A Question For Anyone Who Has Taken in a Stray Cat With Another Cat in the Home

[BethR]

Some of you may remember that about 6 weeks ago I posted about a little kitty that was living in my neighborhood and how we wanted to try to adopt it.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=263342

Well, after MUCH tenacity, our 12 year old, was able to get the kitty into our home last Friday evening. I think that it has made the transition amazingly well. It likes to hide ALOT, but it is also amazingly social for someone who has lived on his own for over 2 months. He has actually climbed into laps, and loves to cuddle his head under your chin.
My question is this - if you have brought in a stray, have you kept it separate from your other cat/cats? I called our vet today to make an appointment for this little guy (we won't even name him until we know that he is healthy enough to stay in our home) and they told me that the cats should be kept separate for 2 weeks to prevent infection of our older cat. I told them the Lily was up to date on her vaccinations and had the FeL Vaccine - but they told me that they vaccinations might not be effective with "24 hour exposure."
If you DID keep your cats separate for a period of time - how did you do so? I thought that everything was going so well here, but now I am worried that we have put Lily in danger and will not know if this little one is healthy for 2 weeks (and probably longer while we wait for results on blood tests.)

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[Beauty]

I've been there. We kept the stray in our bathroom for the entire time. I know its a pain because you want them to get acquainted and you don't want to lock up the baby but its really for the best. I don't remember it taking 2 weeks to get the results back though, I want to say that we knew within the same week that she was okay.

Good luck with your new baby.

 

[MaryJ]

We brought in a stray about 3 years ago, but we only were successful in keeping him separated from the other cats for about a week. We have a bathroom in our basement that doesn't get much use and we put him in there. I went to the dollar store and bought a small dishpan for him to use as a litter box. The hardest part was hearing him cry at night. I put a night light in the bathroom, but that didn't help much. That's when my DD finally cracked and took him into her bedroom at night. He would sleep right next to her pillow.

 

[BethR]

Thanks Beth. This makes me really sad. I am wondering how we can socialize this little guy (who really NEEDS the socialization) when he has to be kept away from our other cat.
Well, we do have basements up here in the north, so perhaps we can keep him down there.
Do you think that we can "visit" with this little one on our main floor whenever Lily is sleeping upstairs (our second floor)?
The vet will not even see this guy for 2 weeks from today (to give any possible diseases that he MIGHT have caught on his last day outside a chance to "incubate") and then we will have to wait for the results of the blood tests. That's why I said that they might have to be separated for over 2 weeks...

 

[Rajah]

Congrats on catching him!!! I haven't ever actually brought a stray inside, but when I was trying to catch that other stray girl and before I had a home for her, I had planned to keep her separate from Blaze and Skye for a few days, at least until after she'd been to the vet.

 

[catsrule]

Cali was a stray and we already had Mr. Simba. We didn't separate them at all though, I never knew to do this. We got the results back that she was fine in a couple of days.

 

[BethR]

MaryJ - last night when both girls wanted him to sleep with each of them (they each took at turn for a little while ) he would crawl right up and under their chins. It was so cute!

I hate thinking about him in their beds right now until we have him looked at by the vet. I have not seen fleas - but the vet is better at that than I am.

 

[BethR]

Thanks Rajah. It is working out MUCH better than I thought that it would. Even Lily is not TOO bad. She hisses and poofs her tail and then just stares at him, but there have been no major battles.

catsrule - It is frustrating because the vet will not see him for 2 weeks to allow any diseases to "incubate."

 

[catsrule]

Hope kitty is healthy, he sure is happy vet saw Cali right away. We didn't have to catch her, she ran right into our house. It was pretty obvious though that she once had a home, she went straight to the litterbox, but her was so skinny and hungry.

 

[Pugsley]

I know how hard it is to keep them separated. I did it and I felt so sorry for the kitten that I would sleep half the night in my bed and half the night on the floor in the den with the kitten. I think my vet said I should keep them apart for 10 days, but I only lasted about 5. Besides the health issues, I think it really helped to get them used to each other by smell before they got together.

 

[peg2001]

Yes, I've taken in 5 stray cats over the years into our house with one or more established cats. Keeping them separated is a good idea but we've never managed it. They are just too curious of one another and will dash through an open door in a millisecond.

You've done a good thing by this kitten. I wish you luck and a healthy outcome.

Peggy

 

[MinnieMe2]

For good introductory advice, you can go to www.greatpets.com. There are lots of good people there who can give you some wonderful advice. Or just do a search on 'New Cat' or 'Introducing New Cat to Our Other Cat'. Or join the forum and ask.

I've never heard of a vet waiting for two weeks to look over a stray. Frankly, it doesn't make much sense to me, unless it's easier for his/her office to book appointments two weeks in advance. My former vet started pulling this, so I switched to someone else. The dogs, the cats, and I are all much happier now !

Also, keeping the two cats separated is a good idea from the psychological point. When we brought home our newest kitten last December, we set her up in the downstairs bath with her own litterbox, food, water, and bed. We would spend time with her in there, and if we could keep an eye on her, we would close the family room off and bring her in there for a good romp. She thought the Christmas tree was the greatest 'toy' going!

