Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hi everyone. I need some urgent advice...the stress of my situation is driving me crazy. Will being locked up 20 hours a day in an apartment alone make your cat depressed. Does having another kitten/cat help? A little bit of background...

When I found pregnant Yaz last year i had no place to put her up. My resident cat (Lily) is not the friendly type (she licked herself bald with the last stray i picked up). So i put Yaz and her kitties (eventually) in an empty apartment. The apartment is fully furnished with a cat tree and plenty of toys. I visit them a couple of hours a day but generally they are alone. It is not the best life for them but i was trying to do my best thinking it was a temporary situation. I have put up Yaz for adoption and have had no takers yet. Her babies Pecan and patches are leaving in a couple of days whilst another one peanut is dying of FIP. Now I'm very concerned that she is going to be all alone. I thought of trying to introduce her to my resident cat but I'm afraid she may be a carrier of the FCoV virus and given Lily's (my cat) temperament she would be stressed which may trigger the FIP (if transmitted by Yaz to her).

Im also considering if I should i keep Patches with Yaz so that they can be together (aft peanut leaves us) but I dont know if this is the best solution. Two miserable cats as opposed to one and me juggling my home, a full time job and taking care of the kitty family. How long can I carry on like this? Or do i give up Pecan and Patches to their new home and take the risk and introduce Yaz to my resident cat. But I cant bear the thought of anything happening to Lily though. My concern here is what if i can never get Yaz or Patches a new home later on? and little Pecan will be going off alone. is that ideal?

Im sorry i may be all over the place. the grief of Peanut with FIP, the stress of Yaz staying alone and the dilemma of giving up Pecan and Patches is making me really stressed up. I cant concentrate on my work... my mind keeps wandering during meetings!! I dont know if im overthinking my situation. Any advice is most welcome. Please do give me your thoughts. The adopter wants the kitties by Sunday so i need to decide if Patches goes or stays. Sometimes i feel upset with myself for caring too much.

I am so sorry to read about poor little Peanut, I don't know a lot about FIP but I know it is a horrible condition and there is nothing that can be done about it at the moment.

Being shut in an apartment isn't ideal for any cat, but is far better than being on the streets and at least Yaz is being taken care of. Cats in rescues can often spend quite a bit of time alone in a single room waiting to be adopted, I wouldn't want it to go on for years, but a few months shouldn't be a problem. It also depends on the cat, some cats crave company, even another cat can help, others are happy on their own. You won't really know how Yaz fairs until she is totally alone there.

My advise would be to let Patches and Pecan go to their new homes, especially if they are going together. Keep Peanut and Yaz together at the flat for as long as you have Peanut. When Peanut is gone, then try doing basic introductory measures as if you were going to introduce Yaz to Lily and see how Lily reacts, if she gets worked up by the scent of another cat then I would suggest trying to find a charity to take Yaz, if you can't find anyone to rehome her yourself. If Lily doesn't seem to upset by the scent of another cat, you could always try and move to the next step of introduction if you have a room you could give over to Yaz and have her at home. Just because Lily reacted badly to one cat doesn't mean she will to every other cat, and don't forget you will already smell of Yaz from all your visits to her.

As for the FCoV I don't really know how contagious it is but I do believe it isn't uncommon in cats, and it's only rarely that it transforms into FIP. Someone else might be able to give more information on that angle, if not I would have a good discussion with your vet about it.

Thank u for your reply. After much deliberation (and stress) i decided to let Pecan and Patches go. The family who asked for them seemed really nice. I visited them to send off the two babies and they cared so much for Peanut too (initially they wanted Pecan and Peanut but due to Peanut's condition they agreed to adopt Patches). Patches is a timid little one. On one hand i'm happy she has Pecan but i also do have doubts if i could have done things differently. But i will never know. I hope and pray they will be fine. They deserve happiness as much as Lily does and i just felt it so unfair to deny Patches that because i was afraid for Lily. I feel a sense of relief not because they are gone but rather because I can stop stressing about it. Once Peanut recovers (one can hope) or passes on i will try and introduce Yaz to Lily. The last one was a male cat and he was pretty aggressive when he plays. Probably the reason for Lily's stress. Im hoping Yaz with her gentle ways will be a better match of lily. And i also intend to get both of them tested also.