evenings to give Bailey some peace and quiet. (She got very sick when I was catsitting another kitty last year).
Would giving kitty GSE help her fight off stress induced colds? Is there something else I could suggest to the housesitter? My neighbours are away for another month, and I don't want them to return to a sick cat. I'll go ahead and buy anything we might need to try, and will even take her to my vet if things get worse, but I would like to know if there is something I could be doing now.