Solitary chicken - need advice

[Egzandra]

Hello omleteers,

 

You might remember that back in July I posted about Buffy, who is a 12 year old cat that we adopted as her owner had gone into a nursing home. For some days Buffy wasn't eating and then one of you kindly recommended Encore food which was the turning point. There is no problem about eating now, Buffy eats her Encore and also other fishy cat food and sometimes some Encore/Applaws dried food. There was another problem emerging that she and our cat Sylvi were not getting on. Buffy when she had found her confidence, obviously thought that Sylvi was the new cat and not her, and whenever she saw Sylvi she would chase her off the premises! Sylvi is a timid cat and we were/are sometimes having trouble enticing her into the house for her food.

 

Buffy has always shown the signs of spraying, ie the raised quivering tail but we did not think she was actually spraying urine. However lately she has been actually urinating/spraying which is quite upsetting. We are doing our best to keep them separate, and when Sylvi comes in in the evening we shut Buffy into the dining room, which is where her litter tray and food currently are arranged. So that Sylvi can be inside at night and feel relaxed, Buffy has to stay there all night. It is hardly ideal as it means that poor Buffy is shut away for perhaps twelve hours. Then when Sylvi goes out in the morning, which she does whatever the weather, Buffy comes out. She will enjoy a cuddle and a bit of fuss, but when she knows that Sylvi is trying to come in, that is when the spraying starts. Also, Sylvi is scared of Buffy, although Sylvi is the bigger cat, and will not come in if she sees her there.

 

Tomorrow I am going to take Buffy to the vet to have her checked in case she has a urinary tract infection, and also maybe get some more feliway. It is one thing trying to keep two cats separate, but when there is something unpleasant like spraying involved it is more of a problem. I was wondering if any of you had any ideas of what to do next.

[Cat tails]

Biggest problems are often doorways, small openings etc were the cats have close interaction.

 

How many litter trays do you have? Make sure you have loads of those around so there isn't one to protect. Same goes for food stations. Cats will often spray around those things to assert ownership.

If you can, restrict access of Buffy to the cat flap/ door where Sylvi enters the house. This is another thing to protect/own.

 

I used to have a feliway spray instead of a plug in mist thingy. It said on the bottle to spray it on locations where the cat tends to spray. (Clean first with non-ammonia based cleaner)

 

Don't feel bad about restricting her access to places. She will sleep most of the time and sounds like she gets plenty of cuddles and attention!

[Cat tails]

Oh and if you manage to catch her in act, try the trusty water bottle spray! That will make it very clear that such behaviour isn't allowed.

[Ursula123]

So glad the Encore worked.

Sorry can't help with the spraying as not encountered it, but good luck getting it sorted.

[dancing cloud]

My Cleo-cat did this when Tozi moved in. She'd been in the shelter a long time waiting for a home and, whilst she understood she had to share with the existing cats, she was not happy at another one invading. It all settled down eventually, with lots of reassurance and cuddles.

 

Feliway helped (one in the bedroom and one in the living room) along with Four Paws Industrial Stain and Odour Remover where the spraying happened. Sharing dreamies with the Tozi also seemed to help, as Cleo then associated him appearing with something she really liked.

 

Good job we love them !

[Egzandra]

Thank you to everyone for your replies. I've made an appointment for Buffy for tomorrow at the vet to get her checked over for a UTI and trying to keep the two cats as apart as possible. We don't have a cat flap, but we can try to keep Buffy away from the front of the house as Sylvi usually uses the front door.

[Egzandra]

Just a brief update, Buffy is still doing the quivering tail thing around the house, but not spraying noticeable amounts of urine. I guess she is still leaving her scent, though. I took her to the vet who thought that she might have cystitis brought on by the stress of defending her space against what she sees as the newcomer, ie, Sylvi. The vet gave her an injection of anti inflammatory medication and some other stuff to squirt into her mouth via syringe. I have also plugged in some Feliway. Buffy seems better but Sylvi is still very wary and wanting to be out most of the time. Yesterday when it was raining I found her lying in the wet underneath the car watching the front door. I felt so sorry for her. We manage to keep Sylvi in at night but have to have all the windows closed in case she does a runner.

 

Although I hadn't mentioned rehoming to the vet, she did bring the subject up herself and said that she knew of a lady who would find Buffy another home if I wanted. She said that there are people who will take on an elderly cat to live in a one-cat house, which might suit her better. I said that I would bear it in mind, but it is early days yet and I don't want to rush into rehoming Buffy, she is a lovely affectionate cat and I do like her.

[Groovychook]

We have a nervous rescue cat who has gone through spates of weeing everywhere in the house.

 

The vet thought it was stress induced cystitis and prescribed something called Cystophan. We used to crush a tablet onto her food twice a day. That, along with changing her diet from dry to wet food, seemed to really help and although she is still a little skittish, we haven't had an episode for quite a long time.

We stopped using the Cystophan ages ago and she seems to be managing fine without them. They cost very little but it seemed unnecessary to continue.

 

Might be worth a try if your problems continue?

Our girl is lovely and affectionate too... so nice to give an older cat a chance, hope Buffy continues to improve