So, my roomie and I have been living together for a year now. The first 6 months were great, her and my cat got along awesome, they would even play together or nap together. We since moved to a different apartment set up and there’s been a growing issue with her cat chasing mine off constantly. I mean, constantly. Any time he tries to leave my room, she’s chasing him. She comes in my room looking for him, she’ll sit at the doorway and just stare at him. He’s constantly uncomfortable. He’s now not eating, drinking unless I give him food in my room, and going potty on my bedroom carpets - VERY unlike him.
Details:
Her cat is 11 years old, kinda bitchy and likes her space, my cat is about 7, really sensitive and non-confrontational. He’s been in multiple cat households since a kitten with no issue. He respects her space when she looks at him a certain way, and they went about themselves just fine.
First apartment, my roomie kept her cat in her room at night with the door closed most nights. I don’t ever close my door. We had a clear ‘this is her space’ and ‘this is his space’ with our bedrooms, and they shared a litter box in the bathroom. No problems at all! Even got to the point where her cat allowed him to come cuddle in her room with her, and she would come sit in the window in my room, and they were fine with it. At night they would play in the hall and living room together, and would go back and forth on chasing each other while making playful noises.
New apartment is two levels, larger, and only my room (half the size of roomies) and the bathroom has a door. Roomies room is a loft-type bedroom. Bedrooms upstairs, everything else downstairs. My cat was the most comfortable immediately after moving in and would lounge belly up on the living room floor. We put the litter box in the bathroom but he’s been spooked about it, so we put it in a cubby closet near the living room. Cats were switched to a diet food and so we have a communal food dish in the dining space.
Roomies cat has been lounging on the couch constantly and sleeping down there at night. Over time I realized he was coming down less and less. Then I started noticing when he was downstairs, roomies cat would jump up and chase him to the base of the stairs. Then when he was on the stairs, she chased him all the way up the stairs. Now all the way into my bedroom closet. She also comes into my room to stalk him - sometimes it looks like she’s seeking him out to play. I started picking him up and taking him downstairs and putting him in the litter box, because I just knew he had to go, and he would immediately potty. So I moved the box to the landing at the top of the stairs just outside our bedroom entrances, and put a second food and water by it. Worked for a tiny bit.
He started losing weight bad and he’s already a small cat, so I put an additional bowl of food and water in my room to watch him carefully. He goes ham on it like he hasn’t been eating or drinking at all. He has since pooped and peed on my carpet, likely because he’s actually eating and drinking finally.
Also should note I have another younger cat who gets along with my boy great, they play together in my room a lot, and she keeps her space from my roommates cat but they get along fine, and I have a new inside-outside cat who sleeps on my bed with me, and my boy doesn’t care about either. It’s just my roommates cat.
I CANNOT put a litter box in my actual room, there’s no room for it and it’s unfair to ask him to live 24/7 in a small room. Roomie says she doesn’t want to switch rooms to keep her cat in her room at night again, and offered to let her cat outside during the day when she’s at work (hasn’t happened). I’m at a loss. My kitty is my everything and he’s so unhappy. The only thing I can think of is putting the two cats in a space together to work it out, or my roommate having to move out somewhere (she gets reduced rent because it’s owned by my mom) but she doesn’t really have the means.
ANY ideas would be welcome.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/ag13w6/my_cat_wont_eat_drink_or_use_the_box_because_of/
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