Libby had a cold, but that wasn't why we kept her in lock-up for awhile. Our other cat, Isabel, was eight months old and queen of all she could see . When Libby came home, Isabel's nose was out of joint. So Libby went in the bath and Izzy continued to have the run of the house. I had a towel I would use on Libby, particularly around her little face, and that towel was casually dropped where I knew Isable would go: her chair in the livingroom, near her food, in my lap. At first, just Libby's scent would send Isabel into a growling little hissy fit. But gradually, the growling stopped and she became curious about the stranger behind the door. When they started pawing at each other under the door, formal introductions were made.

A year later, the girls are very close. They play together, share food, litter, and beds, and are devoted to each other. The separation period was kind of a pain, but those few weeks laid the foundation for many good years ahead of us. If your first cat is showing signs of being upset with the presence of your new cat, this may be the route for you to follow. And don't forget Great Pets!

 

[BethR]

Thanks Pugsley, Peg, and MinnieMe2 for all of your suggestions and experiences. I am feeling a LITTLE bit better about things.

MM2 - I don't THINK that the issue of the vet appt. was for the convenience of the vet. The girl on the phone really made it seem as if they could not give a full, accurate evaluation unless the kitty had been "off the streets" for 2 weeks. Thank you for the link. I will take a look around and probably register for their message boards over there. I LIKE message boards, ya know...

 

[Beauty]

Your Lili sounds like my Cairo....hissing and puffing out her chest but shes a big ole baby! I definatly would spend some time with the new kitty when the other isnt' around.

Maybe this is just me but is there another vet in town? One that could possibly give you a second opinion and maybe see the baby sooner???

 

[Robinrs]

Beth, I just brought in a kitten just last week! Poor thing was lost and screaming across the street from us and followed Michael straight to our front door. I tried to lead him away but the poor little darling was adamant to come in and Michael begged me!

I called the Humane Society and told Michael we would take him there the next day. I already have THREE cats and 4 was just too much, I thought. We always keep our new cats separate, for health reasons if nothing else. I had an extra room in the house and I put the baby there with some food, water and a litter box. He ate like a piranha! He is mostly white medium hair with a light brown tail and a brown raccoon like mask on his face. Michael named him Meeko from the Pocahontas movie.

Well, needless to say we did NOT take him to the Humane Society. I can relate to your 2 week wait, my vet's next appointment isnt until November. I want him neutered ASAP and given all the necessary shots to be safe.

As for getting along with my clan, Max is THRILLED to have another guy around, Xena and Aaliyah just stare at him! I was blessed with very sociable animals....

Good luck with the baby and congrats for taking him in from the cold!

 

[sixcats]

While it may be necessary to keep them seperate for 2 weeks to be sure of a clean bill of health, 2 weeks for any vet care is foolish. The kitten can still be treated for fleas, worms and any respiratory ailments starting now. I would call a different vet.

You made need to do a follow up testing but in the meantime the kitten will be on the road to good health.

I've taken in many cats over the years. Maybe you can keep the kitten confined to one bedroom once it has been checked for fleas and worms. The bathroom is the easiest room to keep clean, but the crying always gets to me also. Good luck!

 

[DocRafiki]

My question is this - if you have brought in a stray, have you kept it separate from your other cat/cats? I called our vet today to make an appointment for this little guy (we won't even name him until we know that he is healthy enough to stay in our home) and they told me that the cats should be kept separate for 2 weeks to prevent infection of our older cat. I told them the Lily was up to date on her vaccinations and had the FeL Vaccine - but they told me that they vaccinations might not be effective with "24 hour exposure."

The 10-day thing is only good for cold-like viruses. Unfortunately, you won't know for sure that the cat is FeLV/FIV-free for 4-6 months since you are likely to get false positives up to that point. My current clinic doesn't even test them until they're 6 months old. Even if you get them tested as kittens, they must be retested 6 mos later to make sure they haven't converted. (I.e., if you were exposed HIV today and tested negative tomorrow, you wouldn't think that you were safe, right?) Of course it's not practical to keep them separated for 6 months, so you just make sure your cat has had its FeLV vax for several years in a row and hope for the best (and don't allow biting and scratching in case of FIV).

I think it's silly that a vet wouldn't see a found pet right away. This is definitely not standard. That sounds like that receptionist made that up rather than being a clinic policy (yes, that happens all the time -- people who "work for doctors" sometimes think that gives them a license to make medical judgements). Lots of babies would die if they had to wait 10 days for vet care... severe upper resp infections, flea anemias, and hookworm anemias can kill in much shorter time than that. I would call another vet or call the same one and talk to someone else.

 

[BethR]

Thank you for your thoughts, sixcats and DocR. I think that I WILL call another (or the same) vet tomorrow and see if I can get him in to be seen to check for the stuff that CAN be tested for - the worms, fleas, upper repiratory stuff. That will make all of us feel so much better (and safer. )

Then I will get Lily to the vet as well since she is due for her FVRCP (had hers last November.) Then I will feel as if I have done the best that I can to keep both of these guys healthy.

 

[DocRafiki]

I would also get the FeLV and FIP if you're going to keep the kitty (and she is probably also due for rabies).