I recently adopted a 5 year old
dsh/declawed/spayed female who was taken
from her home when the owner threatened
to dump her in the street. She was put
into a waiting shelter for one month
before I adopted her.
I've had 2-cat combos twice before with
little problem...now, I have big
problems. My resident cat is a 10 lb.
dsh/neutered/declawed alpha male who
lost his companion 3 months ago. He's
claimed every part of the apartment
since then. The new girl was an only cat
and is a sweetheart. I brought her into
my bedroom (w/a cage) and introduced the
two. It went ok until the second day
when my boy jumped on her.


This was a mistake. This cat was just brought into a new home
(stressful) from a shelter (stressful) and is with a strange person
(stressful) and is then confronted by a strange cat when she has been an
only cat up until this point (*very* stressful.)

I kept them
apart since then. She has exclusive use
of my bedroom.

It's good that you have separated them, but you need to understand that
the damage has already been done and will take some time to undo, so the
best thing you can do is be very patient and don't try to reintroduce
her to your resident cat until you get her other issues resolved.

Problem 1: She has peed on the bed..the
sheet..my quilts 3x so far and deficated
on my quilt. I cleaned the mattress as
best as I could with a diluted bleach
solution, but she peed again and again.

Take her to a vet and have her checked for a UTI. She is clearly
stressed and stress can cause UTIs. Until you do this, don't assume she
has a behavior problem.
While I was cleaning (when she threw up
- problem 2) she peed on the bed again.
I don't know what to do. Currently
there's the litterbox that was always
there AND the litterbox that is in her
cage. She used the box twice for peeing
but is not consistant. After peeing in
the box, she deficated next to the box.
I put large garbage bags over where she
peed on the bed. So...she peed on the
garbage bag.

Plastic seems to be very attractive to cats for peeing on.

Shall I keep her caged?

For now I think this would be a good idea. Keep it partially covered by
where her sleeping area is so she feels secure, and leave the
introduction to the resident cat for later.

How
can I stop her from going on my bed.

Get her to the vet first and see if this is a health issue. It sure
sounds like it.

Can
I teach her to use the litterbox
exclusively?

Probably, but until you know if this is a medical or behavioral issue
you can't formulate a plan.

Problem 2: She doesn't keep food down. I
feed her a little more than a teaspoon
of food at a time. When I feed her at
breakfast and lunch, she vomits by
dinnertime. Originally, she was given
Fancy Feast. I changed it to Friskies
(regular, not shredded or chunks), but
she threw that up too. All food given to
her had fish or turkey as the first
ingredient, not by-products or water. I
had her at the vets for 3 days so they
could monitor this situation. She was
x-rayed and declared fine. Supposedly,
she DID keep food down at the vet's
office AND at the month-long stay at the
shelter. They fed her Friskies. She had
5 teeth extracted before I got her and
one tooth extracted after I got her. Dry
food isn't an option.

It sounds like this may be stress related, and considering what she's
been through
its not surprising. I would suggest you try a high quality canned food
such as Wellness or Felidae and try it out in very small amounts. Try
brushing her and loving her up for a few minutes to get her to relax
just before you feed her and see if that helps. Leaving a radio on at a
low volume tuned to a classical music station will also be helpful and
soothe her during the day, even when you are away. Once the Feliway
comes (I hope you got a diffuser) plug it in close to where her cage is.
If you got the spray, you can mist the sheet you use to partially cover
her cage and mist her bedding at least once a day.

Problem 3: My resident cat cries from
the other side of the door. I haven't
slept more than an hour an a time since
the new cat arrived. (two weeks ago -
except for the 3 days she was at the
vets). The inital arrangement was that
she was kept in the cage (in my bedroom)
while my resident cat checked her out.
They met nose-to-nose (through the cage)
and there was no hissing. So, I let her
out of the cage and he kept his distance
for a short time. Pretty soon, she
hissed at/batted him..so he did the
same. Then he started jumping on her (a
habit he had with his former
companion..she didn't like it but she
was twice the size of this new cat and
defended herself). I felt that made her
ill so I banished him from the bedroom.

And there's your problem. You took away something that he has been used
to for all of his life. This is unfair and upsetting to him and then he
got punished for reacting appropriately. It also may cause resentment
towards the new cat, which could cause problems and is the last thing
the new cat needs to deal with. When bringing a new cat in it is
extremely important to keep the routine the *resident cat* is used to,
and fit the new cat into it. What you need to do is set up a litterbox,
bed, water, etc. in the bathroom and put the new cat in there at night
so your boy kitty can have the sleep time with you that he is used to.
You can put her back in the cage in the morning and close off the
bedroom for the day.

I visit her in the bedroom often (even
though I can't sleep on the bed). She
appears to be very affectionate and
nuzzles me constantly. I make sure the
resident cat gets plenty of lovin',
too...but sleep has been out of the
question.
I placed over 15 calls to the vet who
treated her, my regular vet, a pet
columnist, three cat rescue faciities,
two members of the rescue group who
handled this adoption, and other pet
people. Perhaps she was given away
because she had these problems. Who
knows? I ordered Feliway (to help the
cats co-exist) but I don't know if
that'll work. I don't know how to solve
any of the above problems. Perhaps she
isn't meant for a 2 cat household. It
breaks my heart, but I am turning
psychotic from lack of sleep. Any advice
here or email at
would be so appreciated. Thank you.

Again, getting her checked for a UTI is imperative. Beyond that, be
patient, go SLOW and things will work out.

Megan



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