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Old November 13th 03, 11:17 PM
Alison
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Hi ,
I'm sorry you're having a rough time . How long have you had the new
cat ? It can take a couple weeks for them to get used to each other
..

These links will take you to archived posts on the Think Like a cat
forum . You can also search the archives or join the forum yourself.

Cat to cat aggression
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv...t/?msg=14085.1
Introducing new cat
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv...t/?msg=13954.1

You could have two litter trays with types of different litters. Cats
wee outside the litterbox when upset or stressed but she could also
have cystitis or urinary tract infection .

Housesoiling . A very thorough article by behaviourist
http://www.apbc.org.uk/ARTICLE10.htm

Links to Litterbox/Inappropriate elimination problems
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/P...erboxhelp.html


Alison


Links to animal information websites
http://mysite.freeserve.com/petinfolinks/
"Luvskats00" wrote in message
...
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. I kept them apart since then. She has

exclusive use of
my bedroom.

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. 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.

Shall I keep
her caged? How can I stop her from going on my bed. Can I teach her

to use the
litterbox exclusively?

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.

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. 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.